Primates in the Anglican Communion

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Primates in the Anglican Communion are the most senior bishop or archbishop of one of the 42 [1] churches of the Anglican Communion. [2] The Church of England, however, has two primates, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York.

Contents

Variations

Some of these churches are stand-alone ecclesiastical provinces (such as the Church of the Province of West Africa), while others are national churches comprising several ecclesiastical provinces (such as the Church of England). Since 1978, the Anglican primates have met annually for an Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded as the symbolic leader (though primus-inter-pares ) of the Anglican primates. While the gathering has no legal jurisdiction, it acts as one of the informal instruments of unity among the autonomous provinces of the communion.

In stand-alone ecclesiastical provinces, the primate is the metropolitan archbishop of the province. In national churches composed of several ecclesiastical provinces, the primate will be senior to the metropolitan archbishops of the various provinces, and may also be a metropolitan archbishop. In those churches which do not have a tradition of archiepiscopacy, the primate is a bishop styled "primus" (in the case of the Scottish Episcopal Church), "presiding bishop", "president bishop", "prime bishop" or simply "primate". In the case of the Episcopal Church in the United States, which is composed of several ecclesiastical provinces, there is a presiding bishop who is its primate, but the individual provinces are not led by metropolitans.

Anglican primates may be attached to a fixed see (e.g., the Archbishop of Canterbury is invariably the Primate of All England), who may be chosen from among sitting metropolitans or diocesan bishops and retain the see (as with, for example, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia), or who may have no see (as in the Anglican Church of Canada). Primates are generally chosen by election (either by a synod consisting of laity, clergy and bishops, or by a House of Bishops). In some instances, the primacy is awarded on the basis of seniority among the episcopal college. In the Church of England, the primate, like all bishops, is appointed by the British sovereign, in the capacity of Supreme Governor of the established church, on the advice of the Crown Appointments Commission.

The United Churches of South India, of North India, of Pakistan and of Bangladesh have neither metropolitan (arch)bishops nor national primates. Instead, each has a Moderator of the Synod (and a Vice-Moderator), elected from among the bishops for a fixed term, who is ranked among the Anglican primates. [3]

Dual primates

In the Church of England and the Church of Ireland, the metropolitan of the second province has since medieval times also been accorded the title of primate. In England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is known as the "Primate of All England" [4] while the Archbishop of York as "Primate of England" [5] (see also Primacy of Canterbury). In Ireland both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Armagh are titled "Primate of All Ireland"; [6] [7] while both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Dublin are titled "Primate of Ireland". [7] As both of these positions pre-date the 1921 partition, they relate to the whole of Ireland. The junior primates of these churches do not normally participate in the Primates' Meeting.

List of current primates

Key
Active primateMale primate
Inactive primateFemale primate
Position vacant or acting primate

This is a list of the 42 current primates (including four moderators of united churches) in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The list is given according to the Anglican order of precedence, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as primus inter pares first and the others in order of seniority by their first installation to a primacy.

