The international leadership of the worldwide Anglican Communion has today rejected claims made by a protestant group in Egypt over the status of the Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria.

The Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria is the newest province of the Anglican Communion and was formed from the former Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa in the Episcopal Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East.

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, said:

“Contrary to statement made yesterday by the Protestant Church in Egypt (PCE), the Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria is an Anglican Church and an integral part of the Anglican Communion. And it always has been an Anglican Church and an integral part of the Anglican Communion.

“The Anglican presence in Egypt began in 1819 with clergy sent by the Church Missionary Society who worked in partnership with the Coptic Orthodox Church. The first Anglican Church building – St Mark’s Church in Alexandria – was consecrated in 1839. And what was to become the Episcopal / Anglican Cathedral in Cairo began as a small parish church in 1876.

“In those early days the Anglican Church in Egypt was under the direct leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Over the decades, the Anglican Church in Egypt has grown in size and status. It was transferred from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem; before becoming part of what was then the new Episcopal/Anglican Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East in 1976.

Earlier this year the Anglican Church in Egypt – along with the other nine countries in north Africa and the Horn of Africa which it serves – left the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East to become its own self-governing Province – the 41st Province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.”

Reiterating the fact that the Episcopal / Anglican Diocese of Egypt is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon added: “the Episcopal/ Anglican Diocese of Egypt is part of the Episcopal / Anglican Province of Alexandria which is a Province of the worldwide Anglican Communion and can’t be under any other denomination.”