Anglicans upset over woke female archbishop of Canterbury should come home to the Catholic Church

(LifeSiteNews) — On January 28, during the Confirmation of Election ceremony of Sarah Mullally as the new Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Church of England, pastor Paul Williamson loudly protested, claiming that his objection to Mullally – set to become the Church of England’s first female primate – had been completely ignored by the competent authorities. He was subsequently removed from the cathedral by security.

The dramatic protest during the confirmation of the new Archbishop of Canterbury is not an isolated incident. It reflects a deeper and long-standing crisis within Anglicanism concerning authority, apostolic continuity, and fidelity to the historic Christian priesthood. For many Anglican clergy who have consistently opposed the ordination of women, recent developments do not simply represent disciplinary disagreements but raise fundamental ecclesiological questions.

READ: Anglican pastor protests confirmation of woke female archbishop of Canterbury

The introduction of female deacons (1985), priests (1992), and bishops (2014) marks a decisive departure from the universal and uninterrupted apostolic tradition historically recognized across East and West.

Whatever internal theological arguments may be advanced, such a shift further distances Anglican ministry from the sacramental continuity that has historically grounded Christian ecclesial identity.

The Catholic Church has consistently maintained that full apostolic succession subsists within her sacramental life, not as a claim of institutional superiority, but as a matter of sacramental certainty, theological evidence, and historical continuity.

Even from an ecumenical perspective, hopes of restoring or recognizing sacramental convergence with the historic episcopate become increasingly difficult to sustain when episcopal ordination itself diverges from the constant tradition shared for nearly two millennia by the Church.

The recent theological deviations – not only in canonical and sacramental matters, but even in doctrine and morals, as evident in various “woke” trends – only further highlight what the Catholic Church has always maintained regarding the invalidity and nullity of Anglican orders.

At the same time, Rome has repeatedly acknowledged the genuine spiritual, pastoral, and liturgical richness that has developed within Anglicanism. This tradition includes great saints such as Augustine of Canterbury, Bede the Venerable, Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, Aidan of Lindisfarne, Edward the Confessor, Dunstan of Canterbury, Hilda of Whitby, Etheldreda, and many others. Some of them – St. Bede and St. Anselm – are also recognized as Doctors of the Church.

Amid this great heritage of saints, it is hard not to mention the example of St. Wilfrid of York – also honored in the schismatic Anglican liturgy – who cared deeply for the unity of the Roman Church. At the Synod of Whitby (664), Wilfrid vigorously defended – against those seeking to separate the continental Church from the insular one – the conformity of the English Church to the discipline and liturgy of the Apostolic See, as well as the primacy of Roman authority in ecclesial matters.

It is also fitting to recall another great saint and Doctor when thinking of the Anglophone world: John Henry Cardinal Newman. He insisted that becoming Catholic was not abandoning the English patrimony, but bringing it home. He saw the English spiritual tradition – saints, liturgy, scholarship – as something that belongs in full communion with Rome.

READ: Bishop Eleganti: The Church is suffering ‘internal schism’ because pope, bishops ‘tolerate heresies’

The establishment of Personal Ordinariates under Anglicanorum coetibus, issued by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, was a concrete response to Anglican clergy and faithful who sought full communion with the Catholic Church without abandoning their legitimate spiritual heritage.

Today, there are three Ordinariates for Anglican clergy and laypeople in the world: (1) the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales; (2) the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter in U.S. and Canada; (3) the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia and Asia.

Equated with dioceses, these are not structures of absorption or cultural erasure. They are fully Catholic churches that preserve elements of Anglican liturgical tradition and devotional life, while restoring full sacramental and ecclesial communion. Many former Anglican clergy have discovered within them not the loss of identity but its theological fulfillment, allowing them to continue their pastoral mission with sacramental assurance and ecclesial stability.

May the English saints intercede for Anglicans throughout the world, that they may be filled with a burning desire to come back home, to Rome.