Anglican Province of Indian Ocean-Seychelles ordains first female priest |27 November 2006

Among the guests at the ceremony were Vice-President Joseph Belmont and his wife, Foreign Affairs Minister Patrick Pillay, the Minister for Health, Macsuzy Mondon, Minister Vincent Meriton of Community Development and Youth, Education Minister Bernard Shamlaye and his wife, Speaker of the National Assembly, Francis MacGregor, the Attorney General, Anthony Fernando and the British High Commissioner, Diana Skingle.

The ordination followed an 11 against nine vote in favour of the move to consecrate women, that majority of bishops in Madagascar had earlier opposed, but a number of them later supported, during a meeting held in January.

“Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar form the province, and leaders from the different parishes make all major decisions pertaining to the churches in the region.

“The clergy in Madagascar who are a bit more conservative were not in favour of women clerics, but allowed for the ordination of deacons in 2004, when Benoit became a deacon,” Fred Simon, an Anglican priest told Nation.

“Rev’d Benoit, in addition to being the first female priest in the diocese and province becomes a paradigm, a model, for others to follow,” Bishop Santosh Marray of the Anglican Church who presided over the ordination ceremony said, advising her to adopt the characteristics and integrity of the priestly life, “as the spotlight will be on her.”

An accountant by her initial training, Benoit worked as an auditor in the Seychelles Ministry of Finance from April 1993 to January 2000, after which she proceeded to the College of Transfiguration in Grahamstown, South Africa, where she graduated in 2002 with Diploma in Theology.

She has served in various positions in the Anglican diocese, and also works part time to translate the Bible into Creole.

Rev’d Benoit spent the last three months in the Anglican Diocese of Montreal assisting and understudying one of the diocese’s female priests, Jody Medicoff of St Barnabas Church, St Lambert, Montreal, who preached during Benoit’s ordination yesterday.

Seychelles President, James Michel, said in a message that although his country is small, it continues to set standards for the region.
“We may be a small nation but our presence in the international community both in civic and religious spheres remains a shining light.

“Her ordination has brought honour to our nation, as we move forward in the process of gender equality in all spheres of his life,” said the president, whose government employs more women in administrative posts than men, and has a cabinet in which three of his nine ministers are women.

Eight out of 21 heads of Seychelles government departments are headed by women.
“By your effort, we hope that many more females will be courageous enough to challenge conservative standards,” President Michel said.