The choice of the new Archbishop of Canterbury met “Sorrow” by the conservative group Gafcon

“If you want to go fast, go alone – if you want to go far, go together,” said Dame Sarah Mullally in her first public speech as a new designated Canterbury archbishop.

But the choice of Friday – for the first time – of a woman as a spiritual leader of the Church of England and world Anglican communion already seems to exacerbate the deep cracks within this community.

The Anglican World Crown Stock Exchange (GAFCON), which is a network of conservative English churches across Africa and Asia, has received the new “with sorrow”.

The church of southern Africa, on the other hand, described the appointment of “historic” and declared “we warmly welcome the announcement”.

The Church of England – which some people call “the Mother Church” because it was the first Anglican church – is largely considered to have moved in a more liberal direction than certain churches elsewhere, especially in Africa, where it is estimated that two thirds of Anglicans live.

The problems which divide world Anglican communion included the ordination of women bishops in 2014 and the acceptance of homosexual relations in 2023.

Many conservative Christians believe that only men should be consecrated as bishops.

In a statement, the most reverend Dr Laurent Mbanda, the Archbishop of Rwanda and president of the Gafcon leadership council, argued that “the majority of Anglican communion still believes that the Bible requires an episcopation reserved for men”.

Gafcon also opposed the support of Lady Sarah and the blessing of same -sex couples, accusing her of promoting “non -biblical and revisionist teachings concerning marriage and sexual morality”.

The group was trained in 2008 in response to theological differences within Anglican communion, in particular on the issue of same -sex unions.

At the time, they published a statement which called the church leaders who had moved away from what they called “Orthodoxy Principles” to repent.

While they were clear that they did not detach themselves from Anglican communion, they rejected the idea that “the Anglican identity is necessarily determined by the recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury”.

This Rift was widened in 2023, when the group rejected the management of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, on proposals to bless homosexual couples, increasing the fears of a split in the church.

Gafcon claims to talk about the majority of Anglicans in the world, although this is disputed, and vision through Africa is by no means monolithic.

The Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, who directs the Southern Africa Church called the appointment of Dame Sarah “an exciting development”.

Although South Africa is considered more progressive than other countries in terms of its approach, the announcement was also welcomed elsewhere.

Bishop Emily Onyango – The first woman ordered as bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya – announced the news that Lady Sarah had been named Archbishop designated “a new dawn”.

She told BBC Focus on Africa that Gafcon’s point of view was neither theologically nor biblically healthy, but more “patriarchal, which is not very useful in the Church”.

Bishop Onyango said the new archbishop was “a humble person listens to what the church needs.

“When you have a hard position and you don’t listen to people, there are (there) a lot of problems.

“The new archbishop must approach peace on the continent. Women and children suffer, and she must work for peace and reconciliation.”

This places Bishop Onyango in contradiction with the archbishop of his country, which is part of the management of Gafcon.

When I asked the Archbishop of Rwanda if this moment could prove to be an irreparable break in world Anglican communion, he sent me a text that “nothing is irreparable with God, but that requires repentance.

“Gafcon has always called for church leaders to repent and return to the teaching of the Bible. But until they do it, we cannot walk with them in their apostasy.”