Primates in the Anglican Communion
Primates in the Anglican Communion are the most senior bishop or archbishop of one of the 42 churches of the Anglican Communion. The Church of England, however, has two primates, the archbishop of Canterbury and the archbishop of York.
Variations
Some of these churches are stand-alone ecclesiastical provinces, while others are national churches comprising several ecclesiastical provinces. Since 1978, the Anglican primates have met annually for an Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded as the symbolic leader of the Anglican primates. While the gathering has no legal jurisdiction, it acts as one of the informal instruments of unity among the autonomous provinces of the communion.In stand-alone ecclesiastical provinces, the primate is the metropolitan archbishop of the province. In national churches composed of several ecclesiastical provinces, the primate will be senior to the metropolitan archbishops of the various provinces, and may also be a metropolitan archbishop. In those churches which do not have a tradition of archiepiscopacy, the primate is a bishop styled "primus", "presiding bishop", "president bishop", "prime bishop" or simply "primate". In the case of the Episcopal Church in the United States, which is composed of several ecclesiastical provinces, there is a presiding bishop who is its primate, but the individual provinces are not led by metropolitans.
Anglican primates may be attached to a fixed see, who may be chosen from among sitting metropolitans or diocesan bishops and retain the see, or who may have no see. Primates are generally chosen by election. In some instances, the primacy is awarded based on seniority among the episcopal college. In the Church of England, the primate, like all bishops, is appointed by the British sovereign, in the capacity of Supreme Governor of the established church, on the advice of the Crown Appointments Commission.
The United Churches of South India, of North India, of Pakistan and of Bangladesh have neither metropolitan bishops nor national primates. Instead, each has a Moderator of the Synod, elected from among the bishops for a fixed term, who is ranked among the Anglican primates.