MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Canterbury appoints Stephen Venner Bishop for the Falklands

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has appointed Bishop Stephen Venner of Dover as his Episcopal Commissary for the Falkland Islands.

Venner, who continues as Bishop of Dover, will be known as the Bishop for the Falkland Islands and will have all the rights and functions of the Ordinary -- in effect becoming the Anglican Bishop for the Islands -- under the authority of the Archbishop. The appointment has been made to enhance the provision of pastoral care for the Islanders and oversight for the Islands' parish, which is served by Christ Church Cathedral, Stanley. The Anglican Church in the Falkland Islands is known formally as "the Episcopal Jurisdiction of the Falkland Islands," and since 1977 has come under the Metropolitical jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Christ Church Cathedral in Stanley is the parish church for the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, and the British Antarctic Territory.