Daily Times

Reverend Aleem Anwar has been elected as the Bishop of Faisalabad Diocese of the Church of Pakistan (CoP) in the election held on Saturday, June 4, according to a press statement released by the office of the Moderator, Church of Pakistan.

The statement said that of the five nominees, the diocesan council comprising 117 clergy and lay members voted to select three names for the election which included Rev Aleem Anwar, Rev Ashraf Waseem and Rev Eric Sarwar.

Later, the election for the bishop was held at a local hotel where both the Diocesan Executive and Synod Executive constituted the House. All CoP bishops, including the Moderator Dr Azad Marshall, Commissary Bishop of Faisalabad Mano Rumalshah and Synod secretary Anthony Lamuel were present on the occasion.

In the first round of balloting, Rev Aleem got 14 votes from Diocesan Executive and 25 out of 26 from the Synod Executive. Rev Ashraf Waseem got 4 votes from Diocesan Executive and 1 vote from Synod Executive. Rev Eric Sarwar got 4 votes from Diocesan Executive and 0 vote from the Synod Executive. Rev Aleem Anwar got a total of 39 votes and was duly elected as the Third Bishop of the Diocese of Faisalabad.

On Sunday, Rev Aleem was consecrated as Bishop of Faisalabad by the Moderator Bishop Dr Azad Marshall in presence of the congregation and officers of the Synod of Church of Pakistan at the Saint John’s Cathedral in Gojra, which is an over 150 years old deanery of the Anglican church.

Speaking on the occasion, Bishop Marshall said that the smooth conduct of the election for Faisalabad’s bishop was a commendable achievement of the Church of Pakistan.

“I congratulate the congregation of the Faisalabad Diocese on the election of their new bishop. Rev Aleem Anwar is a local priest and understands the diocese and its congregation members very well. We hope that Bishop Aleem will lead the diocese with godly wisdom and contribute positively to its spiritual growth and development.

“The previous bishop, John Samuel, served the diocese for 28 years, retiring last year. During the past one year, Bishop Mano Rumalshah supervised the diocese as Commissary Bishop with utmost sincerity and commitment and I would like to thank him too for his services,” he said.

Bishop Marshall said that since getting elected as the CoP moderator last year, his top priority was to run the affairs of the CoP with transparency and within the constitutional ambit. “I’m glad that we conducted a transparent election in Faisalabad and hope that future elections will also be held in the same spirit,” he concluded.