The Anglican diocese of Sydney has elected its first person of colour Archbishop, Kanishka Raffel, at a time of significant division in the broader church over the blessing of same-sex couples.
Anglican Archbishop-elect Kanishka de Silva Raffel, pictured at St Andrew’s Cathedral, will be consecrated later this month.Archbishop-elect Raffel is unusual in another way: he was raised Buddhist. It was only while at the University of Sydney studying arts and law that he engaged with Christian friends about their faith, read the Gospel of John and converted religion.
, arguing it would not breach the church’s fundamental principles and was up to each individual diocese.Dr Davies said this was untenable as “it would be naive to think that mutually contradictory views on same-sex marriage can co-exist within our national church”. The issue is expected to come to a head at next year’s Anglican general synod, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Anglicans who don’t want to stick with that, his message is simple: “Jesus is the head of the church. It’s not about what I want or what anybody really wants, it’s about accessing the mind of Christ through attention to his word, and agreeing with that.” This year’s census is likely to again show an increase in the number of Australians identifying as having no religion. Mr Raffel denies this arises from the church’s failure to move with the times.
michaelkoziol Why is The new Archbishop acknowledged as a ‘person of colour’ ?shouldn’t matter whether he’s black, white, brown or yellow . Surely his position as Archbishop is based on his character, integrity, compassion and personable approach with people .
michaelkoziol Why is the media so obsessed with 'person of colour'?
michaelkoziol Am I the only one who thinks he looks like Tom Hanks... 😮
michaelkoziol White isn't a colour any more?