By The Independent& XINHUA
Church of Uganda has described as ‘sad’ the appointment of the Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. King Charles III has approved the nomination, making Mullally the first woman to hold the Church of England’s most senior clerical office since its establishment in 597 AD.
“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,” wrote Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu
Archbishop of Church of Uganda.
Archbishop Kaziimba Mugalu said Church of Uganda considers this appointment to further deepen the tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion that began in 2003 with the consecration as Bishop of a divorced father of two living in a same-sex relationship.
Born in Woking in 1962, Mullally has led the Diocese of London since 2018, another historic first for a woman. Earlier in her career, she was awarded the title Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to nursing.
She will be formally confirmed at St Paul’s Cathedral in January and installed at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2026.
THE FULL STATEMENT FROM COU
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.
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.
As a founding member of @gafconference , Church of Uganda considers this appointment to further deepen the tear in the fabric of the Anglican Communion that began in 2003 with the TEC consecration as Bishop of a divorced father of two living 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.
We offer our prayers for those in the Church of England who are disillusioned by this appointment and extend our hand of fellowship to them 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, 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.
Likewise, we want to assure our Christians in the Church of Uganda that, 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.
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.”
Yours, in Christ,
The Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu
ARCHBISHOP OF CHURCH OF UGANDA