Primates in the Anglican Communion are the most senior bishop or archbishop of one of the 42[1] churches of the Anglican Communion.[2] The Church of England, however, has two primates, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York.
Some of these churches are stand-alone ecclesiastical provinces (such as the Church of the Province of West Africa), while others are national churches comprising several ecclesiastical provinces (such as the Church of England). Since 1978, the Anglican primates have met annually for an Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded as the symbolic leader (though primus-inter-pares) of the Anglican primates. While the gathering has no legal jurisdiction, it acts as one of the informal instruments of unity among the autonomous provinces of the communion.
In stand-alone ecclesiastical provinces, the primate is the metropolitan archbishop of the province. In national churches composed of several ecclesiastical provinces, the primate will be senior to the metropolitan archbishops of the various provinces, and may also be a metropolitan archbishop. In those churches which do not have a tradition of archiepiscopacy, the primate is a bishop styled "primus" (in the case of the Scottish Episcopal Church), "presiding bishop", "president bishop", "prime bishop" or simply "primate". In the case of the Episcopal Church in the United States, which is composed of several ecclesiastical provinces, there is a presiding bishop who is its primate, but the individual provinces are not led by metropolitans.
Anglican primates may be attached to a fixed see (e.g., the Archbishop of Canterbury is invariably the Primate of All England), who may be chosen from among sitting metropolitans or diocesan bishops and retain the see (as with, for example, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia), or who may have no see (as in the Anglican Church of Canada). Primates are generally chosen by election (either by a synod consisting of laity, clergy and bishops, or by a House of Bishops). In some instances, the primacy is awarded on the basis of seniority among the episcopal college. In the Church of England, the primate, like all bishops, is appointed by the British sovereign, in the capacity of Supreme Governor of the established church, on the advice of the Crown Appointments Commission.
The United Churches of South India, of North India, of Pakistan and of Bangladesh have neither metropolitan (arch)bishops nor national primates. Instead, each has a Moderator of the Synod (and a Vice-Moderator), elected from among the bishops for a fixed term, who is ranked among the Anglican primates.[3]
In the Church of England and the Church of Ireland, the metropolitan of the second province has since medieval times also been accorded the title of primate. In England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is known as the "Primate of All England" while the Archbishop of York as "Primate of England" (see also Primacy of Canterbury). In Ireland both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Armagh are titled "Primate of All Ireland"; while both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Dublin are titled "Primate of Ireland".[4] As both of these positions pre-date the 1921 partition, they relate to the whole of Ireland. The junior primates of these churches do not normally participate in the Primates' Meeting.
| Key | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active primate | Male primate | |||
| Inactive primate | Female primate | |||
| Position vacant or acting primate | ||||
| Province | Primate | Person | Date of birth & age | Consecration | Took office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
& Primate of All England | 6 January 1956 | ||||||
& Primate of Southern Africa | < | --'til retirement--> | 15 December 1960 | ||||
& Bishop of Yangon | < | --'til retirement--> | |||||
Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church of Chile & Bishop of Santiago | < | --'til ret.?--> | 16 October 1954 | –2016 (South America) 4 November 2018present (Chile) | |||
& Bishop of Northern Zambia | < | --'til retirement--> | unknown | ||||
| < | --a single 9y term: 2015–2024--> | 13 March 1953 | |||||
& Bishop of All Saints' Cathedral | < | --'til ret.--> | 12 June 1964 | ||||
& Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness | < | --til ret.--> | 2 November 1961 | ||||
& Primate of Sudan | < | --term?--> | |||||
& Bishop of Seychelles | < | --til ret--> | |||||
Primate of New Zealand & Te Pīhopa o Te Tairāwhiti | < | --til ret--> | |||||
& Primate of South Sudan | < | --10-year term; through April 2028--> | |||||
& Bishop of Tanga | < | --term?--> | |||||
& Bishop of Gasabo | < | --term?--> | |||||
& Bishop of Dhaka | < | --term: 'til retirement--> | unknown | ||||
& Bishop of Jamaica | < | --'til retirement--> | |||||
| < | --term: 'til retirement (70) (scheduled for Sept. 15, to be succeeded by Anne Germond on acting basis until 2025 General Synod)--> | 25 October 1954 | |||||
& Bishop of Central Melanesia | < | --'til ret.; by age 60--> | |||||
& Bishop of Kampala | < | --'til ret.; by age 70--> | 15 August 1962 | ||||
& Primate of All Nigeria | < | --'til retirement--> | 18 July 1961 | [5] | |||
& Archbishop of Adelaide | < | --until 7 April 2026; term is 6y, renewable once--> | [6] | [7] | |||
& Primate of All Ireland | < | --'til retirement--> | [8] | [9] | |||
& Bishop of Seoul | < | --2-year term--> | unknown | [10] | |||
& Bishop of Western Kowloon | < | --'til retirement--> | [11] | ||||
& Bishop in Raiwind | < | --3-year term--> | unknown | ||||
& Bishop of Egypt | < | --til retirement by age 70--> | |||||
| < | --til the consecration of his successor later in 2024--> | 27 March 1957 | |||||
& Bishop of Buye | < | --'til ret.--> | |||||
& Bishop of Bangor | < | --til ret.--> | 9 January 1964 | ||||
& Bishop of Aru | unknown | unknown | [12] | ||||
Metropolitan Archbishop of Ghana & Bishop of Asante Mampong | < | --'til ret.? alternates Ghana/WA--> | 21 February 1964 | [13] | |||
& Bishop of Cuernavaca | < | --According to RS, Trevino is still recognized by Anglican Communion Office as primate amid a conflict over who runs the church.--> | [14] | ||||
& Bishop of El Salvador | < | --4-yr term ends 2026--> | [15] | ||||
& Bishop of Amazon | |||||||
& Bishop of Agra | < | --first 3-year term started December 2022--> | unknown | ||||
& Primate of New Zealand | [16] | ||||||
& Archbishop in Jerusalem | < | --til ret?--> | |||||
& Bishop of Singapore | < | --4 year term--> | [17] | [18] | |||
| < | --elected 2024, serves until resignation/retirement--> | [19] | |||||
& Bishop of Okinawa | < | --two-year term, renewable--> | unknown | [20] | [21] | ||
& Bishop of Aipo Rongo | < | --til ret--> | unknown | unknown | (Acting) | ||
& Bishop of Lebombo | < | --'til el./inst. of first PB--> | 7 October 1954 | (Acting) | |||
& Bishop of Argentina | < | --Nick Drayson retired May 2023; Brian Williams is acting primate (https://churchmissionsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Drayson-29.pdf)--> | unknown | unknown | |||
& Bishop of Karimnagar | < | --serving on interim basis since Sept. 2023 court case invalidated reelection of previous moderator; new election to be held--> | 29 March 1961 | [22] |