In the
Anglican Communion, the term applies to a bishop who is assigned responsibilities to support a
diocesan bishop. For example, the
bishop of Jarrow is a suffragan to the diocesan
bishop of Durham. Suffragan bishops in the Anglican Communion are nearly identical in their role as
auxiliary bishops in the
Catholic Church.
England History English diocesan bishops were commonly assisted by bishops who had been consecrated to sees which were
in partibus infidelium before the
English Reformation. The separation of the English Church from Rome meant that this was no longer possible. The
Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 allowed for the creation of new sees to allow these assistant bishops, who were named as suffragan. Before then, the term
suffragan referred to diocesan bishops in relation to their metropolitan, as it still does in the Catholic Church. The first bishops consecrated under that Act were
Thomas Manning,
bishop of Ipswich, and
John Salisbury,
bishop of Thetford, on 19 March 1536. The last
Tudor suffragan bishop in post was
John Sterne,
bishop of Colchester, who died in post in 1607/8. No more suffragans were appointed for more than 250 years, until the consecration of
Henry Mackenzie as
bishop of Nottingham on 2 February 1870. At that point, the sees of suffragans were still limited to the 26 towns named in the 1534 Act; the
Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 allowed the creation of new suffragan sees besides the 26 so named. The appointment of bishops suffragan became much more common thereafter.
Today Area bishops Some Church of England suffragan bishops are legally delegated responsibility by the diocesan bishop for a specific geographical
area within the diocese. Such formal arrangements were piloted by the experimental London scheme in 1970. For example, the Bishop of Colchester is an
area bishop in the
Diocese of Chelmsford. Such
area schemes are presently found in the dioceses of: •
London (since 1979): Two Cities (overseen by the diocesan), Edmonton, Kensington, Stepney, Willesden. •
Chelmsford (since 1983): Barking, Bradwell, Colchester. •
Oxford (since 1984): Oxford (overseen by the diocesan), Buckingham, Dorchester, Reading. •
Southwark (since 1991): Croydon, Kingston, Woolwich. •
Lichfield (since 1992): Shrewsbury, Stafford, Wolverhampton. •
Leeds (since 2014): Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds (overseen by the Bishop of Kirkstall), Ripon, Wakefield. Area schemes have previously existed in
Worcester diocese (1993–2002; Worcester (overseen by the diocesan), Dudley),
Salisbury diocese (1981–2009; Ramsbury, Sherborne),
Lincoln diocese (2010 – 31 January 2013; Grantham, Grimsby) and
Chichester diocese (1984–2013; Chichester (overseen by the diocesan), Lewes, Horsham). Other suffragans have or have had informal responsibility for geographical areas (e.g. in
Winchester,
Peterborough, and York), but these are not referred to as
area bishops.
Suffragan bishops Only the small dioceses
of Portsmouth and
of Sodor and Man do not have a suffragan bishop. Until 2016/2017, the dioceses
of Newcastle and
of Leicester each had a stipendiary
assistant bishop instead of suffragans, but these have since been replaced with suffragan bishops. The Diocese of Truro has had at some periods an assistant bishop; these have included
John Wellington (formerly bishop of
Shantung) and
Bill Lash, both retired from sees abroad.
Provincial episcopal visitors Suffragan bishops in the
Church of England who have oversight of parishes and clergy that reject the ministry of priests who are women, usually across a whole province, are known as
provincial episcopal visitors (PEVs) (or "flying bishops"). This concession was made in 1992 following the General Synod's vote to ordain women to the priesthood. The first PEV was
John Gaisford,
bishop of Beverley, who was consecrated on 7 March 1994.
Wales The
Church in Wales has had suffragan bishops since its time as part of the Church of England and continuing after its
disestablishment in 1920. An early example was the suffragan see of
Penrydd, established in 1537 with one holder,
John Bird. The
Bishop of Swansea was a suffragan see in the
Diocese of St Davids from 1890 until the establishment of the
Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in 1923. This meant that
Edward Bevan was the first suffragan bishop in the disestablished Church in Wales. Since disestablishment, there has been only one other bishop described as a suffragan.
Thomas Lloyd was appointed suffragan Bishop of Maenan in the
Diocese of St Asaph in 1928, when the bishop diocesan was also
Archbishop of Wales.
United States Suffragan bishops are fairly common in larger dioceses of the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA), but usually have no responsibility for a specific geographical part of a diocese. ECUSA is not within the jurisdiction of the English law that requires diocesan and suffragan bishops to be appointed as bishop to a specific place, and so suffragans are not given the title of any particular city within the diocese. For example,
Barbara Harris, the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion, was titled simply Suffragan Bishop of
Massachusetts.
Coadjutor and
assistant bishops are different episcopal offices than
suffragan. A coadjutor is elected by a diocesan convention to become the diocesan bishop (also called "the ordinary") upon the ordinary's retirement. A suffragan is also elected by a convention, but does not automatically succeed the diocesan bishop. However, a suffragan's office does continue in the diocese until he or she chooses to retire. An
assistant bishop is appointed by the diocesan bishop, and their office ends when the ordinary who appointed her or him leaves office.
Canada Some Anglican Church of Canada suffragan bishops are legally delegated responsibility by the diocesan bishop for a specific geographical
area within the diocese. •
Toronto: York-Scarborough, York-Credit Valley, Trent-Durham, York-Simcoe.
Malaysia (Diocese of West Malaysia) The
Diocese of West Malaysia is divided into two "area dioceses", each with their own suffragan bishop.
Acting bishops It is common for Anglican suffragan or assistant bishops to serve as acting bishop during a vacancy in the diocesan see (e.g., between the death or retirement of the bishop diocesan and their successor taking post). In order to achieve this, the
metropolitan bishop commissions a suffragan/assistant (usually the full-time bishop senior by consecration) who becomes the
episcopal commissary, but may be referred to by any number of phrases (since the commission is held from the metropolitan archbishop, she may be called ''archbishop's commissary''; the most usual current term in the Church of England being Acting Bishop of Somewhere). In the Anglican Church of Australia, someone (not always a bishop) acting as diocesan bishop is the administrator of the diocese and a bishop so commissioned is called the bishop administrator. In 2013, between the retirement of
Nigel McCulloch and the confirmation of
David Walker as
bishop of Manchester, both of that diocese's suffragan bishops (
Chris Edmondson,
bishop of Bolton, and
Mark Davies,
bishop of Middleton, who were consecrated on the same day, therefore neither had seniority) served as acting bishop co-equally. In 2014–2015, during the vacancy between the episcopates of
Paul Butler and
Paul Williams, the diocese's sole suffragan bishop,
Tony Porter,
bishop of Sherwood, became acting
bishop of Southwell and Nottingham; however, when he resigned the commission due to ill health,
Richard Inwood (retired
bishop of Bedford and an
honorary assistant bishop of the diocese) was commissioned Acting Bishop for a fixed one-year term. ==See also==