Conger

The Anglican Church of Tanzania has intervened in the dispute between the Bishop of Central Tanganyika and his suffragan, and has asked Bishop Godfrey Mhogolo to halt evictions proceedings against Bishop Ainea Kusenha.

The Guardian newspaper of Dar es Salaam reported this week Bishop Mhogolo tried to evict Bishop Kusenha from his diocesan owned house, but was asked to halt by the Province. On Jan 15 the diocesan secretary informed Bishop Kusenha he would be removed by force if he did not vacate the vicarage. Bishop Kusenha declined to go, prompting a crowd of supporters to gather at his home to prevent his removal.

The province stepped in, sources tell The Church of England Newspaper, to avoid a public spectacle.

While officially couched in terms of a disagreement in management styles between the two bishops, the dispute in Central Tanganyika has drawn its energy from the fallout over the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.

In March, Bishop Mhogolo came under fire from clergy and lay leaders of his diocese after he broke with his colleagues in the Tanzanian House of Bishops, releasing a letter on Jan 26 opposing his Church’s policies towards The Episcopal Church.

The Tanzanian Bishops’ statement “that expresses a severely impaired relationship with ECUSA, and that no money will be received by the Anglican Church of Tanzania from ECUSA and its entities that condone homosexual practices,” he said “carries a lot of weight” but did not “express the will and wishes of the whole Anglican Church of Tanzania,” Bishop Mhogolo wrote.

Central Tanganyika would continue to accept US funds in defiance of the Provincial Bishops’ statement, he said. Internal protests over his pro-American policies led to his being banned from his cathedral in Dodoma at Easter, while calls were made for his removal from office.

Bishop Mhogolo responded that while he rejected the American church’s affirmation of gay bishops and blessings, he did not believe homosexual conduct was a worse sin than murder or adultery. “There are so many other problems ranging from poverty, ignorance and diseases that the church in Africa could address instead of importing the issue of homosexuality which is a problem of the American church,” he said.

The objections lodged against him were a ploy to undermine his authority, the bishop said. However, the unresolved dispute over the Episcopal Church has led to conflict with senior clergy in the diocese, and now with his suffragan, Bishop Kusenha.