The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

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 ...

. It covers the islands of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and 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, ...

. The current

Archbishop 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 archdio ...

and

Primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

is James Wong, Bishop of Seychelles.

Anglican realignment

The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean is a member of the

Global South The concept of Global North and Global South (or North–South divide in a global context) is used to describe a grouping of countries along socio-economic and political characteristics. The Global South is a term often used to identify region ...

and the

Global Anglican Future Conference The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) is a series of conferences of conservative Anglican bishops and leaders, the first of which was held in Jerusalem from 22 to 29 June 2008 to address the growing controversy of the divisions in the A ...

, and 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 ...

. Archbishop James Wong attended GAFCON III, in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, on 17–22 June 2018. The province was represented at the event by a ten-member delegation, six from Madagascar and four from the Seychelles.

Dioceses

Madagascan dioceses

Diocese of Antananarivo

The Bishop of

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "A ...

has been the Ordinary of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has 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 ...

in Antananarivo in the Indian Ocean since the diocese's erection in 1969. The current bishop is

Samoela Jaona Ranarivelo Ranarivelo Samoela Jaona (born 25 January 1962) is the current Malagasy Anglican bishop of the Diocese of Antananarivo. He was consecrated on the 29 June 2008 at the cathedral of Saint Laurent's in Ambohimanoro, and is the fourth bishop of Antana ...

Diocese of Antsiranana

Bishops of

Antsiranana Antsiranana ( mg, Antsiran̈ana ), named Diego-Suárez prior to 1975, is a city in the far north of Madagascar. Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region. It had an estimated population of 115,015 in 2013. History The bay and city originally ...

have included Gabriel Josoa (until 1982),

Keith Benzies Keith John Benzies OBE (19 June 1938 – 12 May 2002) was an Anglican bishop in Madagascar. He was the Bishop of Antsiranana from 1982 until his death in 2002. Early life Benzies was born in Stepps, Lanarkshire, the son of John Young Benz ...

(1982 to his death in 2002), Roger Chung Po Chuen (until 2012),

Oliver Simon Oliver Simon (born 1945) is a retired Anglican bishop and Church of England priest. After a 40-year ministry as a priest, he served as Bishop of Antsiranana in Madagascar from 2012 until 2015. Education Simon was educated at Durham University, ga ...

(2012–2015) and Théophile Botomazava (2015-2021).

Diocese of Fianarantsoa

The diocese of

Fianarantsoa Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central Madagascar, and is the capital of Haute Matsiatra Region. History It was built in the early 19th century by the Merina as the administrative capital for the newly conquered Betsileo kin ...

, has been established since at least 2003Africa South of the Sahara 2003, p. 608
(Accessed 22 February 2017) and Gilbert Rakotondravelo had been the Bishop of Fianarantsoa since before 2010.

Diocese of Mahajanga

Jean-Claude Andrianjafimanana had been the (Anglican) Bishop of

Mahajanga Mahajanga (French: Majunga) is a city and an administrative district on the northwest coast of Madagascar. The city of Mahajanga (Mahajanga I) is the capital of the Boeny Region. The district (identical to the city) had a population of 220,629 i ...

, since before 2003.

Diocese of Toamasina

When

Grosvenor Miles Grosvenor Miles (1901 – 15 July 1978) was an Anglican bishop in Madagascar and Australia. He was the assistant bishop of Madagascar from 1938 to 1960 and the assistant bishop of North Queensland from 1962 to his death in 1978. Early life ...

was appointed assistant bishop of Madagascar in 1938, he based himself in

Tamatave Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

, with the intention that this would become a diocesan see when the diocese of Madagascar was divided up; but, in fact, the diocese of Tamatave was not created until 1969. It was subsequently renamed the diocese of Toamasina. The inaugural bishop was James Seth from 1969 until his death in 1975. Jean-Paul Solo has been the (Anglican) Bishop of

Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

, since before 2011.

Diocese of Toliara

Todd McGregor was elected in 2006 to become a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case the ...

over the

Toliara Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

(Tuléar) missionary area of the Diocese of Antananarivo, to prepare that area to become a diocese. On 21 April 2013, the new Diocese of Toliara was erected out of Antananarivo diocese and McGregor became the first bishop diocesan. On 14 March 2021, the Rt Rev Dr Samitiana Jhonson Razafindralambo, formerly the assistant bishop, was elected the next bishop and installed as the 2nd Bishop of Toliara on 25 April 2021.

Diocese of Mauritius

:''See:

Bishop of Mauritius The Bishop of Mauritius () has been the Ordinary of the Anglican Church in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean since its inception in 1854. The current bishop is Ian Ernest, who was also the Archbishop of the Indian Ocean until 2017. Bishops *1854 ...

.''

Diocese of Seychelles

The Bishop of Seychelles has been the Ordinary of the

in the

in the Indian Ocean since the diocese's erection in 1973. The current bishop is James Wong, since 2009; he has also been the Archbishop of the Indian Ocean since 2017.Seychelles eNews — Anglican Bishop to be consecrated
(Accessed 22 February 2017)

Archbishops

* 1973–1976 Edwin Curtis * 1978–1983

Trevor Huddleston Ernest Urban Trevor Huddleston (15 June 191320 April 1998) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Stepney in London before becoming the second Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean. He was best known for ...

* 1984–1995 French Chang-Him * 1995–2005

Remi Rabenirina Remi Joseph Rabenirina (born 6 March 1938) is a former Malagasy Anglican archbishop. He was Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean, from 1995 to 2005. Rabenirina was educated at the University of Madagascar. After a brief c ...

* 2006–2017

Ian Ernest Gerald James Ian Ernest (born 30 August 1954) is a Mauritian Anglican bishop. In 2001 he was consecrated as the 15th bishop of Mauritius. From 2006 to 2017 he was archbishop of the Province of the Indian Ocean. Since October 2019 he has been the ...

* 2017–present James Wong

References

External links

Anglican Communion website information
from the Diocese of Mauritius {{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Ocean, Church of tThe Province of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean Anglican Communion church bodies Anglican realignment denominations

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

Christian denominations in Asia Anglicanism in Asia