The Anglican Church of the Indian Ocean (ACIO)
Anglican mission began in Mauritius in 1810, after the capture of the island by the British from the French. The first priests were chaplains to the colonial powers.
In 1854 the first Bishop of Mauritius was consecrated and a separate diocese for Mauritius and the Seychelles Islands was created. St. Paul’s Cathedral in The Seychelles was built in 1859.
Both the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) and the Church Missionary Society (CMS) worked to develop education, social and health ministries in the region.
The first Anglican missionary arrived in Madagascar in 1864, sent by the SPG. In 1874 the Diocese of Madagascar was founded and today the nation has six dioceses.
The full province, covering Madagascar, Mauritius, and The Seychelles, was founded in 1973 and Bishop Curtis was elected as the first Archbishop. The province is culturally, linguistically and geographically diverse with eight dioceses: Antananarivo, Toamasina, Antsiranana, The Seychelles, Mauritius, Mahajanga, Fianarantsoa and Toliara. The current Archbishop is The Most Rev'd James Wong who is also the Bishop of The Seychelles.
The current president of The Seychelles the Rev'd Wavel Ramkalawan is an Anglican priest.
The Church seeks to model evangelism through discipleship. USPG accompanies the Church in provincial strategy implementation and leadership strengthening.