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Pastorway: vicar required on remote island

by Aaron James

Ascension Island, a British Overseas Territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is a thousand miles from Africa and 1,400 miles from Brazil.

The island's named after Ascension Day - the day it was founded in 1503.

It has a population of approximately 880 people and is known for its picturesque landscapes, white beaches, warm temperatures and endangered green turtles who regularly lay their eggs on the island.

Fr Don Wittich, its previous vicar, is retiring at the age of 80 after two years of service.

Canon Nicholas Turner served as vicar on Ascension Island for five years in the 1990s, and told Premier's News Hour: "Everybody knows everybody else. And it's wonderfully safe - to see a four-year old walking down the main street of the capital, and nobody the slightest bit worried, it's something you can't imagine in this country.

"We advertised earlier in the year and got absolutely no response at all. Now this second time we've had one advertisement in with just one expression of interest, so I was beginning to get a bit worried.

"We have this idea in the Church of England that we're ministering to everybody about anything, and nowhere has that been truer than on Ascension Island."

Listen to Premier's Aaron James speaking to Canon Nichols Turner here:

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