Delegates to the June 19-20 deadlocked after 10 rounds of voting with the Rev Emilio Martin, the Rev Ivan Gonzalez and the Rev José Angel Guiterrez unable to garner the requisite two-thirds majorities from the lay and clergy delegates. Internal divisions within the diocese have prevented the election of a bishop for 20 years.

A one-time member of the American church, the diocese withdrew from the Episcopal Church in 1967 in the wake of the political dissension between the US and Cuba. A Metropolitan Council composed of the Archbishops of Canada and the West Indies and the US Presiding Bishop have exercised jurisdiction over the diocese.

In 2003 the US General Convention voted to re-admit Cuba to the US Church, but the Cuban diocesan synod narrowly rejected the invitation.

In January 2004, the Metropolitan Council appointed the former Dean of Havana’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, Bishop Miguel Tamayo of Uruguay, to serve as interim bishop of the diocese, and in 2007 two suffragan bishops were appointed by the Metropolitan Council to help bridge the theological and political divide within the diocese.

The Ven Michael Pollesel, general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada, who was appointed to oversee the election on behalf of the Metropolitan Council, told the Anglican Journal the diocese still remained divided into two camps. “I guess one would be considered more moderate and middle of the road, the other might be considered a little more traditional,” he said.

The matter has now been referred back to the Metropolitan Council for further action.

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