As one of the ‘Instruments’ of the Anglican Communion, the Primates’ Meeting gathers the senior bishops, archbishops, and moderators of the member churches of the Communion every two years. The meetings are planned by the regional primates of the Communion who serve on the Primates’ Standing Committee.
The meetings include prayer, conversation, Bible study, and fellowship, and provide the primates an opportunity to speak words of encouragement, challenge, and direction to their own churches and to the Communion.
Since its establishment in 1978 by then-Archbishop of Canterbury Donald Coggan, the Primates’ Meeting has coordinated closely with both the Anglican Consultative Council and the Lambeth Conference.
There are four ‘Instruments’ of the Anglican Communion that work together to order and articulate the shared life and mission of member churches. They are the Primates’ Meeting, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Lambeth Conference, and The Archbishop of Canterbury.
As spiritual leaders of their respective churches, the Primates play a key role in guiding the mission, unity, and theological reflection of the Communion. Below is a list of the current Primates, organised by region.
The Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria
The Most Revd Samy Fawzy, Primate of Alexandria and Bishop of Egypt
The Anglican Church of Burundi
The Most Revd Sixbert Macumi, Primate of the Anglican Church of Burundi and Bishop of Buye
The Province de L'Eglise Anglicane Du Congo
The Most Revd Georges Titre Ande, the Archbishop of Congo and Bishop of Aru
The Church of the Province of Central Africa
The Most Revd Albert Chama, the Archbishop of Central Africa and Bishop of Lusaka
The Anglican Church of Kenya
The Most Revd Jackson Ole Sapit, Primate and Archbishop of All Kenya
The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean
The Most Revd Dr Gilbert Rateloson Rakotondravelo, Primate of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean and Bishop of Fianarantsoa
Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola
The Most Revd Vicente Msosa, Presiding Bishop of Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola and Bishop of Zambezia Missionary Diocese
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Most Revd Henry C. Ndukuba, Metropolitan & Primate of all Nigeria & Bishop of Abuja
The Province de L'Eglise Anglicane au Rwanda
The Most Revd Laurent Mbanda, Archbishop of L'Eglise Episcopal au Rwanda & Bishop of Shyira
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa
The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town and Primate of Southern Africa
The Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan
The Most Revd Ezekiel Kumir Kondo, Archbishop of the Province of Sudan & Bishop of Khartoum
The Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan
The Most Revd Justin Badi Arama, Archbishop and Primate of the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan & Bishop of Juba
The Anglican Church of Tanzania
The Most Revd Dr Maimbo Mndolwa, Archbishop of Tanzania & Bishop of Tanga
The Church of the Province of Uganda
The Most Revd Stephen Kaziimba, Archbishop of Uganda & Bishop of Mityana
The Church of the Province of West Africa
The Most Revd Dr Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, Primate of the Church of the Province of West Africa and Bishop of Asante-Mampong
Iglesia Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil
The Most Revd Marinez Rosa Dos Santos Bassotto, Primate of Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil and Bishop of Amazônia
The Anglican Church of Canada
Acting Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada and Bishop of Algoma and Moosonee; and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario
Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America
The Most Revd Juan David Alvarado Melgar, Primate of Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America and Bishop of El Salvador
The Anglican Church of Chile
The Most Revd Enrique Lago Zugadi, Primate of the Anglican Church of Chile and Bishop of South of Chile
The Episcopal Church
The Most Revd Sean Rowe, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
La Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico
The Most Revd Enrique Treviño Cruz, Primate of Mexico and Bishop of Cuernavaca
The Anglican Church of South America
The Most Revd Brian Williams, Primate of the Anglican Church of South America and Bishop of Argentina
The Church in the Province of the West Indies
The Right Revd Philip Wright, Acting Primate of the Church in the Province of the West Indies and Bishop of Belize
The Church of England
The Most Revd and Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York and Primate of England
The Church of Ireland
The Most Revd John McDowell, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland and Metropolitan
The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem & The Middle East
The Most Revd Hosam Naoum, President Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem
The Scottish Episcopal Church
The Most Revd Mark Strange, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church & Bishop of Moray, Ross & Caithness
The Church in Wales
The Most Revd Andrew John, Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Bangor
The Church of Bangladesh
The Most Revd Samuel Sunil Mankhin, the Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and Bishop of Kushtia
Extra-Provincial: Ceylon
The Most Revd Nishantha Fernando, Primate of the Church of Ceylon and Bishop of Kurunegala
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
The Most Revd Andrew Chan, Archbishop of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui & Bishop of Western Kowloon
The Church of North India (United)
The Most Revd Bijay Nayak, Moderator of the Church of North India and Bishop of Agra
The Anglican Church of Korea
The Most Revd Onesimus Dongsin Park, Bishop of Busan and Primate of the Anglican Church of Korea
The Church of the Province of Myanmar
The Most Revd Stephen Than Myint Oo, Archbishop of Myanmar and Bishop of Yangon
Nippon Sei Ko Kai
The Most Revd David Eisho Uehara, Primate of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai and Bishop of Okinawa
The Church of Pakistan
The Most Revd Dr Azad Marshall, Bishop of Raiwind & Moderator of the Church of Pakistan
The Episcopal Church in the Philippines
The Most Revd Nester Poltic, Prime Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines
The Church of the Province of South East Asia
The Right Revd Dr Titus Chung, Bishop of Singapore and Primate of the Church of the Province of South East Asia
The Church of South India (United)
The Rt Revd Reuben Mark, Deputy Moderator of CSI & Bishop of Karimnagar
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand & Polynesia
- Te Pīhopa Mātāmua and Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
- The Most Revd Justin Duckworth, Bishop of Wellington and Primate and Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
- The Most Reverend Sione Ulu’ilakepa, the Bishop of the Diocese of Polynesia and Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
The Anglican Church of Australia
The Most Revd Geoffrey Smith, Primate of Australia, Archbishop of Adelaide and Metropolitan of South Australia
The Anglican Church of Melanesia
The Most Revd Leonard Dawea, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Melanesia and Bishop of Central Melanesia
The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea
The Right Revd Nathan Ingen, Bishop of Aipo Rongo and Acting Archbishop of Papua New Guinea