NAIROBI (Reuters) – A conservative group of Anglican church leaders said on Friday that it no longer had confidence in the leader of the Church of England (CoE) over his stance on same-sex unions.
Earlier this year the CoE – where the Anglican tradition originated – set out proposals to allow priests to bless same-sex couples in church after a civil marriage, while still not allowing them to get married in church.
The global Anglican church, made up of 85 million people across 165 countries, has been deeply divided for more than two decades over issues such as ordaining gay clergy members and same-sex unions. Homosexuality is taboo in Africa and illegal in more than 30 countries there.
At the end of a conference in Rwanda’s capital this week, conservative Anglican splinter group the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) said in a statement: “Public statements by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other leaders of the Church of England in support of same-sex blessings are a betrayal of their ordination.”
“We have no confidence that the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the other Instruments of Communion led by him … are able to provide a godly way forward that will be acceptable to those who are committed to the truthfulness, clarity, sufficiency and authority of Scripture.”
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the CoE and spiritual leader of the global Anglican communion, has urged Anglican church leaders not to victimise homosexuals.
There was no immediate response to the GAFCON statement from Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop’s office in London. However a statement it issued in February said: “Despite our differences, we must find ways to continue walking and working together…”
The GAFCON conference in Kigali, which ended on Friday, brought together more than 1,300 delegates from 52 countries.
Among those at the forefront of opposing support for same-sex unions is Uganda’s Anglican church, which strongly supports stricter laws there against homosexuality.
Uganda’s president on Thursday sent back to parliament “for strengthening” a bill he supports that contains some of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation.
GAFCON has previously said it was not intending to split from the Anglican communion but would oppose what it saw as a “false gospel” being preached in liberal Western churches.
Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicans are organised more as a federation of national churches without hierarchical lines of authority.
(Reporting by Nairobi newsroom; Additional reporting by Michael Holden in London; Writing by George Obulutsa and Hereward Holland; Editing by Alexander Winning and Gareth Jones)
