The Church of Uganda has described the appointment of Sarah Mullally as the first female archbishop of Canterbury as “sad news”, due to her “unbiblical” stance on same-sex marriage.
Mullally’s appointment was announced on Friday, making her the most senior cleric in the Church of England, the mother church of the 85-million-strong global Anglican communion.
More conservative members of the communion, particularly in Africa, have been at odds for years with their more liberal Western counterparts, particularly over women priests and LGBTQ issues.
Tensions peaked in 2023 when Uganda enacted one of the world’s most repressive anti-homosexuality laws, supported by the local clergy.
Mullally, a 63-year-old former midwife, has reportedly described herself as a feminist, and welcomed a decision in 2023 for priests to bless same-sex couples.
In a letter dated October 3 and seen by AFP, the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, said the former bishop of London’s views “reveal her departure from the historic Anglican positions that uphold the authority of Scripture for faith and life”.
“The Church of Uganda considers this appointment to further deepen the tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion,” he added.
“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.”
The Church of Uganda and other conservative Anglican communities united under a new body, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), in 2023 and said they “no longer recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as having global authority”, instead considering the role as “Primate of All England”.
Mullally’s predecessor Justin Welby, who stepped down earlier this year over an abuse scandal, criticised the Ugandan archbishop for supporting his country’s “anti-homosexuality law”, which includes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”.
GAFCON on Friday also criticised Mullally’s appointment, saying it “abandons Anglicans” and that the choice “will further divide an already split Communion”.
“Though there are some who will welcome the decision to appoint Bishop Mullally as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy,” it added.
