The Diocese of Lebombo (pt. ''Diocese Anglicana dos Libombos'') is a diocese in the

Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola The Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola (IAMA)is the 42nd ecclesiastical province of the world-wide Anglican Communion. Established in 2021, is the newest province to have been erected. Previously the dioceses which constitute this new provin ...

. It is one of the three Anglican dioceses of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. This diocese is the most southerly of the three, the others being the Diocese of Niassa and the Diocese of Nampula.

History

The diocese was a result of the British missionary activity in Portuguese Mozambique, in the 19th century. The first bishop nominated of the Anglican Diocese of Lebombo was William Edmund Smyth, in 1893, who would be in functions until 1912. Only after the beginning of the war of independence between

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and the

FRELIMO FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's firs ...

, the diocese would have his first Portuguese language bishop,

Daniel Pina Cabral Daniel Pereira dos Santos de Pina Cabral (Vila Nova de Gaia, 27 January 1924 – Porto, 23 June 2008) was a Portuguese Anglican bishop. He was the ninth Bishop of Lebombo, Mozambique, from 1968 to 1976.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 197 ...

, a white European born prelate. Pina Cabral developed friendly relationships with the Roman Catholic bishops of Mozambique and established contact with members of the FRELIMO. He would be in office from 1969 to 1976, shortly after the independence. He was succeeded by the first Mozambican-born black bishop,

Dinis Sengulane Dinis Salomão Sengulane (born 5 March 1946) is a Mozambican Anglican priest. He was the Anglican Bishop of Lebombo, Maputo, Mozambique, from 1976 to 2014. He had an important role in the end of the Mozambican Civil War in 1992 and helped with t ...

, in office from 1976 to 2014. He was succeeded by

Carlos Matsinhe Carlos Simão Matsinhe (born October 2, 1954) is a Mozambican Anglican bishop. He is the 11th Anglican bishop of the Lebombo, Mozambique. The second Mozambican-born bishop of Lebombo, he is the symbolic head of the Anglican church in Mozambique. ...

Structure

The seat of the diocesan bishop is the Cathedral of St Augustine in Maciene in

. The largest city in the diocese is

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

. The diocese is divided into 6 archdeaconries: Inhambane District, Limpopo, Maciene, Maputo District, Pungoe and Umbeluzi. There are advanced plans for the division of the diocese into three separate dioceses. At the 2012 Provincial Synod of the Church of Southern Africa these plans were first discussed in detail, and as an interim measure two new episcopal areas were to be created in Lebombo Diocese, with two Area Bishops appointed to work with the Diocesan Bishop. The 21st session of the diocesan synod, meeting in October 2015, confirmed these plans, and also stated that the new dioceses would be named Inhambane and Pungue.

List of Bishops

* William Edmund Smyth 1893-1912 *

John Latimer Fuller John Latimer Fuller (1870 – 1950) was an Anglican bishop, the second Bishop of Lebombo from 1913 until 1920. John Latimer Fuller was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and ordained in 1893. Emigrating to South Africa in 1902 he was in ch ...

1913-1920 *

Leonard Noel Fisher Leonard Noel Fisher (14 December 1881 – 4 July 1963) was an Anglican bishop in the second quarter of the twentieth century. After parish work in England and military service in the First World War, he served as bishop in two African dioceses, ...

1921-1928 *

Basil William Peacey Basil William Peacey (1889–1969) was the fourth Bishop of Lebombo from 1929 until 1935. He was educated at Christ's Hospital and Leeds University. After a period of study at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, Peacey was ordained in 19 ...

1929-1936 *

Dennis Victor Dennis Victor (died 7 January 1949) was the fifth bishop of Lebombo from 1936 until 1947. He was educated at Denstone College and Hatfield College, Durham and ordained in 1906. His first post was as a curate at the Church of the Ascension, Victo ...

1936-1948 * John Boys 1948-1952 *

Humphry Beevor Humphry Beevor (24 August 1903 – 12 June 1965) was the seventh Bishop of Lebombo. He was educated at Winchester College and Oriel College, Oxford and ordained in 1929. His first post was as a curate at St Mark's Church, Swindon. He was th ...

1952-1958 * Stanley Chapman Pickard 1958-1969 *

1969-1976 *

1976-2014 *

2014-present (consecrated 28 September 2014)

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebombo, Anglican Diocese of Anglicanism in Mozambique 1893 establishments in Mozambique