ABUJA, March 6 (Reuters) - A powerful group of conservative Anglicans on Friday urged its members to boycott meetings convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury and halt any financial contributions to the current leadership, escalating a long‑running rift within the church.
The declaration by the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) - a grouping of conservative churches mainly from Africa and Asia that claims to represent a majority of the world's Anglicans - follows a decision to establish a new council rivalling the current leadership.
Three days of meetings of GAFCON members in Nigeria have underscored the deep rifts within the Anglican Communion over theological and social issues, including the ordination of women and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ members.
They come just weeks before the Communion is due to enthrone Sarah Mullally as its first female Archbishop of Canterbury, until now spiritual leader of the world's 85 million Anglicans spread across 165 countries.
Laurent Mbanda, installed on Thursday as chairman of the new rival council, read a statement saying the Global Anglican Communion required "a principled disengagement" from structures associated with the Church of England.
"Leaders who hold office in the Global Anglican Communion must not attend future Primates' meetings called by the Archbishop of Canterbury, nor attend the Lambeth Conference, nor attend ACC meetings or participate in Commissions of the ACC," the statement said.
It added that leaders "should not personally approve financial contributions to the ACC. It is also expected that they will not receive financial assistance from compromised sources."
It was not immediately clear how much money was at stake.
The Church of England did not immediately comment.
'IT'S A SCHISM'
Founded some 500 years ago when the Church of England broke from Rome, the Anglican Communion has spread to many parts of the world, particularly former British colonies.
In recent decades, there have been some liberal shifts within part of the Church. GAFCON was set up in 2008, drawing on the resistance to these changes, especially in Africa and Asia, where the church is expanding fastest.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Anglican Communion Office in London said GAFCON was ignoring years of dialogue aimed at reforming the church.
On whether the church had now split, Diarmaid MacCulloch, emeritus professor of church history at the University of Oxford, told Reuters: "Of course it's a schism."
But MacCulloch said the rupture need not necessarily be permanent.
"Schisms do eventually get healed, when both sides see that the issues that caused the schism don't seem that important any longer," he said.
(Additional reporting and writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by David Lewis and Sharon Singleton)
