The Bishop of the Falkland Islands was historically a bishopric in the Church of England; as the ordinary of the Diocese of the Falkland Islands, the bishop had responsibility for chaplaincies across South America, before national metropolitical provinces were formed.
Today the Bishop of the Falkland Islands is the head of the small extra-provincial Church of the Falkland Islands, a member church of the Anglican Communion. The title is held concurrently and ex officio by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose jurisdiction is delegated to a commissary known as the Bishop for the Falkland Islands.
Waite Stirling, a missionary from the Patagonian Missionary Society (renamed the South American Missionary Society in 1868) was consecrated in Westminster Abbey on 21 December 1869, as the first Bishop of the Falkland Islands. Stirling had episcopal jurisdiction over "the whole of South America with the exception of British Guiana". [1] Stirling served the people of the Falkland Islands for 30 years, later becoming Canon of Wells Cathedral.
Until well into the twentieth century, the Bishop of the Falkland Islands had episcopal authority over the whole of South America, until power shifted to the Bishop of Argentina. In 1982 as a result of the Falklands War, the Argentinian episcopal authority over the Falkland Islands was abolished; today the Rector of the Cathedral reports directly to the Archbishop of Canterbury and receives pastoral guidance from the Archbishop's Commissary, who since September 2021 has been Jonathan Clark, a former Bishop of Croydon. [2] The Archbishop retains the title Bishop of the Falkland Islands, while his Commissary takes the title Bishop for the Falkland Islands.
| Dates | Name |
|---|---|
| 1869–1900 | Waite Stirling |
| 1902 | Edward Every |
| 1910 | Lawrence Blair |
| 1919 | Norman de Jersey |
| 1936 | John Weller |
| 1945 | Daniel Evans |
| 1964 | Cyril Tucker |
| 1975 | Richard Cutts |
| 1978 [3] –present | Archbishop of Canterbury |
| 1978–1982 | Archbishop's Commissary: Richard Cutts |
| Dates | Name | Other offices |
|---|---|---|
| 16 January 2007 to 2014 | Stephen Venner , Archbishop's Commissary | Bishop of Dover (1999–2009); Bishop to the Forces (2009–2014) |
| 9 July 2014 to August 2017 | Nigel Stock , Archbishop's Commissary | Bishop at Lambeth (2013–2017); Bishop to the Forces (2014–2017) |
| 6 September 2017 to 2021 | Tim Thornton , Archbishop's Commissary | Bishop at Lambeth and Bishop to the Forces (2017–2021) [4] [5] |
| 20 September 2021 to present [6] | Jonathan Clark , Archbishop's Commissary | Bishop of Croydon (2011-2022) |
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Christ Church Cathedral, on Ross Road in Stanley, Falkland Islands, is the southernmost Anglican cathedral in the world. It is the parish church of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the British Antarctic Territories. The Parish of the Falkland Islands is part of the Anglican Communion. The rector of the cathedral is under the ordinary jurisdiction of the Bishop of the Falkland Islands; since 1978, this office has been held ex officio by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is both ordinary and metropolitan for the small autonomous diocese. In practice, authority is exercised through a bishop-commissary appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and known as the Bishop for the Falkland Islands.
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Waite Hockin Stirling was a 19th-century missionary with the Patagonian Missionary Society and was the first Anglican Bishop of the Falkland Islands. He was brother-in-law to Thomas Phinn. He was also a grandnephew of Sir Thomas Stirling, 5th Baronet of Ardoch.
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Timothy Martin Thornton is a retired British Anglican bishop. His final post was as Bishop at Lambeth, Bishop to the Forces, and Bishop for the Falkland Islands (2017–2021). He was previously the area Bishop of Sherborne from 2001 to 2008, the diocesan Bishop of Truro (2009–2017), and a Member of the House of Lords (2013–2017).
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Richard Stanley Cutts (1919-1997) was the Anglican Bishop of Argentina and Eastern South America. He acted as Episcopal Commissary for the Falkland Islands, on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, from 1978 until the outbreak of the Falklands War when Episcopal oversight was transferred to the Bishop to the Forces. Cutts was born in 1919 and died in 1997 of a heart attack.
Timothy John Dakin is a retired Anglican bishop. He was the general secretary of the Church Mission Society (CMS) and the South American Missionary Society (SAMS) prior to his consecration. He was appointed as Bishop of Winchester in 2011, and, as such became an ex officio member of the House of Lords. From 2013 he served as the Bishop for Higher and Further Education.
Jonathan Dunnett Clark is a retired Anglican bishop serving as the Bishop for the Falkland Islands. He was previously area Bishop of Croydon in the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, 2012–2022. An Anglo-Catholic, he was rector general of the Society of Catholic Priests from 2005 to 2008 and chair of Affirming Catholicism from 2008 to 2012
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