KAMPALA. The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu, has expressed despondency with the appointment of the Rt. Rev. Dame Sarah Mullaly, Bishop of London, as the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
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In a statement on Friday , Kaziimba emphasized his concern over Mullaly’s support for same-sex marriage that, he believes, depart from the historic teachings of the Anglican faith.
“This appointment deepens the tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion, a divide that began in 2003 with the consecration of a divorced father of two living in a same-sex relationship by The Episcopal Church,” Kaziimba said.
“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.”
Kaziimba, a founding member of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), reaffirmed the Church of Uganda’s commitment to Biblical faith and the authority of Scripture.
He extended support to those in the Church of England who may be disillusioned by this appointment, offering fellowship through GAFCON and the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans.
“As we declared in our 2023 GAFCON statement from Kigali, we no longer recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury as having global authority. The office is certainly no longer an ‘Instrument of Communion,’” he said.
“With this appointment, the Archbishop of Canterbury is reduced simply to the Primate of All England.”
Despite these concerns, Kaziimba expressed hope for the future of Gospel-centered mission within the Anglican tradition.
“The future of Gospel-centered mission in our Anglican tradition is bright. The fields are ripe for harvest; we pray for laborers to go into the harvest,” he said, quoting the 2018 GAFCON meeting in Jerusalem: “We will proclaim Christ faithfully to the nations.”
The 63-year-old Bishop of London, who became the first female Bishop of London in 2018, prior to that she was Bishop of Crediton, a post she held for three years from 2015.
She spent over 35 years in the NHS, becoming the youngest-ever Chief Nursing Officer for England in 1999.