House of Bishops moves to elect Ntagali successor

Church of Uganda Archbishop Grace Stanley Ntagali, who is set to retire. FILE PHOTO

Kampala- The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Uganda will convene on August 28 to elect the new archbishop who will take over from the Most Rev Stanley Ntagali in March next year.

Archbishop Ntagali, who took over as the eighth head of the Anglican Church in 2012, will hand over the leadership of the church upon clocking 65 years.
The House of Bishops comprises diocesan and assistant bishops from the 38 dioceses in the province. The provincial chancellor presides over the election.

Rev Can Alson Barfoot, the communications director at the Church of Uganda Province, yesterday explained the process of electing an archbishop.

“They [archbishops] can only serve until their 65th birthday. At the age of 65, an archbishop must retire, even if he has served less than his 10-year term. To be elected an archbishop, you must be a bishop in the Church of Uganda and at least 50 years old. All dioceses must have bishops. There can be no vacant [places in] dioceses,” she said in an email.

She indicated that 33 out of the 38 bishops in Uganda qualify to be elected archbishop.

Archbishop Ntagali, who was enthroned on December 18, 2012, at the age of 57, turns 65 years on March 1, 2020.

“After the election, the person elected is referred to as the archbishop-elect. He will not officially become the Archbishop until he is enthroned [installed] on Sunday, March 1, 2020 at St Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe,” Dr Barfoot explained.

Under the arrangement, Dr Barfoot said after elections, the archbishop-elect will say farewell to his diocese as they prepare to elect a new bishop.
“An archbishop automatically serves as the Diocesan Bishop of Kampala Diocese as well as Archbishop of the entire Church of Uganda. So, Kampala Diocese will say farewell to their bishop and prepare to receive a new bishop, who is also the archbishop,” she added.

Past bishops
-Leslie Brown (1961-1966)
-Erica Sabiti (1966 – 1974)
-Janani Luwum (1974 – 1977).
-Silvanus Wani (1977 – 1983). -Yona Okoth (1983 – 1995)
-Livingstone Mpalanyi-Nkoyoyo (1995 – 2004)
-Henry Luke Orombi (2004 - 2012)
-Stanley Ntagali (2012-2020)