Within the Anglican world, an attempt to “overturn the balance of power”

Within the Anglican world, several Churches have been threatening the Anglican communion with a schism for several years. So the breakup is confirmed?

Remy Bethmont : Until now Gafcon had always denied wanting to engage in a schism. The press release of October 16 therefore reflects a new direction. But I am not sure that we have yet reached a schism. Gafcon did sign the text on behalf of its various provinces (in India, Nigeria, Brazil, etc.) but it is not certain that the primates agreed to break with Canterbury.

Within Gafcon, three African Anglican churches – in Uganda, Nigeria and Rwanda – have already distanced themselves from Canterbury and the communion’s global bodies. The primates did not attend the Lambeth conference, which brings together bishops approximately every ten years, and the last primates’ meetings. The press release is part of this continuity.

On the other hand, other primates linked to Gafcon had embarked on a path of reform of the bodies of the Anglican Communion. It is therefore surprising that they suddenly want to change course. The Archbishop of Alexandria (head of a province in North Africa and the Middle East) is one of the authors of a proposal for reform of the communion according to which, in particular, an elected primate would exercise important responsibilities alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury. The authorities of the Communion must examine this proposal in a few months. It would be very surprising if this archbishop aligned himself with the position of the press release.

Gafcon announces reorganizing its own Anglican communion. What pushes her to emancipate herself today?

Some Southern churches are contesting the appointment of a woman, Sarah Mullally, as head of the Church of England. They are even more strongly opposed to the blessing of same-sex couples, now authorized in several Northern Churches. In many African countries where the evangelical movement is in the majority, this liberal theology is perceived as heresy. For part of the clergy, this Western “propaganda” spiritually destroys those who want to remain faithful to the Gospel. The question of homosexuality is highly political: in Nigeria and Uganda, repressive laws have become tougher in recent years. Against a backdrop of nationalism, the bishops denounce what they perceive as the colonial reflexes of the West and the spiritual decay of the Western Anglican Churches.

In this context, Gafcon wants to reverse the balance of forces. “We are not leaving the Anglican communion, because we are the Anglican communion,” she says. It is a form of takeover bid (A Public Purchase Offer is a financial transaction by which a company publicly offers to repurchase all or part of the shares of another company, generally to take control of it, NDRL) on the Anglican communion. But be careful, takeover bids don’t always work!

Could certain Churches secede in turn?

The Anglican Church in North America will certainly join the ranks of Gafcon dissidents. It is a conservative branch in the United States and Canada that has broken with the Episcopal Church of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada in opposition to their theological liberalism. Other schismatic structures of the same kind welcome the press release from the Gafcon primates. Beyond that, it’s much harder to know who might follow. The Global South Fellowship, another conservative network of the Anglican communion, does not necessarily pursue the same objectives as Gafcon, so it is not certain that it supports the initiative represented by the press release written in the name of the Gafcon primates.