Truth and tradition: Bishop Mouneer Hanna Anis and the ongoing construction of Egyptian Anglican Orthodoxy

ABSTRACT

This article explores Bishop Mouneer Hanna Anis’ role in the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA). Noting how Anis draws legitimacy from his position as the first Anglican Archbishop of the newly created Province of Alexandria, it examines his highlighting of the importance of North Africa, especially Egypt, in addressing contemporary challenges within the Global South. The article reflects on the innovative nature of Anis’ strategies in constructing a new narrative of Egyptian Anglican Orthodoxy. It describes Anis’ use of Thomas Oden’s historical analysis of the importance of early African contexts on the shaping of mature Christian tradition. And it notes the emphasis Anis places on Athanasius of Alexandria in constructing his narrative. By introducing several of Anis’ recent publications, the article also draws attention to key discussions (and disagreements) on the nature of the relationship between scripture and tradition within contemporary Global South settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA)
• GAFCON
• Anglican reset
• scripture and tradition
• prima scriptura
• sola scriptura

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ See e.g. the list of African primates in Sadgrove et al., ‘Constructing the Boundaries’, 195.

² In the most sophisticated fieldwork to engage with the interaction between Global South African and North American conservative settings, Miranda Hassett nevertheless speaks monolithically of all ‘African Anglicans’ when her research draws primarily upon Ugandan ethnographic contexts. See Hassett, Anglican Communion. The only other leaders to feature prominently in the literature on the Global South usually come from Western conservative contexts, such as Robert Duncan and Foley Beach, primates of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and members of GAFCON.

³ The number of Arabic-speaking Anglicans in this region is, of course, much smaller than the number of Anglicans in the comparatively enormous dioceses of Nigeria and Uganda. Precise statistics are not available. At a conservative estimate, however, the combined membership of the Anglican Provinces of Jerusalem and the Middle East and Alexandria (formerly the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa) runs to many thousands.

⁴ There are, of course, plenty of disagreements within the Global South on theological matters. For this point, see e.g. Rubenstein, ‘Anglicans in the Postcolony’. Regarding the points made in this paragraph, however, there is a near consensus among leaders of the Global South churches. The exception is South Africa, where homosexuality is not prohibited by the Anglican Church. For a thorough treatment of the subject of homosexuality in African Christian settings (and many Anglican ones, including South Africa), see van Klinken and Chitando, Christianity and Controversies.

⁵ On the crisis of the Anglican Communion, see e.g. Hassett, Anglican Communion; Sadgrove et al., ‘Constructing the Boundaries’; and Brittain and McKinnon, ‘Homosexuality’. One of the more thorough defences of the conservative position is provided by Goldingay et al., ‘Same Sex Marriage’. Here, as elsewhere, however, ‘the church leaders of the Global South’ are referred to as an anonymous bloc.

⁶ When discussing this crisis, scholars typically explore its underlying socio-historical structural causes. Referencing the influences of colonisation, globalisation, and modernisation, several recent studies are theoretically rich. Pui Lan’s, The Anglican Tradition, in particular, stands out as both interesting and optimistic. Detailed exploration of key figures in the Global South, along with their contrasting narratives and persuasion techniques, is seldom undertaken. It is these narratives and persuasive methods, exemplified by Anis, that provide the focus of the present article.

⁷ See e.g. Rubenstein, ‘Anglicans in the Postcolony’.

⁸ On GAFCON, see Sadgrove et al., ‘Constructing the Boundaries’.

⁹ This point is repeatedly made in the literature. See e.g. Sadgrove et al., ‘Constructing the Boundaries’, 199.

¹⁰ For the history of the GSFA, see its website.

¹¹ Sherwood, ‘The Church of England’.

¹² GSFA, ‘The Ash Wednesday Statement’.

¹³ I have interviewed Anis since May 2019. In addition to in-person interviews, Anis and I have had (often lengthy) conversations on the phone. The nature of our discussions, not surprisingly, has evolved over time. I arrived for our first interview with a set of structured questions pertaining to the historical relationship between British and Egyptian Anglicans/ism: ‘How did Anglicanism arrive in Egypt?’ ‘Who are the most influential British Anglicans in this tradition?’ ‘How did Egyptian Anglicanism survive the exile of the British in the 1950s’? Thus begun, our discussions have since encompassed a wide range of topics pertaining to the past and current workings of the Anglican Church, in Egypt, Britain and elsewhere. In responding to my questions, Anis has often directed me to his publications, as well as to a number of unpublished writings (‘I speak about this in my article on … ’). Our interviews have been carried out in English, with regular interjections of colloquial Arabic. Throughout the process, I have recorded and transcribed our interviews then compared my transcripts with relevant information located in Anis’ publications.

