Were there really 12 primates missing from the ABC's Installation?

Those who have been following the story of the 'missing primates' may have noticed that different publications are giving very different accounts of how many primates absented themselves from the Installation of the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.

Anglican Futures stated that the primates of twelve provinces were unaccounted for in the information provided by Lambeth Palace about those in attendance.

The Church Times mention the names of seven provinces "absent from the list".

The Religion Media Centre has gone for the more general view that the numbers in attendance are an "indication of the split in the Anglican Communion, with some Primates joining the breakaway conservative group GAFCON, which has disengaged from the Archbishop."

Having looked at the lists and facts from Lambeth, commentator, Tim Wyatt, concluded, "the number of those not there and presumably boycotting the ceremony on behalf of their churches in protest at Mullally and the C of E’s supposed liberalism was about nine."

It would be much easier if despite the possible sensitivity of the subject Lambeth Palace had just published a list of those who had either refused the invitation or ignored it all together. Instead, they published a list of the 26 primates in attendance and the names of four individuals who had been sent as 'representatives' of primates who were ill or had other commitments. They also explained that three primates had been unable to travel due to the war in the Middle East and that other Anglican Communion invitees from four other provinces, meaning that 32 of the 42 provinces would be represented.

It is perhaps not surprising that harried journalists have looked at the numbers and come to different conclusions about the number missing.

For the sake of clarity, below is a copy of the Anglican Futures geeky spreadsheet, which has taken all the available information and sought to make it add up. In so doing it is hoped any errors made by Anglican Futures or others can be quickly corrected.

The twelve provinces where it would appear that the primate has elected not to attend, nor send a formal representative are coloured in blue.

For those reading on a mobile phone it may be easier to download this pdf.

Geeky spreadsheet .pdf

Download PDF • 85KB

Provinces	Primate present	Primate sent a rep	Primate could not travel	AC guest / network present	Province present	Primate missing
Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria						1
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (3 Primates)	1				1
	2				2
	3				3
Anglican Church of Australia	4				4
Church of Bangladesh	5				5
Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil	6				6
Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi		1			7
Anglican Church of Canada	7				8
Church of the Province of Central Africa	8				9
Anglican Church in Central America	9				10
Anglican Church of Chile						2
Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo				1	11	3
Church of England	10				12
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui		2			13
Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean				2	14	4
Church of Ireland	11				15
Nippon Sei Ko Kai	12				16
Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East			1	3	17
Anglican Church of Kenya				4	18	5
Anglican Church of Korea	13				19
Anglican Church of Melanesia		3	2		20
Anglican Church of Mexico	14				21
Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola	15				22
Church of the Province of Myanmar						6
Church of Nigeria						7
Church of North India	16				23
Church of Pakistan		4			24
Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea			3
Episcopal Church in the Philippines	17				25
Anglican Church of Rwanda						8
Scottish Episcopal Church	18				26
Anglican Church of South America	19				27
Church of the Province of South East Asia						9
Church of South India	20				28
Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan						10
Anglican Church of Southern Africa	21				29
Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan						11
Anglican Church of Tanzania	22				30
Church of Uganda						12
Episcopal Church	23				31
Church in Wales	24				32
Church of the Province of West Africa	25				33
Church in the Province of the West Indies	26				34

The easiest mistake to make is to forget that the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has three primates - one for each of their three tikanga. This meant that although there were 26 primates in attendance only 24 provinces were actually represented.

Another is to presume that no province fell into more than one of the categories mentioned. The provinces of Melanesia and Jerusalem and the Middle East could easily have been counted twice.

Finally, with all the attention on those 'attending' the ceremony it was simple to overlook that the Most Revd Sarah Mullally was also in the cathedral - and as Lambeth only listed 25 primates, her presence is necessary to make sense of the 26.

It seems that the only thing that doesn't quite add up is that Lambeth has underestimated the number of provinces who were represented by either a primate, a formal representative or an Anglican Communion invitee. By Anglican Futures' reckoning Lambeth Palace could have claimed 34 provinces were "represented at the installation."

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