A Note on the Overseas Clergy Measure

Under the provisions of the Overseas and other Clergy (Ministry and Ordination) Measure 1967 the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Permission is required before any bishop in the Province of Canterbury (including the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe) may give his licence or permission to a priest or deacon who has been ordained other than in the Anglican Churches of Britain and Ireland. (The Archbishop of York’s Permission is required in the Province of York. Permission previously gained for in either province does not automatically apply in the other.)

Therefore the Measure applies to priests or deacons ordained in other Anglican provinces or extra provincial dioceses, other Episcopal churches in communion (including the Old Catholic and Nordic-Baltic Porvoo Churches), and in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, wherever that ordination took place.

Under the Measure, in order to perform Episcopal functions, overseas bishops require a request and commission in writing from a bishop of the Church of England, and the licence and consent of the archbishop of the relevant province.

Further details may be obtained from the Assistant Diocesan Secretary.