¹⁴ The only other Arab Anglican to be involved in discussions on the future of Anglicanism is Anis’ successor as Archbishop of Alexandria, Samy Fawzy, who was present the General Synod’s ruling on same-sex unions in February 2023. In step with Anis, Fawzy warned the attendees that ‘crossing this line of blessing same-sex unions will alienate 75% of the Anglican Communion’. See Sherman, ‘Anglicans Angry at Same-Sex Blessings Question’.

¹⁵ For the details of Anis’ autobiography, omitting his latest position in CCMUP, see Anis, ‘Middle Eastern Perspective’.

¹⁶ In 2008, Anis was described along precisely these lines in The Daily Telegraph’s list of the fifty most influential Anglicans. Anis was number twenty-four on the list. See The Daily Telegraph ‘The Fifty Most Influential’.

¹⁷ For details, see Ahram Online, ‘Award’.

¹⁸ Gbesan, makes frequent reference to Anis in his biography of Akinola, Who Blinks First?

¹⁹ Anis acknowledged that that he drafted and co-wrote the first draft of the ‘Ash Wednesday Statement’ (with one other high-ranking member of the GSFA’s leadership) in a face-to-face interview with author on 30 October 2023.

²⁰ For this account, see Anis, ‘A Middle Eastern Perspective’.

²¹ Interview with author, 12 October 2023.

²² Said, ‘Permission to Narrate’. Said attended the Anglican-run Victoria College in Alexandria during his childhood and also spent time in Cairo’s All Saint’s Cathedral. He had mixed memories of his experience and describes the Cathedral as ‘an extremely English establishment’. Said, Out of Place, 106.

²³ Anis, ‘A Middle Eastern Perspective’. McDermott’s volume includes expansions of short talks given, in 2018, at Beeson Divinity School in Samford University (where he is department chair), in a conference called ‘What is Anglicanism?’ The conference posed two questions: ‘What is the deep character of Anglicanism that distinguishes it from other Christian traditions?’ and ‘Where should the Communion go in the future?’ In responding to these questions, Anis joined thirteen other scholars, with a variety of theological and liturgical perspectives, all of whom identify as proponents of Anglican Orthodoxy ‘particularly on the presenting issues of our day – marriage and sexuality’.

²⁴ ‘We will continue to look at Canterbury Cathedral as our mother church, and Saint Augustine of Canterbury as a great inspiration to us’. Anis, ‘A Middle Eastern Perspective’, 56.

²⁵ It should be admitted that this observation remains speculative. Assessing the number of Anglicans across the world who object to the blessing of same-sex unions is beyond the scope of this paper.

²⁶ Anis, ‘A Middle Eastern Perspective’. Carey understood that Anis was unsure was to whether to join a Church that in many ways seemed so foreign.

²⁷ Anis, ‘A Middle Eastern Perspective’, 33.

²⁸ Ibid., 36.

²⁹ There are three accounts of this history: Burrell’s, Cathedral on the Nile, de Saram’s, Nile Harvest and Rhodes, Anglican Mission. All three of the authors are British clergy who lived and worked in Egypt.

³⁰ The material is very similar to the GSFA’s internal publications. See, for instance, the GSFA’s, ‘Trumpet II’. Unavailable online, this document was provided by Anis.

³¹ Anis, ‘A Middle Eastern Perspective’, 53 ff.

³² Ibid., 57–59.

³³ Ibid., 58. Italics added.

³⁴ Anglicans are mentioned twice within a list of members of other denominations in Africa. Oden, ‘How Africa’, 132, 153.

³⁵ Oden, ‘How Africa’, 26.

³⁶ Ibid., 29.

³⁷ Ibid., Chapter Two.

³⁸ Ibid., 48.

³⁹ Ibid.

⁴⁰ The contemporary American scholar of Thomas Cranmer, Ashley Null, does make this connection. He argues that Cranmer relied on Augustine and the North African fathers to develop a specifically Anglican approach to scripture. See Null, ‘Thomas Cranmer’. Anis certainly knows Null, who taught at the Alexandrian School of Theology, when Anis was bishop there. However, Anis attributes the inspiration for his thinking to Oden, not to Null.

