Gafcon declaration on ‘Global Anglican Communion’ took shape in Sydney Primates held meeting with movement’s ‘founding fathers’

Peter Hayward

By Muriel Porter

The AGE

20 October 2025

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The Rt Revd Peter Hayward, commissary for the Archbishop of Sydney

THE statement from Gafcon that it had “reset” the Anglican Communion was developed at a meeting in Sydney last week, it has been revealed.

In an interview posted on the website of the conservative Sydney organisation the Anglican Church League, the Archbishop of Rwanda, Dr Laurent Mbanda, who chairs the Gafcon Primates Council, said that several Gafcon Primates had met in Sydney with some of the “founding fathers” of Gafcon. This included both the former Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen, who was the first general secretary of Gafcon, and the former Primate of Nigeria the Most Revd Peter Akinola.

In response to the Gafcon statement, the Rt Revd Peter Hayward, writing as commissary for the Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Revd Kanishka Raffel, who is currently on leave, said: “We are thankful to God for the biblical faithfulness and clarity of the GAFCON primates. Their decisiveness at such a critical time gives comfort to orthodox Anglicans worldwide and supports mission with authentic, loving and truthful witness.”

The Gafcon meeting in Sydney had been scheduled to coincide with the announcement on 3 October of the nomination of the next Archbishop of Canterbury; and, once the statement had been prepared, an online meeting of all the Gafcon Primates had been held on 16 October to approve it, Dr Mbanda said.

The statement calls on Anglican Provinces that have not yet removed references to being in communion with the see of Canterbury and the Church of England “to do so”.

Dr Mbanda said that, given that the constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia (ACA) declared that it was in communion with the Church of England, the Australian General Synod had some “homework” to do about “how it can move away”.

Changes to the ACA constitution require the approval of all five metropolitan diocesan synods, making it unlikely that the ACA’s position will change.

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