Aussie of Lankan descent to be new Archbishop of Sydney

Kanishka Raffel, an Anglican priest of Sri Lankan descent, born in London to Lankan parents and raised as a Buddhist will be the next Archbishop of Sydney winning overwhelming support from both houses of laity and clergy at an election held by the Synod of the Diocese, a report published nn its website said last week

His enthronement now is a formality. He became a Christian while studying law at Sydney University. A friend gave him a copy of The Gospel according to John and he subsequently became a Christian, the report said.

Prior to becoming Dean in 2016, Kanishka served as Rector of St Matthew’s in Perth. He is married to Cailey and they have two daughters.

“He loves curry, cricket and having gelato at the beach with his family but knows no pleasure so great as sharing the news about Jesus with people who have no idea who Jesus is or how much he loves them,” a report said.

Raffel was widely regarded as the most popular nominee going into last week’s synod and his election already seemed certain after the first night’s vote where he was the only candidate to get a large majority in both house (clergy and lay) in the first round.

He will be the tenth Archbishop and thirteenth Ordinary of Sydney replacing Glenn Davies who retired earlier this year.

He is the son of Lorenz Raffel and Lilamani (nee de Silva).