Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar
Extent of the Diocese
The Diocese in Europe is geographically by far the largest diocese of the Church of England, with its churches and congregations spread across 42 countries on three continents, and covering one sixth of the earth’s land surface.
With almost 300 congregations across Europe, as well as in Turkey, Morocco and Russia, the churches under its orbit have equally varied locations, ranging from capital cities such as Moscow through small towns and into holiday areas such as the Canary Islands. The congregations include young people, retired people, diplomats, business men and women and, due to current world events, refugees.
The Diocese looks after churches as far apart as Mongolia in the east and Portugal in the west and from Iceland in the north down to Morocco and the Canary Islands in the south. Diocesan head office is in Gibraltar, home to the cathedral of the diocese. There are two “pro-cathedrals”, St Paul’s Valletta, in Malta and Holy Trinity, Brussels, in Belgium.
All Saints Anglican Church – Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife
The History of the Diocese
English churches have been established in continental Europe since before the Reformation and grew in number to such an extent that in 1633 congregations of the Church of England in all foreign countries were placed under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, London then being the chief port of England. Anglican dioceses and then provinces were later formed in all parts of the world outside the United Kingdom. The Diocese of Gibraltar was founded in 1842 and took over the pastoral care of chaplaincies and congregations in locations as geographically widespread and culturally diverse as Alicante, Ancona, Athens, Barcelona, Cadiz, Cartagena, Constantinople, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, the Dardanelles, Fiume (then part of Austria-Hungary and today known as Rijeca, part of Croatia), Florence, Genoa, Hamburg, Leghorn (Livorno), Madrid, Malaga, Malta, Marseilles, Messina, Minorca (Mahon), Naples, Nice, Palermo, Patras (Greece), Preveza (Greece), Rome, Salonica (today’s Thessaloniki), Sardinia (Cagliari), Smyrna, Syria, Tangier, Trieste (then part of Austria-Hungary), Tripoli, Tunis, Turin and Venice.
In 1883 the Bishop of London appointed a suffragan bishop (a suffragan bishop is an assistant or subordinate bishop of a diocese), who later was given the title of Bishop of Fulham, to supervise the chaplaincies in north and central Europe. From 1970 the Jurisdiction of North and Central Europe, together with the Diocese of Gibraltar, was transferred to the episcopal care of one bishop, the Bishop of Fulham and Gibraltar. Finally in July 1980 a single diocese was formed with the title The Diocese in Europe, and it became the 44th Diocese of the Church of England.
The Bishops
The current Bishop of the Diocese is The Rt Revd Dr Robert Innes who is assisted by a Suffragan Bishop, a role currently unoccupied after the retirement of the much-missed The Rt Revd Dr David Hamid and waiting to be filled, 7 Archdeacons, and a number of Honorary Assistant Bishops. These last comprise retired bishops of the Church of England, as well as some serving bishops from churches in communion in Europe. Honorary Assistant Bishops assist, as required, the diocesan and suffragan bishop in the Diocese in Europe, and act only on their request. The holders of these positions may be invited to carry out a particular function on an occasional and non-stipendiary (unpaid) basis.
St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Moscow
Other Members Churches of the Anglican Communion in the Diocese
The Episcopal Church of the United States of America (ECUSA) has also established six churches in Europe. They are under the jurisdiction of the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA. Since 1971 they have been placed in the care of the Bishop-in-Charge of the American Convocation in Europe. The Spanish Episcopal Reformed Church and the Lusitanian Church (Portugal) are also full member churches of the Anglican Communion. The Church of England has full communion with a number of others churches, as a result of historical agreements and the more recent Porvoo Agreement. Find out more about the Porvoo Communion. The Union of Utrecht established full Communion between the Old Catholic Churches that make up the Union of Utrecht and the Church of England (and thereby, with all of the Churches of the Anglican Communion) through the Bonn Agreement of 1931.
To find out more about the work of The Diocese in Europe, go to the website of the Diocese in Europe.
