The head of the Anglican Church in Nigeria has announced that the church is cutting all ties with the Anglican Church in Wales after it elected Cherry Vann, an openly queer woman, as the new Archbishop of Wales.
Archbishop Vann recently secured a two-thirds majority vote from members of the Church in Wales Electoral College, becoming the first woman to serve as an archbishop in the UK and the first openly LGBTQ+ Anglican Primate.
Nigerian Archbishop’s Condemnation
The New National Star reported that Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, lashed out at Vann’s election during the opening of the Church of Nigeria Chancellors, Registrars, and Legal Officers Conference (ACRLOC) in Abuja last week.
Describing it as part of an “evil agenda,” he stated:
- “As the Scripture says, evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. What they call their wisdom and culture is an abomination to God.”
Ndukuba asserted:
- “We reject the election of Cherry Vann as the Archbishop of Wales. Just as the Church of Nigeria took similar steps after the election of Gene Robinson in the United States, we are severing every tie and relationship with the Church in Wales.”
‘Wolves Amongst Our Sheep”
The Church of Nigeria had already condemned Vann’s election in a vitriolic statement by Ndukuba on 3 August, published on its website. In it, he said:
- “Faithful church believers must reject heretics and apostates from our midst, strive to redeem our holy scriptures, defend our historic creeds, uphold our Articles of Faith and Catechism, and expel the ‘wolves amongst our sheep.’”
He continued:
- “Thus, that an openly lesbian woman is the ‘right leader for the moment’ in the Church of Wales shows how deep the church has sunk.”
Ndukuba added:
- “The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) condemns, unequivocally rejects and will not recognise the election of Rt Rev Cherry Vann as Archbishop of Wales.”
A History of Opposition to LGBTQ+ Inclusion
Conservative Anglican leaders – many of them from Africa – have long fought against efforts to make the Anglican Church more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people.
This campaign was ignited in 2003 when Gene Robinson, who was in a same-sex relationship, was elected Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the US Episcopal Church.
Gafcon, a coalition of Anglican leaders who oppose the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in church leadership, has also condemned Vann’s election as a “grievous” event and “another painful nail in the coffin of Anglican orthodoxy.”
