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Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Anglican
Scripture	Holy Bible
Theology	Anglican doctrine
Polity	Episcopal
Primate	Juan David Alvarado
Territory	Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama
Members	35,000

The Anglican Church in Central America (Spanish: Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América) is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering five sees in Central America.

History

Four of the five dioceses of the Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de America (IARCA) were founded by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Anglicanism was also introduced by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel when the United Kingdom administered two colonies in Central America, British Honduras and Miskitia. In later years, immigrants brought the Anglican Church with them. This first period is often called the time of the chaplaincies. Bishop William C. Frey was consecrated as the first missionary bishop of the Diocese of Guatemala in 1967.

In 1977, the Diocese of Costa Rica was recognized as autonomous by the Episcopal Church, and in 1978 the newly autonomous diocese elected Costa Rican native Cornelius Wilson as its third bishop. In 1998, the dioceses of El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama were also granted autonomy from the Episcopal Church, and they combined with the Diocese of Costa Rica to form IARCA. Bishop Wilson was chosen as the first primate of the newly recognized Anglican province.

By 2008, the Anglican Church in Central America had voted to consecrate women bishops although none had yet been consecrated as of 2008. By 2013, the Diocese of El Salvador offered ministries on behalf of and in support of LGBT members.

List of primates

1. Cornelius Wilson (1998–2002)
2. Martín Barahona (2002–2010)
3. Armando Guerra (2010–2015)
4. Sturdie Downs (2015–2018)
5. Julio Murray (2018–2022)
6. Juan David Alvarado (2022–present)

Membership

Today, there are over 35,000 Anglicans out of an estimated population of 30.1 million.

Structure

The polity of the Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América is Episcopalian church governance, which is the same as other Anglican churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parishes organized into dioceses. There are 5 of these, each headed by a bishop:

• The Diocese of Costa Rica
• The Diocese of El Salvador
• The Diocese of Guatemala
• The Diocese of Nicaragua
• The Diocese of Panamá

Some countries of Central America are part of other Anglican churches:

• The Anglican Diocese of Belize is part of the Church in the Province of the West Indies
• The Episcopal Diocese of Honduras is part of Province 9 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America

Worship and liturgy

The Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. The Spanish-language version of the Episcopal Church (USA)'s 1979 Book of Common Prayer is used.

Doctrine and practice

The center of the Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América's teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, includes:

• Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.
• Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe.
• The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit". The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.
• The two great and necessary sacraments are Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist
• Other sacramental rites are confirmation, ordination, marriage, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction.
• Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus' return in glory.

Ecumenical relations

Unlike many other Anglican churches, the Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América is not a member of the ecumenical World Council of Churches.

Ordination of women

Within the province, the dioceses represent a diversity of opinions on social issues. Regarding gender equality, the province has dioceses, including the Episcopal Church of Costa Rica, that recognize women in ordained ministry. In 2012, the Episcopal Church in Nicaragua ordained two women as priests.

Human sexuality

In 2003, the Primate, or Presiding Bishop, of the Anglican Church in Central America attended the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay and partnered bishop in the Anglican Communion. The Diocese of El Salvador formed a ministry for LGBT people in the country. In 2014, the Episcopal Church of Costa Rica, a diocese of the province, has taken steps to welcome LGBT members. Also in 2014, the diocese in El Salvador continued to offer a space for LGBT members to "freely express themselves." The Diocese of Guatemala elected Silvestre Enrique Romero as bishop coadjutor in 2017. Romero, prior to being elected bishop, served in the US Episcopal Church and offered to bless same-sex unions as priest-in-charge.

See also

• Cornelius Wilson, Bishop of Costa Rica

References

1. Monterroso, Hector; Miller, Duane (June 2017). "Entrevista del Rdmo. Hector Monterroso por el Dr. Duane Miller". Misionologia Global: 1–7. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
2. Miller, Duane Alexander (January 2015). "Entrevissta con Bill Frey, primer obispo de la diocesis Episcopal de Guatemala". Misionologia Global: 1. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
3. "New Bishop of Costa Rica Elected on First Ballot". Episcopal News Service. July 13, 1978. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
4. ^ "Central America: New Province Formed". Anglican Communion News Service. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
5. "Five hundred priests threaten to leave Anglican church over female bishops". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
6. "La formación de un ministerio para los HBT en El Salvador". Episcopal News Service. 27 March 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
7. "Installation of Bishop Martin Barahona". Anglican Communion News Service. August 21, 2002.
8. "CENTRAL AMERICA: Armando Guerra of Guatemala elected primate". Episcopal News Service. April 19, 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
9. "New Primate for Central America". www.anglicannews.org. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
10. "Anglicans "a people of hope and here to stay" says new Primate-elect of Central America". anglicannews.org. April 24, 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
11. @AnglicanWorld (11 August 2020). "A big congratulations to The Most Revd Julio Murray, Archbishop of Central America, on the anniversary of his insta…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
12. Michael, Mark (May 2, 2022). "Juan David Alvarado Elected Central American Primate". The Living Church. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
13. http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3587 World Council of Churches
14. "La primada predica en Costa Rica". 2015-04-27. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
15. "Dos mujeres sacerdotes en Bluefields". La Prensa. 2012-11-18. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
16. ^ "Los anglicanos de El Salvador llevan la delantera en la Iglesia y la sociedad respecto a la plena inclusión de los LGBT". Episcopal News Service. 2014-08-01. Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
17. "La formación de un ministerio para los HBT en El Salvador". 2013-03-27. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
18. "Iglesia de Costa Rica toma pasos para dar la bienvenida a la comunidad LGBTQ". 2014-03-06. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
19. "Silvestre Romero elected bishop coadjutor of Diocese of Guatemala | The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts". www.diomass.org. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
20. "St. Peter ~ San Pedro". www.stpeterssalem.org. Archived from the original on 2016-07-31. Retrieved 2017-06-12.

Further reading

• Neill, Stephen (1985). Anglicanism. Oxford University Press.

External links

• Diocesis de El Salvador Website
• "Iglesia Episcopal De Panama". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
• Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America

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