The Church of Uganda, which is a member of the Anglican Communion, was established in 1887 by missionaries of the Church Missionary Society from England. It became an autonomous province alongside Rwanda and Burundi in 1961, and a province on its own in 1980 with its own governing structure. Its congregants, called Anglicans, make up about 32% of Uganda’s population, second to Catholics, at 39%.
The rift between the Church of Uganda and the Canterbury Cathedral over sexuality isn’t new or unique to Uganda. Since the consecration of a gay bishop in the United States in 2003, there have been disagreements between Canterbury and other churches within the Anglican Communion over doctrine, says Chris Tuhirirwe, a senior lecturer of religious studies at Makerere University.
