The primates of the Anglican Communion have two new members: the 16th moderator of the Church of North India and the 14th Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies.
The Most Rev. Dr. Paritosh Canning, Bishop of Calcutta, was elected moderator on October 22 and will serve for three years. The Rt. Rev. Philip Wright, Bishop of Belize, was elected archbishop on November 10.
Canning has a Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Divinity from Bishop’s College in Calcutta, a Church of North India webpage says.
He has more than 35 years of ministry and administrative experience in humanitarian work. Canning says his ministry reflects a holistic commitment, shepherding individuals to spiritual and emotional well-being, leading community outreach initiatives, and formulating long-term strategies for sustainable mission. His leadership extends across educational, charitable, and healthcare institutions, including schools, old-age homes, orphanages, and hospitals.
He has represented the Church of North India and the Oxford Mission in the England, Scotland, and the United States.
Canning entered ordained ministry through the Oxford Mission Brotherhood ministry in Calcutta, which strives to combine monastic discipline with missionary work. It was founded in 1880.
The Church of North India was formed in 1970 by the merger of six missionary-founded Protestant churches: Anglican, United Church of Northern India, Methodist, Baptist, Brethren, and Disciples of Christ. Headquartered in Delhi, it has 26 dioceses and about 2.3 million members, spread across 23 of India’s 25 states (the Church of South India, which serves a region with a more densely Christian population, is even larger, with 4.5 million members).
Bishop Wright will succeed Archbishop Howard Gregory, who retired on December 31, 2024. Wright was a protégé of Archbishop Drexel Gomez, who died October 14 at 88.
“It is quite an overwhelming moment,” Wright said about his election, as reported by Anglican Communion News Service. “When I started my journey into ministry, I would never have imagined a day like this would come. It gives me great joy to serve the church I love and have devoted the majority of my life to, and to continue to be part of moving the mission and ministry of the church forward.”
Bishop Philip has served in his current role since his consecration in November 2005.
Born in Belize City in 1967, he was educated locally before training for the priesthood at Codrington College in Barbados and the University of the West Indies. He later gained a master’s degree in theology from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. He was ordained deacon in 1992 and priest in 1993, serving in parish, teaching and administrative ministries before his episcopal election.
In addition to his diocesan responsibilities, Bishop Wright serves as one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches, representing the Caribbean and Latin America. Within Belize, he has held appointments on national commissions concerned with good governance, family and child welfare, and education.
The Province of the West Indies has eight dioceses. Six serve the Caribbean Islands and two are based in former British colonies on the mainland: Belize in Central America and Guyana in northern South America. There are about 770,000 Anglicans in the province, which is among the oldest in the Anglican Communion, becoming independent of the Church of England in 1882. Its theological seminary, Codrington College, is the oldest Anglican theological college in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1745.