ProvincePrimatePersonDate of birth & ageConsecration [lower-roman 1] Took office [lower-roman 2]
Church of England The Archbishop of Canterbury
 & Primate of All England
Justin Welby 6 January 1956 (age 68)28 October 20114 February 2013
Anglican Church of Southern Africa The Archbishop of Cape Town
 & Primate of Southern Africa
Thabo Makgoba 15 December 1960 (age 63)25 May 200231 December 2007
Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma)The Archbishop of Myanmar
 & Bishop of Yangon
Stephen Than Myint Oo 1958 (age 6566)200517 February 2008
Anglican Church of Chile The Primate of Chile,
 Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church of Chile & Bishop of Santiago
Tito Zavala 16 October 1954 (age 69)19982010–2016 (South America)
4 November 2018 present (Chile)
Church of the Province of Central Africa The Archbishop of Central Africa
 & Bishop of Northern Zambia
Albert Chama unknown200320 March 2011
The Episcopal Church in the USA The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael Curry 13 March 1953 (age 71)17 June 20001 November 2015
Anglican Church of Kenya The Primate and Archbishop of All Kenya
 & Bishop of All Saints' Cathedral
Jackson Ole Sapit 12 June 1964 (age 59)20053 July 2016
Scottish Episcopal Church The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church
 & Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness
Mark Strange 2 November 1961 (age 62)23 October 200727 June 2017
Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan The Archbishop of Khartoum
 & Primate of Sudan
Ezekiel Kondo 1957 (age 6667)200330 July 2017
Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean The Archbishop of the Indian Ocean
 & Bishop of Seychelles
James Wong 1960 (age 6364)19 April 200927 August 2017
Anglican Church in Aotearoa,
New Zealand and Polynesia
[lower-roman 3]
Te Pīhopa o Aotearoa,
  Primate of New Zealand
 & Te Pīhopa o Te Tairāwhiti
Don Tamihere 1972 (age 5152)11 March 20178 April 2018
Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan The Archbishop of Juba
 & Primate of South Sudan
Justin Badi Arama 1964 (age 5960)200122 April 2018
Anglican Church of Tanzania The Archbishop of Tanzania
 & Bishop of Tanga
Maimbo Mndolwa 1968 (age 5556)4 September 201220 May 2018
Church of the Province of Rwanda The Archbishop of Rwanda
 & Bishop of Gasabo
Laurent Mbanda 1954 (age 6970)May 201010 June 2018
Anglican Church in Central America The Primate of Central America
 & Bishop of Panama
Julio Murray 1958 (age 6566)19 August 2000 [8] 11 August 2018 [9] [10]
Church of Bangladesh [lower-roman 4] The Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh
 & Archbishop of Dhaka
Samuel Sunil Mankhin unknown8 November 20095 December 2018
Church of the Province of West Africa The Primate of West Africa,
 Metropolitan Archbishop of West Africa & Bishop of Liberia
Jonathan Hart 9 January 1953 (age 71)2 March 20083 March 2019
Church in the Province of the West Indies The Archbishop of the West Indies
 & Bishop of Jamaica
Howard Gregory 1950or1951(age 72–73)17 May 201728 May 2019
Anglican Church of Canada The Primate of Canada Linda Nicholls 25 October 1954 (age 69)2 February 200816 July 2019
Church of the Province of Melanesia The Archbishop of Melanesia
 & Bishop of Central Melanesia
Leonard Dawea 1971or1972(age 51–52)August 201615 September 2019
Church of Uganda The Archbishop of Uganda
 & Bishop of Kampala
Stephen Kaziimba 15 August 1962 (age 61)26 October 20081 March 2020
Church of Nigeria The Archbishop of Abuja
 & Primate of All Nigeria
Henry Ndukuba 18 July 1961 (age 62)September 199925 March 2020 [11]
Anglican Church of Australia The Primate of Australia
 & Archbishop of Adelaide
Geoffrey Smith 1958or1959(age 64–65) [12] 25 July 20077 April 2020 [13]
Church of Ireland The Archbishop of Armagh
 & Primate of All Ireland
John McDowell 1956 (age 6768)23 September 2011 [14] 28 April 2020 [15]
Anglican Church of Korea The Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church of Korea
 & Bishop of Seoul
Peter Kyongho Lee unknown20172020 [16]
Anglican Church in Japan The Primate of Japan
 & Bishop of Kyushu
Luke Kenichi Muto unknownDecember 20125 November 2020 [16]
Hong Kong Anglican Church (Episcopal) The Archbishop of Hong Kong
 & Bishop of Western Kowloon
Andrew Chan 1962 (age 6162)25 March 2012 [17] 3 January 2021 [17]
Church of Pakistan [lower-roman 4] The Moderator of the Church of Pakistan
 & Bishop in Raiwind
Azad Marshall unknown199414 May 2021
Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria The Archbishop of Alexandria
 & Bishop of Egypt
Samy Fawzy 1963 (age 6061)27 February 20178 June 2021
Episcopal Church in the Philippines The Prime Bishop of the Philippines Brent Alawas unknownc.2009August 2021
Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi The Archbishop of Burundi
 & Bishop of Buye
Sixbert Macumi 1968 (age 5556)200521 August 2021
Church in Wales The Archbishop of Wales
 & Bishop of Bangor
Andy John 9 January 1964 (age 60)29 November 20086 December 2021
Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo The Archbishop of the Congo
 & Bishop of Aru
Georges Titre Ande unknownunknown23 January 2022 [18]
Anglican Church of Mexico [lower-roman 5] Archbishop of Mexico
 & Bishop of Cuernevaca
Enrique Treviño Cruz 1959 (age 6465)23 February 201311 June 2022 [19]
Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil The Primate of Brazil
 & Bishop of Amazon
Marinez Rosa dos Santos Bassotto 1971or1972(age 52–53)201823 November 2022
Church of North India [lower-roman 4] The Moderator of the Church of North India
 & Bishop of Agra
Bijay Kumar Nayak unknown8 May 20059 December 2022
Anglican Church in Aotearoa,
New Zealand and Polynesia
[lower-roman 3]
The Bishop of Polynesia
 & Primate of New Zealand
Sione Uluʻilakepa 1965 (age 5859)11 March 202311 March 2023 [20]
Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East The President Bishop and Primate of the Church in Jerusalem
 & Archbishop in Jerusalem
Hosam Naoum 1974 (age 4950)14 June 202012 May 2023
Church of the Province of South East Asia The Archbishop of South East Asia
 & Bishop of Singapore
Titus Chung 1964or1965(age 58–59)18 October 2020 [21] 23 January 2024 [22]
Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea Senior Bishop of Papua New Guinea
 & Bishop of Aipo Rongo
Nathan Ingen unknownunknown11 May 2020 (Acting)
Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola Acting Presiding Bishop of IAMA
 & Bishop of Lebombo
Carlos Matsinhe October 7, 1954 (age 69)20 September 201424 September 2021 (Acting)
Anglican Church of South America The Acting Presiding Bishop of South America
 & Bishop of Argentina
Brian Williams unknownunknown7 May 2023
Church of South India [lower-roman 4] The Deputy Moderator of the Church of South India
 & Bishop of Karimnagar
K. Reuben Mark 29 March 1961 (age 62)4 May 20155 September 2023 [23]
Anglican Church in Aotearoa,
New Zealand and Polynesia
[lower-roman 3]
The Senior Bishop of the New Zealand Dioceses,
  Primate of New Zealand
 
