Leonard Alufurai

{{Infobox Christian leader | type = bishop | honorific-prefix = The Right Reverend | name = Leonard Alufurai | title = Assistant Bishop of Melanesia | church = Anglican Church of Melanesia | diocese = Malaita | term = 1963–1975 | ordination = 1952 (deacon), 1956 (priest) | consecration = 30 November 1963 | birth_date = 1925 | birth_place = Lau Lagoon, Malaita, Solomon Islands | death_date = 12 September 2000 | death_place = Kilu'ufi Hospital, Auki, Solomon Islands | nationality = Solomon Islander | religion = Anglican | alma_mater = St. Mary's School, Maravovo; All Hallows' School; Te Aute College; St John's College, Auckland | previous_post = Rural Dean of Malaita; Archdeacon of the East Solomons | other_post = Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council (1965) }}

'''Leonard Alufurai, OBE''' (1925–2000) was the inaugural Bishop of Malaita.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Clive |title=Alufurai, Leonard - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Encyclopaedia, 1893-1978 |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000362b.htm |access-date=2023-08-19 |website=www.solomonencyclopaedia.net |language=en-gb}}</ref>

Alufurai was born in Lau Lagoon, Malaita and educated at St. Mary's School, Maravovo, All Hallows' School, Te Aute College and St. John's College, Auckland. He was ordained deacon in 1952, and priest in 1956. Later he was Rural Dean of Malaita,<ref>Crockford's Clerical Directory 1980–82 p 20 London: Oxford University Press, 1983 {{ISBN|0-19-200010-1}}</ref> then Archdeacon of the East Solomons from 1968 to 1975. He was also a member of the Malaita Council. On 30 November 1963 he and Dudley Tuti were consecrated Assistant Bishops in the Diocese of Melanesia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sermon on the Occasion of Reverend Leonard Alufurai and the Reverend Dudley Tuti Being Consecrated Assistant Bishops of Melanesia at All Saints' Cathedral, Honiara, on Saint Andrew's Day 1963. |url=http://anglicanhistory.org/oceania/hill_consecration1963.html |access-date=2023-08-19 |website=anglicanhistory.org}}</ref>

He moved to Honiara, but returned to Malaita and died on the 12 September 2000 at Kilu'ufi Hospital in Auki. <ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Clive |title=Alufurai, Leonard - Biographical entry - Solomon Islands Encyclopaedia, 1893-1978 |url=https://www.solomonencyclopaedia.net/biogs/E000362b.htm |access-date=2024-05-11 |language=en-gb}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} {{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Christianity|portal3= Oceania}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alufurai, Leonard}} Category:1925 births Category:2000 deaths Category:People from Malaita Province Category:Solomon Islands Anglican priests Category:20th-century Anglican priests Category:Anglican archdeacons in Oceania Category:Anglican bishops of Malaita Category:Anglican bishops of Melanesia Category:20th-century Anglican bishops in Oceania Category:Members of the Legislative Council of the Solomon Islands Category:Solomon Islands expatriates in New Zealand Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire