Archdiocese of Polynesia (Anglican)

The Archdiocese of Polynesia, or the Tikanga Pasefika, headed by Archbishop Winston Halapua,[1] serves Anglicans in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands, within the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The diocese's first bishop was consecrated in 1908. The diocese's cathedral is Holy Trinity Cathedral in Suva, Fiji.

Polynesia is an archdiocese, and its bishop is automatically accorded the style archbishop and the formal prefix Most Reverend. Under the new model of leadership now adopted by the Anglican Church in New Zealand, the Bishop of Polynesia is automatically one of the three co-presiding bishops and archbishops. Each of these three is metropolitan archbishop to his respective tikanga, and informally they also share the primacy, although in practice they are required to elect one of their number to be the formal Primate, and serve on the international Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting. The Archbishop of Polynesia is currently supported by two suffragan bishops: Bishop Apimeleki Nadoki Qiliho serves Vanua Levu and Taveuni; Bishop Gabriel Sharma serves Viti Levu West. There has previously been a third suffragan bishop, serving Polynesians in New Zealand, but this position has remained vacant since Winston Halapua became the new diocesan and Archbishop.

References

  1. New archbishop for Anglican Church, Radio New Zealand News, 12 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.

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