Vacant

See also

Notes

  1. The date the person was consecrated as an Anglican (or United Church) bishop.
  2. The date the person first became a primate (usually by the confirmation of their election or by their installation, enthronement or investiture in office).
  3. 1 2 3 Three bishops representing each of the three tikanga share the Primacy and the style of Archbishop.
  4. 1 2 3 4 The moderators of the Churches of Bangladesh, of North India, of Pakistan and of South India are not, strictly speaking, primates, but they nonetheless rank with and participate alongside the Communion's primates.
  5. Treviño's status as archbishop of Mexico is disputed by Francisco Manuel Moreno and other bishops within the church, but he recognized as primate and archbishop by the Anglican Communion Office.

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Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity, with around 110 million adherents worldwide as of 2001.

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Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some important archbishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or (usually) ceremonial precedence.

In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdiocese, or are otherwise granted a titular archbishopric. In others, such as the Lutheran Church of Sweden, the title is only borne by the leader of the denomination.

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  15. "Welcome Archbishop John - Church of Ireland - A Member of the Anglican Communion". Ireland.anglican.org. 2020-04-28. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  16. 1 2 "New Primates for Japan and Korea". Livingchurch.org. 2020-11-13. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  17. 1 2 The Most Revd Andrew Chan installed as Archbishop and Primate of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, ECHO, 3 January 2021
  18. "Archbishop Titre Ande Georges installed as primate of L'Eglise Anglicane du Congo". Anglican Communion News Service. Jan 25, 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  19. Smith, Emilie Teresa (March 12, 2024). "Tempest in the Anglican Church of Mexico". The Living Church. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  20. Mateboto, Pauliasi (13 March 2023). "Ulu'ilakepa ordained as Bishop of Polynesia". Fiji Times. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  21. Wenxuan, Alex (18 October 2020). "Titus Chung formally succeeds Rennis Ponniah as 10th Bishop of Singapore". Salt & Light. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  22. Lee, Gracia (23 January 2024). "Bishop Titus Chung installed as the 7th Archbishop of the Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia". Salt & Light. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  23. Chandran, Cynthia (9 September 2023). "Council demands invalidation of Rasalam's fellow office-bearers". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 29 February 2024.