Sione Silongo Uluʻilakepa (born 1965) is a Tongan Anglican bishop. Since 2023, he has been bishop of Polynesia and thus simultaneously serving as one of three co-equal

primates Primates is an order of mammals, which is further divided into the strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorisids; and the haplorhines, which include tarsiers and simians ( monkeys and apes). Primates arose 74–63 ...

of the

Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, formerly the Church of the Province of New Zealand, is a Anglican province, province of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. Since 1992 ...

in the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

Early life and education

Uluʻilakepa was born in

Nukuʻalofa Nukualofa ( , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the country's southernmost island group. History First western records of Nukualofa On 10 June 1777, British ...

in 1965. He was raised in a "staunchly Anglican" family and attended St Andrew's Anglican High School in Tonga. At 20, he received a call to ordained ministry and studied at St John the Baptist Theological College in

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 ...

, St John's College, Morpeth, in Australia,

Pacific Theological College The Pacific Theological College (PTC) is an ecumenical theological college located in Suva, Fiji. Established in 1965, it opened for training in 1966 and was originally designed as the only regional institution to offer degree-level education in th ...

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 ...

and St John's College and the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

in New Zealand. He married Taina, and they had two children.

Ordained ministry

In 1992, Bishop Jabez Bryce ordained him to the priesthood at St Paul's Anglican Church in Nukuʻalofa. Uluʻilakepa served parishes in Haʻapai, Tonga;

Pago Pago, American Samoa Pago Pago ( or ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa. Pago Pago ...

; and

Apia, Samoa Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban Area (generally kno ...

, before he moved in 1995 to become assistant priest at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Suva. He returned to Tonga in 2000 to become a parish vicar, a ministry trainer and a chaplain and later principal at St Andrew's. Starting in 2013, Uluʻilakepa became a ministry educator in the diocese. From 2018 to 2023, he was principal of St John the Baptist Theological College. He also worked as a Common Life Liturgical Commissioner, in which capacity he sought to blend Polynesian traditions and symbols into Anglican liturgies and helped to translate eucharistic liturgies into

Polynesian languages The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austr ...

as part of a revision of the New Zealand Prayer Book. In December 2022, Uluʻilakepa was elected bishop of Polynesia in succession to Fereimi Cama, who had died in office in 2021. He was consecrated by the ACANZP co-primates Philip Richardson and Don Tamihere in March 2023 in a service at Holy Trinity Cathedral. In attendance were Fijian president Wiliame Katonivere and his wife. As bishop of Polynesia, Uluʻilakepa serves automatically as a co-primate of the church with the title and style of an

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

References

External links

Profile on Anglican Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uluʻilakepa, Sione 1965 births Living people Anglican bishops of Polynesia 21st-century Anglican bishops in Oceania Tongan Anglican bishops People from Nukuʻalofa