⁴¹ The reference is from Anis’ foreword to a book on Athanasius by Patrick Whitworth. See Whitworth, Defining God.

⁴² The first appearance of Athanasius took place in Anis’ address to the GSFA’s sixth conference, in Cairo, in 2016. As the text is not available online, Anis kindly made available a copy.

⁴³ Anis, ‘Contra Mundum’.

⁴⁴ Difficulties retracing the historical Arius are well known. Probably of Libyan descent, he was made presbyter of the district of Baucalis in Alexandria in 313 CE. On the quest for the historical Arius, see Lyman, ‘Arius and Arianism’.

⁴⁵ Anis, ‘Contra-Mundum’.

⁴⁶ Ibid.

⁴⁷ Ibid. Emphases added.

⁴⁸ Between the publication of ‘Contra Mundum’ and ‘Anglicanism at a Crossroads’, Anis spoke out repeatedly in criticism of the (English) Anglican liberal establishment. His most detailed criticisms are ‘A Deeply Torn Communion’, and ‘Away from Empire’.

⁴⁹ The text of the Cairo Covenant is accessible in a document entitled ‘The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSA) Covenantal Structure’.

⁵⁰ Other members of the committee included: Robert Duncan (primate of the ACNA); Michael Poon (Singapore): David Onuoha (Nigeria); Samy Shehata (Egypt); and Phil Ashey (American Anglican Council).

⁵¹ The Anglican Covenant was initiated by the Lambeth Commission on Communion in the Windsor Report (2004) but left unsupported by the CoE’s own diocesan synods. For a detailed analysis of the project, See Goddard, ‘The Anglican Communion Covenant’.

⁵² This comment comes from Phil Ashey in ‘Where do we go from here?’

⁵³ Anis and McDermott, ‘Crossroads’.

⁵⁴ ‘Our Churches are out of communion with those Churches that allow the blessing of same-sex relationships or purport to solemnise same-sex marriages in their doctrine and practice or admit to holy orders those in same-sex unions, and those churches that pursue other significant departures from Biblical teaching’ (Section 2.1.6 of the Cairo Covenant).

⁵⁵ Compare section 3.4.1/2/3, on ‘The Council of Bishops’, and section 3.4.4, on ‘The Faith and Order Commission’. The latter is to be consulted by the GSFA whenever there is ‘a question or proposed innovation concerning matters of faith, order and discipline’.

⁵⁶ McDermott and Anis, ‘Crossroads’.

⁵⁷ Ibid.

⁵⁸ Anis and McDermott, ‘Crossroads’.

⁵⁹ Anis does not claim, to my knowledge, that the Niceaen perspective is explicitly stated in scripture. Whitworth does claim this: ‘The understanding of God as Triune is latent in the scriptures: implicit if shadowy in the Old Testament, and explicit and more defined in the New Testament’. Whitworth, Defining God, 43.

⁶⁰ Boersma et al., ‘Reset?’

⁶¹ Ibid.

⁶² Anis’ colleagues among non-Western Global South leaders have yet to weigh in on this matter. However, the American Cranmer scholar, Ashley Null – a regular speaker in both GSFA and GAFCON settings – holds fast to the principle of sola scriptura. Null vehemently rejects the points made in the article by Boersma, McDermott and Peters. (He has not yet addressed McDermot and Anis’ paper.) Null makes the point that, while Jewel, Hooker and White, may have defended a prima scriptura approach, by far the most significant of all the English Anglican reformers, Thomas Cranmer, passionately promoted a sola scriptura reading. See Null, ‘Thomas Cranmer’.

⁶³ Elsewhere, Anis admits to working with and almost certainly ordaining a woman in Cyprus, which was part of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa. Anis, ‘The Episcopal/Anglican Church in Jerusalem’, 284–5.

⁶⁴ As Archbishop of Uganda, Orombi told the story of a group of young Ugandan converts to Anglicanism in the 19th century being burnt to death for refusing to be seduced by their king. How, Orombi asks, when Cranmer and Latimer were also burnt at the stake, have contemporary Western Anglicans forgotten the power of martyrdom? See Orombi, ‘What is Anglicanism?’ Anis has often referred to the power of martyrdom in both ancient and modern times in building the Anglican church in Africa. See e.g. his address to the GSFA in 2016.

