Bernard Ntahoturi (born 1948 in Matana) is a Burundian Anglican bishop. He was the Primate of the

Anglican Church of Burundi The Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi (French: Province de l'Église anglicane du Burundi) is a province of the Anglican Communion, located in East Africa between Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, and the Congo. The Archbishop and Primate of Buru ...

from 2005 to 2016, and is the Bishop of Matana.

Education

Ntahoturi studied at Mukono Theological College, in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, from 1968 to 1972. He then took his Diploma in Theology at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

; Ridley Hall and St. John's College, in 1976, and his M.A. in Diplomacy at Lincoln College, Oxford in 1982.

Ordained ministry

Ntahoturi was ordained an Anglican priest in 1973. He served in the government of Burundi from 1979 to 1986, becoming chief of staff of President

Jean-Baptiste Bagaza Jean-Baptiste Bagaza (29 August 19464 May 2016) was a Burundian army officer and politician who ruled Burundi as president and ''de facto'' military dictator from November 1976 to September 1987. Born into the Tutsi ethnic group in 1946, Bagaza ...

. After the overthrowing of President Bagaza in 1987, in a military coup, he was jailed from 1987 to 1991. He was Provincial Secretary of the Episcopal Church of Burundi, being consecrated bishop of the Diocese of Matana in 1997. He was consecrated the third primate of the Anglican Church of Burundi on July 17, 2005. His mandate of five years was extended to another five at the reunion of the House of the Bishops of Burundi, on 23–24 June 2010, starting on July 17, 2010. He would serve until 21 August 2016. He is also a member of the Central Committee of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

and chair of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission for Unity, Faith, and Order. He was elected Chairman of the Council of the Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) on February 7, 2012. He has been involved in the

Anglican realignment The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States ...

as a member of the Global South. He attended GAFCON II, that took place in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, from 21 to 26 October 2013. A moderate conservative, he was involved in several meetings with representatives from the pro-homosexuality provinces of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

, including the "Transformation Through Friendship" gathering, organized by the Episcopal Church of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, in October 2014. Five

GAFCON The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a global network of conservative Anglicanism, Anglican churches that formed in 2008 in response to an ongoing theological crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

Primates wrote him in January 2015, criticizing his attitude, but Ntahoturi never replied. He would attend the Global South meeting, in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, in October 2015, being one of the 12 signants at the occasion, with several

Primates, including

Foley Beach Foley Thomas Beach (born October 31, 1958) is an American bishop. He is the second primate and archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, a church associated with the Anglican realignment movement. Foley was elected as the church's prim ...

, from the

Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba ...

. After the Episcopal Church approval of same-sex marriage, Ntahoturi voted for their suspension from the

, in the Primates meeting held in January 2016. He was appointed by

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for ...

to be the Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See and Director of the

Anglican Centre in Rome Anglican Centre in Rome is an ecumenical organisation which is dedicated to improving relations between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1966 with the encouragement of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canter ...

on 17 March 2017, taking office on 26 October. He was the first African and francophone to be appointed to both offices. He stepped down on 21 December 2018, having been accused of

sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, se ...

References

External links

Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ntahoturi, Bernard 1948 births Living people Burundian Anglicans 20th-century Anglican bishops in Africa 21st-century Anglican archbishops Anglican bishops of Matana Anglican archbishops of Burundi