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A global group of church leaders has ousted Justin Welby as their head after a row over the blessing of same-sex couples in England, the UK’s Daily Express reports.
A motion to allow same-sex couples to form civil partnerships was passed by the General Synod earlier this month.
However, the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) has now disqualified the Church of England from being its "mother church" because it no longer considers Justin Welby to be the leader of the global communion.
Historically, the Archbishop of Canterbury has been considered the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion since the Communion's formation in 1867, but the move by the group of 12 Archbishops is against this tradition.
The GSFA said it speaks for 75 per cent of Anglicans around the world, officially representing 25 member provinces - mainly in Asia, Latin America and Africa. In its statement released on Monday, the group accused the Church of England of "taking the path of false teaching" and going against "the historical biblical faith" by allowing same-sex blessings, adding: "This breaks our hearts."
According to the Archbishop, his House of Bishops made the recommendations (for blessing gay couples) knowing that they run contrary to the faith and order of the orthodox provinces. Referring to Mr Welby, they said: "We pray that our withdrawal of support for him to lead the whole Communion is received by him as an admonishment in love."
The GSFA added this has caused a "leadership crisis" and it is now working to "re-set the communion".
The signatories include the GSFA's chair, Archbishop Justin Badi, along with the archbishops from Chile, the Indian Ocean, Congo, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Uganda, Sudan, Alexandria and Melanesia.
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