The Right Reverend Anthony Ball, chair of JMECA and Bishop of the Diocese of North Africa in the Province of Alexandria, has been appointed Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See.

JMECA—the Jerusalem and the Middle East Church Association—is a UK charity that provides support to the dioceses of the Anglican Provinces of Jerusalem and the Middle East, and of Alexandria.

The Anglican Centre in Rome is the permanent Anglican Communion presence in Rome, embodying the Anglican Communion’s commitment to the full visible unity of the Church with a particular focus on building trusted relationships with the Roman Catholic Church and advancing shared ecumenical priorities.

Bishop Anthony has previously served as a diplomat in British Embassies in the Middle East and Spain. During a posting with the British Embassy in Damascus, he was the Archbishop of Canterbury’s representative to the Heads of the Orthodox Churches in Syria and Lebanon. From there he moved to join Archbishop Rowan Williams’s staff at Lambeth Palace, where he variously held responsibility for advising on Anglican Communion, ecumenical, inter-faith and international relations, before serving as the Archbishop’s Chaplain.

Bishop Anthony will also play a major role as a public face of Anglican ecumenical commitment, liaising with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Unity, Faith and Order team at the Anglican Communion Office.

“It is an extraordinary privilege to be offered this opportunity to serve the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the cause of Christian unity,” said Bishop Anthony. “As a long-time supporter of the Anglican Centre in Rome I am hugely excited at the prospect of contributing to its leadership and building on the work of Archbishop Ian Ernest and his predecessors. I look forward to developing further the connections and collaboration with institutions, organisations and all those, within our Communion and beyond, committed to education, pilgrimage, encounter and deepening mutual understanding.” 

Bishop Anthony is expected to take up his new role next Summer.

(Source: JMECA; photo credit: Westminster Abbey)