Three Anglican priests get doctorate in ministry |21 December 2020

(L to r) Revd. Fred, Bishop Wong and Revd. Kalle (Photo: Joena Meme)

In a first for Seychelles and the Anglican Diocese, three Anglican priests have received their doctorate in ministry from the ACTS Academy of Higher Learning in Bangalore, India.

Archbishop of the Indian Ocean province James Wong, Dean of the St Paul’s Cathedral Reverend Daniel Kalle and Reverend Simon Fred of the St Matthew, Praslin parish officially graduated in a virtual ceremony held on Saturday at St Paul’s Cathedral.

All three undertook the four-year doctorate course along with several other priests in the Indian Ocean region, most notably from Mauritius and Madagascar, to become Doctors of Ministry.

The virtual graduation was attended by the priests’ family members and friends as well as a handful of Anglican faithfuls.

The ceremony comprised pre-recorded videos of the eight Indian Ocean priests receiving their doctorate and donning their gowns, speeches by ACTS Academy facilitators and congratulatory messages from other priests in different countries.

The doctorate programme was initiated by former Archbishop of the Anglican Indian Ocean province, Ian Ernest, to allow for capacity building and encourage further theological studies among priests.

“It is the first time in the church’s history that its priests and bishop undertake a doctorate course together,” Archbishop Wong revealed.

With his doctorate in hand, the Archbishop is formally referred to as the Most Reverend Doctor Archbishop James Wong. The two other Seychellois doctorates are officially known as Reverend Doctor Daniel Kalle and Reverend Doctor Simon Fred.

The Anglican church’s plan is to ensure that all of its priests eventually follow this course and gain their doctorate.

“It is a policy that the clergy needs to upgrade its certificates. In Mauritius there were about six to seven candidates for the course but only three successfully completed their doctorates, Madagascar had three priests and two completed while in Seychelles all three of us were able to complete it,” noted the Archbishop.

He explained that the ACTS Academy’s course is a “fantastic project” wherein each participant had to work on a thesis and research on matters of importance to their dioceses and the communities they serve.

Archbishop Wong’s thesis focused on the issue of broken families or families in crisis in the Seychelles, delving into the ‘why’s and ‘how’s this occured and providing potential solutions to remediate it.

“Is it the slavery heritage? Did we inherit this from the coup d’etat? From the NYS? Is it the impact of globalisation from the 1960s onwards or the modern society? I researched these subjects and on completion I had to find a theological dimension to it and how God enters into these types of situations, and recommendations,” Archbishop Wong explained his thesis.

Reverend Kalle’s thesis on the other hand dealt with the practice of the occult in the Seychelles and the response of the Church to these outside forces.

Meanwhile Reverend Fred researched and drew up a thesis on the history of mission work in the country, not only focusing on the Anglican Church but also other denominations such as the Roman Catholic and Seventh Day Adventist.

It is hoped that the three theses can be compiled and published in a book by next year to allow people to access them.

Elsie Pointe