After leading a fact-finding visit, Archbishop Paul Kwong has expressed his hope that the Anglican diocese in Chile will become the 40th Province of the Anglican Communion.
The Anglican Church in Chile is a diocese in the Province of the Church of South America, but has been moving toward becoming one of the Communion’s autonomous provinces.
A seven-member delegation will report its findings to the Anglican Consultative Council’s Standing Committee in September. With the approval of that committee and a majority of the Communion’s primates, the Province of Chile could be established by the end of the year.
The delegation visited Chile on Aug. 7-13 to find whether it is ready and meets the criteria to become an Anglican province.
“What we have seen during these days is that the Anglican Church in Chile is a church that is centered on Jesus and his mission, and develops a ministry that is completely centered on people and how to equip them in the gospel,” Kwong said. “We were here to learn, understand, and experience through our eyes what the church is doing here, and it is something that I would love to apply to my own context.
“I think that if all goes well Chile will be the 40th Province of the Communion and will enrich the church, the life, of the Anglican Communion, and I really want to see it.”
In addition to Archbishop Kwong, the international delegation included:
- Bishop Jane Alexander of the Anglican Church of Canada
- Josiah Idowu-Fearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion
- Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town, representing the Archbishop of Canterbury
- Jeroham Melendez of the Anglican Church of the Central America Region
- Maggie Swinson, vice chairwoman of the ACC
- David White, chief operating officer of the Anglican Communion Office
Adapted from ACNS
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
