The Archbishop of Sydney is among Anglican leaders who have made statements in the wake of the announcement that the Archbishop of Canterbury will step down at the end of the year.

Dr Rowan Williams announced at the weekend that he was resigning and will become Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge from January 2013.

"The Archbishop of Canterbury is universally admired for his intellectual stature and his personal warmth.  In his time as Archbishop, the Anglican Communion has been subjected to unprecedented stresses which have hastened an inevitable tendency to regional independence and decentralisation" Archbishop Peter Jensen said in a statement on Monday.

"With the majority of Anglicans now from theologically conservative churches of the Global South, the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the future will demand a deepening appreciation of their place in the Communion." he said.

Earlier, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh who leads the Anglican Church of Nigeria, one of the largest provinces in terms of numbers, said that when Archbishop Williams came to office, the Anglican communion was a 'happy family'. As he leaves it, Archbishop Okoh says even if it was not entirely of his own making, Dr Williams "is leaving behind a Communion in tatters: highly polarized, bitterly factionalized, with issues of revisionist interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and human sexuality as stumbling blocks to oneness, evangelism and mission all around the Anglican world."

"For us, the announcement does not present any opportunity for excitement" Archbishop Okoh continued. "It is not good news here, until whoever comes as the next leader pulls back the Communion from the edge of total destruction. To this end, we commit our Church, the Church of Nigeria, (Anglican Communion) to serious fasting and prayers that God will do “a new thing”, in the Communion." the Nigerian Primate said.

In Britain, Reform UK Chairman, Rev Rod Thomas, said "Many people will have appreciated Rowan's great courtesy in dealing with people of different views within both the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. But his departure opens up the potential for a new leader to heal the deep divisions within the Anglican Communion. What is needed is someone who will hold firm to biblical truth in areas such as human sexuality in order to promote the gospel and unite the church in the face of militant secularism."