Schism in the Anglican Church! Most of Anglicans move away from Canterbury.

The 16th October 2025 might remain an important date in the history of Christianity: on this date the Anglican Communion has formally split and in the coming months we shall see more clearly on what side the different Anglican Churches, and parishes, around the globe will stand.

Anglicans – in some countries such as in North America but also in some African countries, also known as Episcopalians – are one of the biggest branches of Christianity although some Anglicans already called themselves out of the Anglican Communion.

Yesterday GAFCON, a “fellowship for orthodox Anglicans” born in 2008, released a Communique stating among other things that: “We reject the so-called Instruments of Communion, namely the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and the Primates Meeting, which have failed to uphold the doctrine and discipline of the Anglican Communion.”

The four mentioned are the four “instruments of communion” that the Anglican Communion uses to sustain itself in an environment of autonomous Anglican Churches that can work together thanks to these instruments.

In the same communique GAFCON, formerly “Global Anglican Future Conference”, renames itself as the “Global Anglican Communion“.

And there are plans also for the role of “first among equals” that until the yesterday belonged to the Archbishop of Canterbury: this person will come out of an election “a Council of Primates of all member provinces to elect a Chairman, as primus inter pares (‘first amongst equals’), to preside over the Council”.

The Church of England has surely provoked the reaction of the other Anglican Churches as recently bishop  Sarah Mullally was nominated as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury. Already some of these churches believe women cannot be bishops but, on top of this, the new head of the English church is “pro choice” on abortion and in favour of blessing same sex unions.

There is an ecclesiastical body, called Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), the majority of members of which are also members of GAFCON, which already on 20th February 2023 released a Press Statement, made by twelve twelve of the Primates that compose it, saying that:

“GSFA is no longer able to recognise the present Archbishop of Canterbury, the Rt Hon & Most Revd Justin Welby, as the “first among equals” Leader of the global Communion.“

With GAFCON that used to be a movement for the reformation, or restoration, of the Anglican faith and Communion, but now calling itself, in the communique, the Global Anglican Communion (“Today, Gafcon is leading the Global Anglican Communion”) we shall see what the relationships with GSFA will be, if GAFCOM will use the ecclesial structure created by GSFA or what other arrangements will come out of this.

Things will get clearer in the coming months and important will be the GAFCON “G26 Bishops Conference” to be held in Abuja, Nigeria, from 3rd to 6th March 2026.

At any rate we are now sure that Anglicanism has split, at least, in two camps: one more orthodox and one more “progressive”. We shall also wait for the response by the Church of England and its Primate; meanwhile, just yesterday the Church of England has released the news that has stopped plans “to trial separate blessing services for same-sex couples“. This might be too little and too late to keep more conservative provinces together with Canterbury. These more conservatives or “orthodox” Churches might instead be more attracted by the Jerusalem Declaration of GAFCON and their new Global Anglican Communion.

We shall also see wether this more conservative Global Anglican Communion will seek a dialogue with the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches with the aim to a communion of the Christian churches.