2018 likely to be another tough year for the archbishop of Canterbury
A breakaway Anglican church in England appears to be forming as conflict over same-sex marriage continues.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Some rights reserved by Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
If 2017 was a tough year for Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in keeping the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion together, 2018 promises to be tougher still.
The past year was marked with conflicts over same-sex marriage and headlines about declining congregations. But this year Welby faces particularly testing issues:
- Response to the appointment of a woman as the bishop of London, the third most senior cleric in the Church of England.
- The gathering of the Global Anglican Future Conference, the international conservative faction also known as GAFCON, in Jerusalem in June.
- The likelihood of a breakaway church in England.
- The threat of a financial strike by some parishes.
A moment in 2017 confirming sharp divisions in the church was the release of a report on same-sex marriage that Welby praised as a “road map.” It was narrowly rejected by the Church of England’s General Synod because the report urged that marriage should remain between one man and one woman.
