Philip Russell (bishop)

The Most Reverend Philip Russell MBE
Archbishop of Cape Town Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa
Church	Anglican
Province	Southern Africa
Diocese	Cape Town
See	Cape Town
In office	1981–1986
Predecessor	Bill B. Burnett
Successor	Desmond Tutu
Orders
Ordination	1981
Personal details
Born	21 October 1919 Cowies Hill, South Africa
Died	25 July 2013 (aged 93) Adelaide, Australia
Previous post	Bishop of Natal

Philip Welsford Richmond Russell, MBE (1919–2013) was a South African Anglican bishop.

Personal life

Russell was born 21 October 1919 in Cowies Hill, South Africa and died 25 July 2013 in Adelaide, Australia.^[1]

He was educated in Durban at Clifton Preparatory School and Durban High School.^[2] Having trained as a quantity surveyor, he served in World War II as part of a bomb disposal unit in the South African Engineering Corps. He was awarded the MBE in 1943 for his service.^[3] It was during this time he felt called to the priesthood. He studied at Rhodes University and St Paul's Theological College in Grahamstown. He was ordained as a deacon in 1940 and as a priest in 1941. He married Violet Hogarth in 1945 and had three children, June, Pauline and Christopher.^[4] After the death of his wife, Russell moved to Adelaide, Australia, where three of his four children had settled.

Church career

After World War II he served in various parishes in the Diocese of Natal including Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal, Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, Kloof and Pinetown. He was consecrated bishop, and served as suffragan bishop of Cape Town from 1966 to 1970.^[4]

From 1970 to 1974 he was the bishop of the new Anglican Diocese of Port Elizabeth and, from 1974 to 1981, he was Bishop of Natal.

In 1980 he was named Archbishop of Cape Town^[5] by the Episcopal Synod of the Anglican Church after the Diocese of Cape Town was unable to decide between Desmond Tutu and Michael Nuttall, the then Bishop of Pretoria. He retired in 1986 and was succeeded by Desmond Tutu.

Apartheid

As a parish priest in country towns, he started expressing his doubts about Apartheid in sermons. In 1962 he saw black people and white people sitting together and talking for the first time, while at a church council.^[6] He served on the council of Diakonia, an ecumenical body which was very active in the both the spiritual and social service sides of Christian life. He was an ardent supporter of human rights through the South African Institute of Race Relations and the Civil Rights League. His ecumenical enthusiasm led him to an active involvement in Diakonia, Vuleka Trust, the South African Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.^[2]

Publications

• Tools for the Job. Church of the Province of Southern Africa. 1974. ISBN 978-0-86881-001-0. with Lawrence Bekisisa Zulu

References

1. Anon (2013). "Tributes to South Africa's former Primate". Anglican Communion News Service. Anglican Communion Office. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
2. Anon (2003). "Diakonia’s tribute to Archbishop Russell" (PDF). Anglican News 13 (1&2): 3.
3. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 36209. p. 4542. 12 October 1943. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
4. Anon (1 August 1992). The International Who's Who 1992-93. Taylor & Francis. p. 1409. ISBN 978-0-946653-84-3. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
5. Anne R. Kotzé (1992). Bishopscourt and its residents. Creda Press. p. 55. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
6. "The beginning of the end of Apartheid" (PDF). Cathedral Magazine. June 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-04.