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SIDEBAR: Anglicans in México Have a Long History

Episcopal News Service. December 12, 2005 [121205-5-A]

The first Anglican celebration of the Eucharist held on Mexican soil took place September 14, 1847, in thanksgiving for an American victory at the Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican-American War -- a war in which México lost more than half its territory to the United States. But a truly Anglican presence in México goes back to a reform movement begun by Roman Catholic clergy and laity in 1859, supporting new laws of religious freedom and separation of church and state in México -- a stance that resulted in their excommunication by the Roman Catholic Church.

The movement became an independent religious society in 1861 known as the Sociedad Católica Apostólica Mexicana (Mexican Catholic Apostolic Society), and was formally organized as a church in 1871. Its founders were in contact with the Episcopal Church (USA) from 1860 forward, and intercommunion between the two churches was established in 1875. The related Mexican Episcopal Church, or Iglesia Episcopal Mexicana, came into being as a result of a merger between the Iglesia Mexicana de Jesús (Mexican Church of Jesus) and a missionary effort of the Episcopal Church (USA) serving English-speaking Anglicans in México.

Since 1931, the church in México has been led by Mexican bishops. On May 3, 1995, at a ceremony in the cathedral of San José de Gracia in México City, the newly christened Iglesia Anglicana de México was officially granted autonomy by the Episcopal Church (USA) and became an autonomous province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

There are five dioceses in the province: México, Cuernavaca, Northern México, Western México, and Southeast México. The province has about 150 parishes and missions, 100,000 baptized members, six bishops, and 75 priests and deacons. In the Diocese of México, there are 30 churches and missions, including the English-speaking parishes of Christ Church, México City, and St. Paul's, San Miguel.

The present Primate, the Rt. Rev. Carlos Touché Porter, is a graduate of the Seminario de San Andrés in México City. He served on the commission that translated the 1979 Book of Common Prayer into Spanish, and is active internationally in the work of the Anglican Communion.

"To México, which is totally dominated by a very conservative and traditional Roman Catholicism, we bring the space where people can be themselves -- where they can be free to think, to choose, to decide," remarked Touché Porter during a recent visit to the Episcopal Church Center in New York City. "But isolation is our greatest fear. In the past, being fully a part of the American church made a difference for us. Now we have more relations with the rest of the Anglican Communion directly, but we still need to sense that we are not alone."

The Iglesia Anglicana de México recently launched a redesigned website [http://www.iamex.org] featuring numerous resources in Spanish for Anglicans, including documents produced by this year's Congreso Teológico Anglicano Latinoamericano and ways to help victims of hurricanes Stan and Wilma.

St. Paul's Church in San Miguel de Allende began in 1959, with services held in San Miguel homes by priests from the Seminario de San Andrés in México City. By 1961, monthly services were held in a rented hall with 30 to 50 people attending. In 1964, St. Paul's was organized as a regular mission; in 1965 the church building was constructed and monthly visits by priests from the Seminary continued.

St. Paul's became a parish in 1970. The Rev. John Donovan (1971-76) was called as the first rector, and a rectory was purchased. The Rev. Charles Doyle (1977-79) was the second rector, followed by the Rev. Dean Underwood (1980-90) and the Rev. Canon Cass Nevius (1990-95). The Rev. Michael Long, the present rector, celebrated his first Eucharist at St. Paul's in October 1997.

St. Paul's presently has 130 pledging members, many of whom are part-time residents in San Miguel from the U.S., Canada and other parts of the world. Church attendance varies from peaks of over 130 in winter and summer, and valleys of about 70 during some spring and fall months.

For more information on St. Paul's, contact:

The Rev. Michael Long, Rector

Email: rector@stpauls.org.mx

Telephone or Fax: 011-52-415-20387

Telephone from USA: 214-206-1632

For more information on the Iglesia Anglicana de México, email

contacto@iamex.org or contact the provincial offices at:

Calle La Otra Banda # 40 San Ángel

Delegación Alvaro Obregón

01000 México, D.F.

www.iamex.org

Tel. (55) 5616-2490 or 5550-4073

Sources:

Iglesia Anglicana de México Bienvenido!: http://www.iamex.org.

St. Paul's Church website: http://stpauls.com.mx/index.htm

A Short History of Anglican Worship in México, dissertation by Carlos

Touché Porter (1996)