The inauguration service of the Province of Chile and the installation of its first primate, Archbishop Héctor Zavala, took place on Sunday 4 November 2018. The ceremony was presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who pledged to promote its growth and mission, formalizing the next stage of the life of the Anglican church in the country.
By becoming an autonomous and independent Church alongside the other Anglican provinces from across the world, Chile will now have a greater voice in the global Anglican debates, and will also improve its governance by having more leaders to take care of congregations and believers in the country.
Chile will cease to be a diocese and will become a Province, whose territory will be divided into four dioceses that will be governed and administered by four diocesan bishops and the new Primate, who was installed as head of this church in the ceremony.
Currently the Anglican Church has 95 churches, the majority located in the Araucanía and Metropolitan Region. It also has 64 clergy or pastors who serve the more than 20,000 Anglicans in our country.
The Archbishop of Canterbury stressed the point that it “is important for Chile because it means that the Church is deeply entrenched in Chile and, for the entire Communion, it has great relevance because it indicates that the church extends its vision to the whole world. Today is a day of rejoicing and celebration for everyone, “he said.
For his part, the new Primate of the Province of Chile, Héctor Zavala Muñoz, said that “we are happy in the Anglican Church of Chile, because now we are recognized as the 40th province of the Communion. This is because the Chilean Church has grown and developed through the Gospel of Christ and has been exercising through the preaching of Jesus.”
He also stated that “when one hears that the Church is dead today, that is not a reality for Anglicans. The Anglican Church continues to grow, in young people, marriages, and children, whose lives have been transformed by the Gospel of life. “