The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, The Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu has opposed the appointment of the Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullaly, the Bishop of London as the next Archbishop of Canterbury over her support for “unbiblical positions” on sexuality and same-sex marriage.
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow! I am writing to share the sad news that the Rt. Rev. Sarah Mullaly, the Bishop of London, has been appointed as the next Archbishop of Canterbury,” Archbishop Kaziimba announced in his statement.
He added that the Church of Uganda views the development with deep concern.
He revealed, “Our sadness about this appointment is her support and advocacy for unbiblical positions on sexuality and same-sex marriage that reveal her departure from the historic Anglican positions that uphold the authority of Scripture for faith and life.”
The Archbishop noted that the appointment signifies a further rift within the Anglican Communion, which, he said, began in 2003 when the Episcopal Church in the United States consecrated as bishop a divorced father of two in a same-sex relationship.
“The tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion has now reached the highest level of the Communion. There appears to be no repentance. Make no mistake, this is a grievous decision at the highest levels of the Church of England to separate itself from the vast majority of the global Anglican Communion,” he stated.
Archbishop Kaziimba reaffirmed the Church of Uganda’s commitment to the Global Anglican Future Conference (Gafcon) and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans, stressing that the appointment has diminished the global authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“As we declared in our 2023 Gafcon statement from Kigali, we no longer recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury as having global authority and the office is certainly no longer an ‘Instrument of Communion.’ With this appointment, the Archbishop of Canterbury is reduced simply to the Primate of All England,” he declared.
He reassured Ugandan Christians of their place within the worldwide Anglican family, saying: “Through Gafcon and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans, we are part of a worldwide communion of Anglicans who continue to proclaim the historic and Biblical faith of Anglicanism – faithfulness to Christ and submission to the authority of Scripture.”
Despite the controversy, Archbishop Kaziimba expressed optimism about the future of mission in the Anglican tradition.
“The future of Gospel-centred mission in our Anglican tradition is bright. The fields are ripe for harvest; we pray for laborers to go into the harvest. As we declared at our 2018 Gafcon meeting in Jerusalem, we will proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations,” he said.
The Church of England announced Dame Sarah Mullally as the next archbishop on Friday and became the first female Bishop ever to take this role.
