Conservative Anglican leaders are meeting in Nigeria to elect a rival global head in opposition to the appointment of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, signaling a potential permanent split in the church.
Clergy from the conservative Anglican movement Gafcon are meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, to elect a rival leader to the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, a move that threatens to formalize a historic schism within the 95-million-member global communion. The leadership challenge follows years of deepening theological divisions over female ordination and same-sex unions, with some congregants like Bunmi Odukoya arguing, “If you’re called – you can be a man, you can be a woman – you need to fulfil the calling of the Lord,” while others, such as Uche Nweke, contend that a female head “is not going to go well” based on biblical precedent.
Despite efforts from the official Anglican Communion to maintain unity through existing governance structures, Emeritus Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch describes the rival election as “a very aggressive thing to do” and a “schism” that asserts an all-male identity. While Gafcon claims it represents the “true” Anglican faith against the Church of England’s progressive shifts, the global response remains fractured, leaving the future of the world’s third-largest Christian denomination increasingly precarious.