The new Archbishop of Sydney Kanishka Raffel is urging the spread of the Christian message from the
grassroots.
Archbishop Raffel was consecrated and inaugurated at St Andrew’s Cathedral as the first non-European
Archbishop of Sydney. 56 year old Raffel is of Sri-Lankan background.
It is an historic moment for the Anglican Church, which since 1788 up until the sixties, was known as
The Church of England.
This represents a multi-cultural milestone for the Sydney Diocese, the largest Anglican diocese in
Australia.
In his first sermon, he made it clear he wants to mobilise the 275 parishes and 450 congregations in
Sydney and the Illawarra and stressed his central message is the death and resurrection of Jesus.
“The message of the cross is indispensable for Archbishops, for the Church’s mission and for Christians
in daily life and witness,” the Archbishop said.
But he acknowledged modern society was skeptical. “We must find a way of speaking that connects
with our culture but we will not make disciples without the message of the Cross.”
“To the most empowered but anxious generation we have ever known, the Cross says you are loved,
you are not alone, you may cast all your anxiety on God knowing that he cares for you. How can we
know he cares? Because of the Cross. The Apostle John says – This is how we know what love is, Jesus
Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
The consecration, by the Primate and Archbishop of Adelaide Geoff Smith, was attended by Bishops
from across Australia.