The Bishop of the Falkland Islands was historically a bishopric in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

; as the ordinary of the

Diocese of the Falkland Islands The Parish of the Falkland Islands is an extra-provincial church in the Anglican Communion. In 1869, the "Diocese of the Falkland Isles" with jurisdiction over the rest of South America except for British Guiana was established.Milmine, Obispo Do ...

, 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 The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, whose jurisdiction is delegated to a commissary known as the Bishop for the Falkland Islands.

History

Waite Stirling Waite Hockin Stirling (1829 – 19 November 1923) was a 19th-century missionary with the Patagonian Missionary Society (later known as the South American Missionary Society) and was the first Anglican Bishop of the Falkland Islands. He was bro ...

, a missionary from the Patagonian Missionary Society (renamed the

South American Missionary Society The South American Mission Society was founded at Brighton in 1844 as the Patagonian Mission. Captain Allen Gardiner, R.N., was the first secretary. The name "Patagonian Mission" was retained for twenty years, when the new title was adopted. The n ...

in 1868) was consecrated in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

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". Stirling served the people of the Falkland Islands for 30 years, later becoming Canon of

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

. 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 The Bishop of Argentina is a bishop in the Anglican communion, the head of the Anglican Diocese of Argentina within the Anglican Church of South America. The diocese was founded in 1910 from the Diocese of the Falkland Islands.Markham. Ian S. & ...

. In 1982 as a result of the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

, 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 The Bishop of Croydon is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The Croydon Archdeaconry was transferred from Canterbury Diocese to Southwark in 1984. Th ...

.Church Times, 24 September 2021 — UK news in brief
(Accessed 29 September 2021) The Archbishop retains the title Bishop of the Falkland Islands, while his Commissary takes the title Bishop ''for'' the Falkland Islands.

List of holders

Bishop of the Falkland Islands

Bishop for the Falkland Islands

References

External links