Bishop James Wong of the Seychelles was elected Aug. 26 as archbishop and primate of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean. He succeeds Archbishop Ian Ernest, who served for 11 years.
Wong was elected in April 2009 as the fourth Bishop of the Seychelles. He is a native of Rodrigues Island and became a citizen of Seychelles in 2015. He was ordained priest in 1983 and served in three parishes in the Diocese of Mauritius before being appointed Archdeacon of Mauritius.
Before his episcopal election, he was active in ecumenical affairs, serving as general secretary of the Fellowship of Christian Churches of Mauritius and chairman of Scripture Union Mauritius. The bishop and his wife, Doreen, have a daughter and a son.
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.
