Dissenting leaders of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) announced the formation of a new international council to represent conservative Anglicans. The move follows the confirmation of Archbishop Sarah Mullally as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of England's first female leader. GAFCON leaders, meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, concluded that existing 'Instruments of Communion' no longer served Anglican needs and withdrew from contact with the Church of England. A former Anglican bishop received into the Catholic Church advised Catholics to maintain friendly ties with Anglicans but abandon hopes for future sacramental reunification.
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Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) leaders, representing about half of the world's 85 million Anglicans, have severed ties with the Church of England following the January 28 confirmation of Sarah Mullally as its first female Archbishop of Canterbury.1
They accuse her of promoting "unbiblical and revisionist teachings," including support for same-sex blessings.1
At a March 3-6 meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, 347 GAFCON bishops established a new Global Anglican Council, led by Rwandan Archbishop Laurent Mbanda.1
The group withdrew from contacts with the Church of England in October and issued the "Abuja Affirmation" on March 7, urging repentance from leaders upholding a "fiction of walking together" and reordering the Communion to its Reformation roots.1
It calls for conservative churches to remove references to communion with Canterbury and adhere to the 2008 Jerusalem Declaration.1
Catholics are urged to maintain friendly ties and joint actions with Anglicans but abandon hopes of sacramental reunification.1
Msgr. Michael Nazir-Ali, a former Anglican bishop now Catholic priest, states restoration of communion "simply isn’t going to happen now" due to GAFCON's Protestant direction.1
Nazir-Ali predicts continued Anglican conversions to Catholicism, noting the Communion's "strong Protestant trajectory" ends special ecumenical status.1
Tom Middleton of Forward in Faith describes the Anglican Communion as a "loose federation" no longer coherent, advising Catholics to continue dialogue with GAFCON despite fragmentation.1
Opposition to Mullally focuses on doctrinal departures, not gender.1
The schism hastens the end of half a century of Anglican-Catholic dialogue progress, with GAFCON's affirmation ignoring it.1
The Catholic Church upholds Pope Leo XIII's 1896 Apostolicae Curae, declaring Anglican orders invalid.1
Shared pre-Reformation patrimony persists, but Catholics must measure Anglican practices against their own teachings.1
Evaluate Catholic‑Anglican relations amid GAFCON’s schism
Catholic-Anglican relations are marked by a commitment to ecumenical dialogue amid deep doctrinal divides, particularly the invalidity of Anglican orders, while recent Anglican schisms like GAFCON underscore tensions over authority, morality, and unity. The Catholic Church maintains that full visible communion requires resolution of these issues, offering pathways like personal ordinariates for Anglicans seeking reunion. GAFCON's challenge to Canterbury amplifies existing fractures, presenting both obstacles to institutional dialogue and opportunities for individual or corporate entry into full Catholic communion.
A cornerstone of Catholic evaluation of Anglicanism remains the 1896 bull Apostolicae Curae by Pope Leo XIII, which definitively declared Anglican ordinations "absolutely null and void" due to defects in form and intention. This judgment rests on extrinsic evidence—such as the consistent Catholic practice of unconditionally re-ordaining convert Anglican clergy—and intrinsic defects in the Edwardine Ordinal (1552), which failed to signify the grace of priesthood or episcopate as the Church intends.
"Ordinations carried out according to the Anglican rite have been and are absolutely null and void."
This doctrine, renewed by papal authority and confirmed in theological tradition, precludes recognition of Anglican sacraments like Eucharist or Holy Orders, distinguishing Anglican communities from Eastern Churches with valid apostolic succession. No subsequent development, including GAFCON's schism, alters this magisterial teaching, which prioritizes sacramental integrity over ecumenical expediency.
Despite doctrinal barriers, the Catholic Church has pursued dialogue through the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), established post-Vatican II. ARCIC I (1969–1981) produced agreed statements on Eucharist, Ministry, and Authority, with Catholic approval of statements on Eucharist and Ministry (post-Elucidations). ARCIC II addressed moral teaching, affirming convergence on issues like human dignity, though divergences persist on papal primacy and women's ordination.
Pope John Paul II emphasized "real though imperfect communion" with Anglicans, urging fidelity to shared witness amid Lambeth Conference tensions. These efforts highlight commonalities: episcopal governance, sacramental emphasis, and missionary zeal. However, GAFCON's 2008 formation—rejecting Canterbury's authority over liberal innovations like same-sex blessings—mirrors ARCIC-noted crises of authority.
"The fundamental issue here... is the question of authority... Has God in Christ left his Church... an authority by which it can assure that we know the correct meaning of the Revelation?"
GAFCON's global conservative bloc (evangelical and Anglo-Catholic) exposes Anglicanism's internal "upheaval," paralleling Catholic critiques of Protestant fragmentation.
GAFCON, representing over half of global Anglicans, challenges the Archbishop of Canterbury's primacy, forming parallel structures amid disputes over homosexuality and women's ordination—issues alien to Catholic doctrine. This schism weakens the unified Anglican interlocutor for Catholic dialogue, complicating ARCIC III (established 2009, themed "Church as Communion"). It echoes historical English Reformation identities, where national ecclesiology resists Roman primacy.
Yet, from a Catholic perspective, GAFCON's conservatism aligns more closely with Church teaching on marriage and orders than liberal Anglican bodies. Divisions do not negate ecumenism but reveal Anglicanism's lack of "elements of sanctification and truth" in fullness, as Lumen Gentium teaches the Church subsists in the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI's 2009 Anglicanorum Coetibus responds prophetically, creating personal ordinariates for Anglican groups entering full communion while retaining liturgical and spiritual patrimony (e.g., Book of Divine Worship).
"The term church is applied differently to the Anglican Communion for reasons rehearsed over a century ago by Pope Leo XIII in Apostolicae Curae."
This structure—unique to Western traditions—enriches the Church without compromising doctrine, inviting GAFCON-aligned faithful disillusioned by schism.
The Church views schisms as tragic but opportune for reunion, as St. Paul's "one member suffers, all suffer together" (1 Cor 12:26) binds the Body of Christ. Recent popes, including Leo XIV, emphasize religious freedom and reconciliation amid persecution, indirectly supporting witness across divides. Pope Benedict framed Anglicanorum Coetibus as ecumenism's "logical step," harmonizing Anglican gifts (e.g., Oxford Movement legacy) within Catholic unity.
GAFCON's schism, by heightening authority questions, may accelerate conversions, as seen post-2009. Catholic relations prioritize "full corporate union" over imperfect ties, rejecting dilution of doctrine. Evangelization continues: Christians must profess faith publicly, denouncing religious instrumentalization.
Catholic-Anglican relations remain asymmetrical—dialogue persists, but unity demands Catholic fullness. GAFCON's schism exacerbates Anglican disunity, validating Apostolicae Curae's prudence and Anglicanorum Coetibus's generosity. The Church invites Anglicans to visible communion, where diverse gifts enrich the one fold.