African bishop chosen a last: CEN 1.02.09 p 1.

The deadlock over the appointment of a bishop for the Diocese of Upper Shire has been broken by the Central African House of Bishops. At their Dec 16 meeting the bishops appointed the diocese’s vicar-general to succeed Archbishop Bernard Malango as bishop of the central Malawi diocese. At 30 years of age, the Rev. Brighton Malasa will be the youngest bishop in the Anglican Communion.

The election in Upper Shire has been marred by political and racial wrangling since the Feb 16 the electoral synod deadlocked after six ballots. The two candidates, the Rev. Jeremy Sheehy, the former principal of St. Stephen’s House, Oxford and Canon Alinafe Kalemba, Dean of the Zomba Theological College split the vote after three other candidates, the Archdeacon of Bradford the Ven. David Lee, and the Rev. Steven Hart, rector of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Albany, New York withdrew their names at the start of the balloting as did the Rev. Howard Nasolo of Zomba.

Former provincial secretary Fr. Eston Pembamoyo told The Church of England Newspaper the “house was divided between those who said no to the mzungu [white man] and those who said no to the black man.” Under Central African canon law the diocese’s twelve electors and the Province’s nine electors must elect a candidate by a two-thirds majority.

“Those who said no to the black man said so because they thought he was being imposed on the people because he is from another diocese, and those who said no to the mzungu said so because they thought it was not time now to look to the West for the Gospel,” he told CEN.

Under Central African canon law if an electoral synod fails to elect a bishop, the appointment falls to the House of Bishops. However, a coalition of diocesan clergy filed suit against the Province to block the House of Bishops from appointing a new bishop, arguing the choice of the diocesan electors had been Fr. Sheehy, and that the province should honor that request.

On June 13 a Malawi high court judge lifted the injunction after finding the complaint had not been properly notarized. An appeal to the Malawi Supreme Court in Blantyre failed, opening the door for the House of Bishops to act last week at their biannual meeting in Lusaka.

A former chaplain to Archbishop Malango, Bishop-elect Malasa has served as vicar-general of the diocese since the archbishop’s retirement.