10 Anglican Archbishops say Church of England is “disqualified” as “Mother Church” over blessings for same-sex marriages

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Following the recent Church of England decision to allow blessing ceremonies for same-sex civil marriages, Archbishops representing 10 of the 42 provinces in the Anglican Communion have signed a statement that the CofE is now “disqualified” as their founding “Mother Church,” BBC News reports.

The Church of England continues to prohibit same-sex weddings in the church: the CofE has stated that no formal change can be made to the Anglican Communion’s position on same-sex marriage without approval from its four governing “instruments,” BBC News said. No clergy member will be obligated to perform prayers of blessing on gay marriages against their will.

The 10 Archbishops protesting the decision to allow same-sex blessings are part of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which claims to represent 75% of Anglicans globally, especially in Asia and Africa, BBC News said. In their statement, the Archbishops said: “The Church of England has chosen to break communion with those provinces who remain faithful to the historic biblical faith,” BBC News reports.

Moreover, the Archbishops said in their statement that they reject the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, as the official spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, BBC News reports.

The signatories to the statement include the GSFA’s chair, Archbishop Justin Badi of South Sudan, and the archbishops of Chile, the Indian Ocean, Congo, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Uganda, Sudan, Alexandria, and Melanesia, BBC News said.

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