Gabriel Sharma is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

. On 1 May 2005, he became the first

Indo-Fijian Indo-Fijians () are Fijians of South Asian descent whose ancestors were Girmitiyas, indentured labourers. Indo-Fijians trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent. Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of Fiji's ...

to be consecrated as an Anglican Bishop, the first ethnic Indian Bishop in the Province of Aotearoa, of which Fiji forms a part, and the first Bishop specifically assigned to Fiji's Western Division, when he was installed as Bishop of

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ; ) is the largest island in Fiji. It is the site of the country's capital and largest city, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a plate tectonics, tectonically complex area betwe ...

West. On 10 April 2005,ACANZP Lectionary, 2019
(p. 145) in a service at

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

's Holy Trinity Cathedral, he was consecrated together with Apimeleki Qiliho, who became Bishop of

Vanua Levu Vanua Levu (pronounced , , ), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of and a population of 135,961 . Geology Fiji lies in a tectonic ...

, and Dr Winston Halapua, who was installed as Bishop of the

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

, which covers New Zealand. He resigned his See in 2013, but returned in 2017.

Family background

Sharma, who hails from a farming family in the village of Korokoro in

Nadroga-Navosa Province Nadroga-Navosa (Nadroga dialect, Nadroga: ''Nadroga-Navoha'') is one of the fourteen provinces of Fiji and one of eight based in Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. It is about 2,385 square kilometers and occupies the South-West and Central areas ...

, was raised as a Hindu but converted to Christianity after meeting Ana, whom he married in 1985.

View on the 2006 coup

After the 2006 coup, Sharma told Anglicans in Sydney that Fijian Christians were praying especially that no one would be harmed. He said that the majority of Fijians believed that the coup was illegal, but that a silent minority thought that the coup was "the only thing that could have happened." He called on the outside world to try to understand the situation. "We have heard a number of negative remarks bout the situation in Fiji but this will not help the people," he said. Sharma said that many churchgoers in his region had been laid off as hotel visits had slumped. He said that many people were still hopeful for a democratic resolution, but requested that Sydney Anglicans continued to pray.

References

Living people People from Nadroga-Navosa Province Converts to Anglicanism from Hinduism Converts to Protestantism from Hinduism Fijian Anglican bishops Year of birth missing (living people) {{Anglican-bishop-stub