Archbishop of Uganda under fire for homophobic comments against Archbishop of Wales
Ugandans say Archbishop Kaziimba should focus on human rights issues at home
The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda Kaziimba Mugalu has come under fire for homophobic remarks about the appointment of Cherry Vann as the Archbishop of Wales.
Cherry Vann was declared the 15th Archbishop of Wales after securing a two-thirds majority vote from members of the Church in Wales Electoral College during its meeting in Chepstow on 30th July 2025. She became the first woman to serve as an Archbishop in the UK and the first openly LGBTQ+ primate (head of a province) in the Anglican Communion – the umbrella body of Anglican churches world wide.
“We are all shocked by the appointment of Archbishop Cherry Vann, who is a lesbian. Such decisions in the Church make many people, including us wonder what really happened to the word and true values of God,” Kaziimba told his congregation in Kampala on August 7.
Kaziimba, who is no stranger to homophobic talk, was met with a wave of criticism online. Most critics of his comments were not happy with his continued attacks on the Anglican Communion and his silence when it comes to human rights violations by the regime in his own country.
“Makes it even wilder that he doesn’t regularly criticize failures of societal leaders at home. Seems the only unholy thing the Church still sees is people’s sexual proclivities,” wrote Ian Francis Onapito on X.
“Since when did Kaziimba become one of the owners of that Religion? Let him start his if he want to have authority to condemn anything,” posted @Lwanyaga02on X (formerly Twitter).
“The same guy who can’t condemn Museveni,” wrote Ssentomero Andrew on X.
“Kaziimba is such a bigot, another of m7’s tools…brown envelop brigade,” wrote Victus8888.
“Kaziimba … that religion is not yours please, respect the owners! If you don’t want to subscribe to their beliefs, vacate their religion and start yoz or rejoin the religion of our ancestors,” wrote Toyohashi Automobile Uganda.
“If a lesbian religious leader can/would bring to light questions of accountability and injustices in regards to violation of human rights in their countries, I would go behind them anytime any day….!” wrote Nsubuga Sadam.
“@ChurchofUganda is more concerned about lesbianism in England than human rights violations in Uganda! Dear archbishop,” wrote KristinaDesire Omuganda.
In 2023, Kaziimba announced that the Church of Uganda was cutting ties with the leadership of the Anglican Communion, following a decision by the general synod of the Church of England to allow clergy to bless same-sex marriages. However, the Church of Uganda has not formally withdrawn from the Communion.
The relationship between the Church of Uganda and the Church of England worsened after the enactment of the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, which Kaziimba supported.
“The Church of Uganda welcomes the diligent work of Parliament and His Excellency, the President, in crafting the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023,” read a statement Kaziimba issued after the Act received presidential assent. “Homosexuality is currently a challenge in Uganda because it is being forced on us by outside, foreign actors against our will, against our culture, and against our religious beliefs. They disguise themselves as ‘human rights activists,’ but are corrupting real human rights by adding LGBTQ to their agenda.
Kaziimba’s statement prompted the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to write a letter asking his Ugandan counterpart not to support the AHA.
“Within the Anglican Communion we continue to disagree over matters of sexuality, but in our commitment to God-given human dignity we must be united. I have reminded Archbishop Kaziimba that Anglicans around the world have long been united in our opposition to the criminalisation of homosexuality and LGBTQ people. Supporting such legislation is a fundamental departure from our commitment to uphold the freedom and dignity of all people. There is no justification for any province of the Anglican Communion to support such laws: not in our resolutions, not in our teachings, and not in the Gospel we share,” Welby’s statement said.
The Church of Uganda is a member of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), a movement formed in 2008 in Jerusalem after some provinces of the Anglican Church disagreed over the Church’s increasing acceptance of homosexual people.
Despite the negative remarks made by Kaziimba and other archbishops of GAFCON-affiliated churches, Vann’s appointment has been lauded across the globe as groundbreaking.
Jayne Ozanne, a prominent LGBTQ+ rights campaigner within the Anglican Church, welcomed the historic appointment.
“Archbishop Cherry is a woman of deep faith, integrity and compassion who knows what it is to be on the receiving end of prejudice and discrimination because of her sexuality,” she told The Tablet.
Ozanne added that Vann’s election would bring hope and joy “to all those across the wider Anglican Communion who long for a Church that respects and affirms the dignity of all, independent of their sexuality or gender.”
Professor Helen King, an elected member of the Church of England’s General Synod, noted that she is celebrating the UK’s first female archbishop regardless of he sexuality.
“Those who are opposing Cherry Vann’s appointment as the new Archbishop of Wales on the basis of her sexuality are conveniently forgetting that they once opposed the ordination of women altogether,” she says.
Vann was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England in 1989, before women could be priests. In 1994, she was in the first cohort of women to be ordained as a priest. Before her consecration as Bishop of Monmouth in 2020, she worked in parish and chaplaincy ministry as Area Dean and then Archdeacon in the Manchester diocese.
Speaking shortly after becoming Archbishop, Vann seemed less concerned about those opposed to her new position in the Church and more concerned about restoring the Church.
“The first thing I shall need to do is to ensure that the issues which have been raised in the last six months are properly addressed and that I work to bring healing and reconciliation, and to build a really good level of trust across the Church and the communities the Church serves,” Vann said.
