The Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria has today become the 41st province of the Anglican Communion. It was previously known as the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, within the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East.
Its first Primate is Archbishop Mouneer Anis, who will continue in this role and his existing role as the Bishop of Egypt until his retirement next year. He remarked: “We are aware that many brothers and sisters, who served before us, have sown many seeds and now we are harvesting. May the Lord keep us faithful to Him and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The Province of Alexandria will have four dioceses (Egypt, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Gambella) and will cover 10 countries – Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia; Morocco is included within the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe due to its proximity to Gibraltar.
Excellent!
Mauneer opts for Canterbury.
No, ReebHerb….what +Mouneer (and the bishops, clergy, and laity of Egypt and North Africa) did was to remove Egypt and North Africa from a province that was increasingly moving in a liberal direction (due to its reliance on funding from TEC), and forming a new province that will be able to sign on to the new GS Covenant, and possibly someday join Gafcon. So you end up with a more secure position for orthodoxy in North Africa.
And this adds one more orthodox voice into Anglican councils. The impact on the Anglican Communion will be rather like the formation of the province of Chile when it split off from the Province of South America- another orthodox Archbishop, more orthodox ACC members.
Exactly, TJ. This also has positive ramifications for the church within Egypt and other North African countries, which are majority-Muslim. Instead of being a subsidiary of somewhere else, the province is now recognized on its own internationally.