Christine Benoit (born 13 August 1972) is the first woman in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

to be ordained as an Anglican priest.

Early life

Christine Benoit was born on 13 August 1972.

Education

She earned a Diploma in Business Studies and Accounting from

Seychelles Polytechnic Seychelles Polytechnic is a government-owned tertiary institution located in Anse Royale, Mahé. The institution currently offer three programme areas in Business & Secretarial Studies, Visual Arts and the Manchester Twinning Programme, a first-y ...

in 1993. In 2002, she earned a Diploma in Theology and Diplomas in Ministry with distinction, from the

College of the Transfiguration The College of the Transfiguration in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, is the only Province (Anglican), provincial residential college of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, offering a Contextual theology, contextual approach to theology studies. The co ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

, South Africa.

Career

From April 1993 to January 2000, she worked in the Internal Audit Division of the Seychelles' Ministry of Finance. In 2004, Benoit became the first woman to be ordained as an Anglican deacon in the

Diocese of Seychelles The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean is a province of the Anglican Communion. It covers the islands of Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. The current Archbishop and Primate is James Wong, Bishop of Seychelles. Anglican realign ...

. On 26 November 2006, Benoit became the first woman to be ordained as an Anglican priest in the

, during a consecration service that took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in Victoria, Seychelles, in a service led by Bishop Santosh Marray. In March 2017, she was named one of "14 inspiring women of Seychelles". In July 2017, she was appointed a member of the National AIDS Council of Seychelles. As of 2017, Benoit is the "only female Reverend in the Indian Ocean" and is based at Holy Saviour's Church at

Anse Royale Anse Royale () is an administrative district of Seychelles located on the island of Mahé. The Seychelles Polytechnic School of the Humanities is located in this district. Gallery File:Anse Royale looking south towards Anse Forbans.jpg, The view ...

, Seychelles.

References

Living people 1972 births Seychellois Anglican priests Women Christian clergy College of the Transfiguration alumni {{Seychelles-bio-stub