Archbishop of Melanesia

The Archbishop of Melanesia is the spiritual head of the Church of the Province of Melanesia, which is a province of the Anglican Communion in the South Pacific region, covering the nations of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. From 1861 until the inauguration of Church of the Province of Melanesia in 1975, the Bishop of Melanesia was the head of the Diocese of Melanesia.

Responsibility of the Archbishop

The Church of Melanesia consists of eight dioceses, formed into a single province. The Archbishop of Melanesia is therefore:

• Diocesan Bishop of the Diocese of Central Melanesia;
• Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province;
• Primate of the Melanesian Church, and its representative to the Anglican Primates' meeting.

History of the See

The first Bishop of Melanesia was John Patteson, consecrated in 1861. Three years later his church suffered its first two martyrdoms, and the Bishop was himself martyred in September 1871. He is now remembered in the calendar (list of saints) of many Anglican provinces. The mission to Melanesia advanced, and the diocese was subdivided and regional diocesan bishops created, until in 1975 it was officially formed into a new Province of the Anglican church with the Bishop of Melanesia, John Chisholm, becoming the first Bishop of Central Melanesia and Archbishop of Melanesia.

The primatial archbishop title belongs ex officio to the diocesan bishop of that metropolitan see – as such, the bishop elected as Archbishop leaves his previous see and is translated to Central Melanesia in order to become primate. Chisholm died shortly after appointment and the then dean of St. Barnabas Cathedral, Norman Palmer, was chosen the second Archbishop. After the retirement of Archbishop Norman, the third Archbishop was Amos Waiaru, who served until Ellison Pogo replaced him in the office where he served for fourteen years from 1994 to December 2008. He was honored by Elizabeth II – becoming a Knight of the Order of the British Empire – and by the Archbishop of Canterbury – being awarded the rare medal of the Order of St Augustine.

List of Bishops and Archbishops of Melanesia

Bishops of Melanesia
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1861	1871	John Patteson	Martyred in office.
1877	1892	John Selwyn	Invalided back to the United Kingdom.
1894	1911	Cecil Wilson	Translated to Bunbury, Australia.
1912	1919	Cecil Wood	Returned to the United Kingdom.
1919	1928	John Steward	Returned to the United Kingdom.
1928	1931	Frederick Molyneux	Assistant bishop in Melanesia since 1924; resigned following a mental breakdown.
1931	1937	John Dickinson, Assistant Bishop of Melanesia	Assistant bishop only; returned to the United Kingdom.
1932	1947	Walter Baddeley	Translated to Whitby and later Blackburn.
1948	1958	Sydney Caulton
1958	1967	Alfred Hill
1968	1975	John Chisholm	Previously auxiliary bishop in New Guinea; became Archbishop of Melanesia in 1975.
Archbishops of Melanesia
1975	1975	John Chisholm	Died in office.
1975	1987	Norman Palmer
1988	1993	Amos Waiaru	Translated from Temotu.
1994	2008	Sir Ellison Pogo	Translated from Ysabel; knighted in 2000.
2009	2015	David Vunagi	Translated from Temotu.

Election of an Archbishop

The college of electors, who choose the new primate during a vacancy, last met from 3–5 March 2009, to carry out their electoral duties following Sir Ellison's retirement. They elected David Vunagi, Bishop of Temotu, as the new Archbishop of Melanesia. He was therefore translated to the Diocese of Central Melanesia and became the Archbishop of Melanesia ex officio. He was enthroned on the Feast of Pentecost, 31 May 2009. He left office on 6 September 2015, being replaced as acting Primate by Nathan Tome. On 12 February 2016 the Rt Rev George Takeli was elected to become the new Archbishop of Melanesia. He will be enthroned on 17 April 2016 at Saint Barnabas' Provincial Cathedral, Honiara.