Cyprus: Prince of Wales Charles and his wife Camilla were the guests of honour at a service to mark the 125th anniversary of an Anglican missionary bishop, who had worked nearly a quarter of century in the undivided India.
Bishop Thomas Valpy French died at Muscat in 1891 aged 66.
During his stay in India, he had helped translate the Bible into Hindustani and Pasto and mastered seven languages.
Valpy French born in Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire in January 1825, joined the Church Mission Society in April 1850, the same year he was sent to Agra in India; where he founded a college. Persian, Pashto and Arabic were among the languages he learned. In 1861, he was transferred to Derajat in central Pakistan where he started a new mission.
The following year, he returned to England where he worked for 15 years. In 1977, he was appointed the first Anglican Bishop of the new diocese of Lahore. The diocese then covered the Punjab and north-western India. He visited Kashmir and Iran.
He returned to England again after ten years. He was sent to Oman in 1891. However, ill-health struck and he died in Muscat, despite the care of Portuguese Catholic missionaries.
The prince and princess attended the services in Oman’s Bait al Noor Church in Ruwi, Muscat, anglicannews.org reported.
Anglican Bishop Michael Lewis of Cyprus and the Gulf celebrated a commemorative Eucharist at the Bait al Noor church on November 5. The royals attended the service as part of their week-long visit to the Middle East, which includes some 50 engagements in Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.