⁶⁵ As former director of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in Asia, Poon provides clear and thoughtful explanations of how the term ‘Global South Anglicanism’ came into existence, as well as a much-needed glimpse into the life of Anglicans ‘from an Asian Perspective’. There are parallels between Poon’s description of his community as a fragile and numerically insignificant community,” facing repeated challenges, and Anis’ much repeated description of his own community ‘as a minority within a minority’. Poon, ‘The Global South Anglican’ and ‘Being Anglican Perspectives from Asia’.

⁶⁶ For instance, in the 2016 address to the GSFA, Anis asks his audience to ‘reflect on the Christian heritage from North Africa and Egypt. We are reminded of the great and ancient church of Alexandria and many church fathers and mothers who were persecuted and martyred for the sake of their faith in Christ. Their blood has become the seed of the church in Egypt and North Africa’.

⁶⁷ Anis is accused of this by critics online. See e.g. Naughton, ‘Bishop Mouneer Forgets His Lines’.

⁶⁸ Anderson, ‘Conservative Christianity’. See Goldingay et al., ‘Same Sex Marriage’, 5–6 for the same argument.

⁶⁹ In 2016, in his opening address to the sixth Global South Conference, Anis acknowledged that there are aspects of life – ‘polygamy, tribalism, corruption and [the] harsh treatment of women’ – which ‘require serious attention’ from Anglicans; and that these ‘challenges and weaknesses’ are endemic across many Global South environments.

⁷⁰ When discussing key differences between Gairdner and Gwynne, Anis first used the term ‘type’. (‘Gairdner and Gwynne were totally different types of British in Egypt’). In clarifying the nature of the difference, I suggested the word ‘archetype’ to describe characters who possess certain intrinsic, unchanging qualities that, when identified, reveal much regarding underlying power structures. Anis agreed that this term (‘archetype’) matched his intended meaning. No reference to the scholarly literature on the concept of archetypes (by Carl Jung, Mircea Eliade, et al.) is implied.

⁷¹ Anis explains what he means by this term in a short online article published by the diocese of Egypt’s press office, ‘Cultural Pride’.

⁷² Anis takes up this point in a ‘Middle Eastern perspective’, 40. Citing his words directly, Anis notes that Gwynne viewed all Egyptians as ‘an uncivilized people’.

⁷³ Carey’s role in Anis’ development has already been mentioned. Like past Anglicans (particularly Gairdner and Kenneth Cragg), Bill Musk fits the archetype of an inter-faith scholar/administrator who loves Arabs (Egyptians) and Muslims. Musk served under Anis as the regional Bishop of North Africa from 2008–15. John Coleman (1924–2003) was an even closer colleague. Originally born at Harpur Hospital, Coleman spent many years as a medical missionary (including a stint when he and his wife were held as hostages in Iran); and he worked closely with Anis after his return to Egypt (when Anis was Harpur’s hospital director) in the 1980s. Anis attributes his decision to fully commit to Anglicanism to Coleman’s influence. See Anis obituary, ‘John Coleman’.

⁷⁴ Alasdair MacIntyre has long argued that all human beings strive to explain their personal experiences in terms of their own ‘narrative unity’ as well as the unity of the tradition to which they belong. See e.g. MacIntyre, After Virtue.

⁷⁵ Interview with author: 17 May 2023. Anis observes elsewhere, ‘If Jesus came to Cairo, he probably wouldn’t sit in the bishop’s chair at the Cathedral – he’d likely be talking with Muslims’ See Walton, ‘How on Earth Do You Forgive Like This?’

⁷⁶ For instance, the Committee for Interfaith Dialogue and ‘Together for Egypt’. The latter involves Anglican priests and Azhari Imams collaborating in shared endeavours. On these projects, see Anis, Beacon of Hope, 180.

⁷⁷ Interview with author: 20 February 2021.

⁷⁸ While there have been numerous attempts to build bridges between Muslim and Anglican communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, Egypt has witnessed the most successful attempt to build projects involving clergy from both religious traditions.

Additional information

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Richard Gauvain

Richard Gauvain is currently Lecturer in Contemporary Islam at the University of Chester. He lived for many years in the Middle East and has published widely on Islamic reform movements. His current research interests focus on Anglicanism in the Arab World and across the Global South.