Bishop Edward Mackenzie, RIP

The Right Revd Edward Mackenzie, former Bishop-Suffragan in the Diocese of Cape Town, died in California on Saturday March 14.

Bishop Mackenzie and his wife, Sylvia, moved to the United States after his retirement, where his daughter, the Revd Vanessa Mackenzie, served as rector of the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Los Angeles.

Bishop Edward, like his daughter, was ordained in the Diocese of Johannesburg, and later moved to Cape Town, where he was elected suffragan to Archbishop Desmond Tutu at a time when the original Diocese – which stretched to the Namibian border and halfway to George – decided to appoint a third suffragan.

Bishop John H. Taylor of Los Angeles visited Bishop Edward in hospital, where he was battling cancer, a few days before his death.

Bishop Taylor wrote on his Facebook page that Bishop Edward was “in good spirits under the circumstances,” telling stories of the church’s involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle. Bishop Taylor added: “While we talked, the bishop, always a pastor, kept an eye on the young man in the next bed, Carlos, to make sure he was all right. As I left, I whispered to Carlos, ‘He’s a very great man.’ Carlos smiled and said, ‘I know.’”

It is planned that after a private cremation in the USA, his ashes will be interred after a funeral service in Johannesburg.