John Charles Vockler FODC (22 July 19246 February 2014) was an Australian
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 ...
and Franciscan friar. He was originally a bishop in the
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...
but later become the primate of the
Anglican Catholic Church
The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC), also known as the Anglican Catholic Church (Original Province), is a body of Christians in the continuing Anglican movement, which is separate from the Anglican Communion. This denomination is separate from ...
, a
Continuing Anglican
The Continuing Anglican movement, also known as the Anglican Continuum, encompasses a number of Christian churches, principally based in North America, that have an Anglican identity and tradition but are not part of the Anglican Communion. The ...
church.
Vockler was educated at the
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
and trained for ordination at
St John's College, Morpeth
St John's College, Morpeth, known colloquially as the "Poor Man's College, Armidale", was opened in Armidale in 1898 as a theological college to train clergy to serve in the Anglican Church of Australia, Church of England in Australia. It moved to ...
. He was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
as an Anglican priest in 1948. He was an assistant priest at
Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle
The Cathedral Church of Christ the King, also called Christ Church Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales. It is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle (Australia), Diocese ...
St John's College, University of Queensland
There are eleven residential colleges of the University of Queensland.
Colleges
Cromwell College
* On the St Lucia, Queensland, St Lucia campus. Was the first of the Colleges on the St Lucia campus in June 1954, and admitted men only until it ...
. After a short time in New York he was a
lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...
in
theology
Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
at St John's Theological College, Morpeth, New South Wales. Later he was
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...
of the
Eyre Peninsula
The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north.
Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...
and an
assistant bishop
An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.
Church of England
In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan bishop, suffragan) bishops – in ...
in the Diocese of Adelaide: he was consecrated a bishop on November 30, 1959. In 1963 he became the
Bishop of Polynesia
The Diocese of Polynesia, or the Tikanga Pasefika serves Anglicans in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands, within the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The diocese's first bishop was consecrated in 1908. The diocese's cat ...
Assistant Bishop of Southwark
The Bishop of Southwark ( ) is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Southwark, Diocese of Southwark in the Province of Canterbury. After moving to the United States he was initially an assistant bishop in the
Episcopal Diocese of Quincy
The Diocese of Quincy was a diocese of the Episcopal Church in western Illinois from 1877 to 2013. The cathedral seat (home of the diocese) was originally in Quincy, Illinois but was moved to St. Paul's Cathedral in Peoria in 1963. In order to ...
. He was a candidate for bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island in 1987.
After resigning as Bishop of Polynesia in 1968, he was professed as an Anglican Franciscan friar (as Brother John-Charles) and made life profession in 1975. In 1981 he transferred to the American Province and became a friar resident at the Little Portion Friary on Long Island. He later became a member of the more conservative Franciscan Order of the Divine Compassion.
He was received into the
Anglican Catholic Church
The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC), also known as the Anglican Catholic Church (Original Province), is a body of Christians in the continuing Anglican movement, which is separate from the Anglican Communion. This denomination is separate from ...
in 1994, and he initially resided at Holyrood Seminary in Liberty, New York, as the Sub-Dean for Academic Affairs.
He was appointed bishop of the Anglican Catholic Church's Diocese of New Orleans in 2001 in succession to Dean Stephens who had died suddenly earlier that year. He was the archbishop of the Anglican Catholic Church from 2001 to 2005. He retired as both archbishop of the ACC and Bishop of New Orleans in 2005 and moved to his native Australia.
As an author he wrote several books, including ''Can Anglicans Believe Anything: The Nature and Spirit of Anglicanism'', ''One Man’s Journey'' (1972); and ''Two Paths to Holiness''.
Vockler died peacefully at his home in Australia, early in the morning of the old Feast of St. Titus, on 6 February 2014.