50 years in Latin America

Mural depicting Latin America from Mexico to Chile

Yesterday I turned 68. I remember turning 18. It was significant, as it signalled the independence which allowed me to fulfil a dream and go off on my travels to Mexico. 50 years ago!

How and why I went, and what has happened since, are both long stories, told elsewhere. But here I just want to flag up the debt I owe to that decision and sense of call, and which now is insisting again.

Latin America… I owe a debt of gratitude to this amazing continent for all it has taught me. About God, and people, and myself. About language and culture, and about friendship, about social justice, and about the gospel.

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I have learnt that, whilst there is great beauty in the land and the people, there is also great suffering and tragedy, and alongside the dignity there is great malice and corruption.  Over the years it has changed dramatically, but some things do not change. There is history, and social movements, and in the midst of it all is the church, which has grown in numbers, but somehow not lived up to its potential.

50 years on, what do I see, and what do I hope to see?   I would hope to be the last English bishop, and that the Anglican church, together with all the others in the Christian family, would produce appropriate ways of reflecting the message of Christ, and His transforming power in this amazing place.

Primates of Chile and South America consult

Having been “bishop in exile” for over a year now, I have become (for the next couple of years) team leader of our group of dioceses which go to make up the Anglican Province of South America. The term used for this in our region of South America is Primate, but that sounds more suited to monkeys. However, in many other countries they refer to this post as Archbishop.

Both options were met with mirth in my family. (Archbishop of South America sounds a bit like Gran Vizier of the Ottoman Empire!) The main difference that I can sense so far is that people I don’t know are calling me “Your Grace.” On reflection this is good, because it reminds me that all we can hope to do is by the grace of God!