Conger

The political, social and economic transformation of South Africa is under threat from crime and moral corruption, the Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa have warned.

In an Easter Pastoral letter released after the March 31-April 2 meeting of the House of Bishops in Cape Town the Bishops said the “social trends” confronting Southern Africa were “distressing” and must be met by the moral regeneration of society.

The Bishops also affirmed their intention to attend the forthcoming Lambeth Conference, chiding those African Anglicans who will absent themselves from the gathering of approximately 600 of the Communion’s roughly 900 bishops at the University of Kent in Canterbury this June.

During their time together, the Southern Africa bishops reflected on the Easter season scripture readings.  “We have been reminded again of the worship, the compassion and the responsible lifestyle of the early Christians when they came to care for their neighbours and act generously with land and property. Their celebrations always reflected the face of God into the cultures and contexts in which they were living,” they said.

And it was in this “spirit” they greeted “fellow Anglicans across Africa and wish them well as we prepare for the Lambeth gathering of Bishops in England this year. We do so with confidence in the presence of the living God who will help and envision us as we gather,” they said, writing in distinction to recent statements by the Nigerian Church that have questioned the wisdom of holding a Lambeth Conference at this time.

Southern Africa’s deteriorating social and economic conditions, however, were the central concern of the bishops’ letter.  “We are especially disturbed that the miracles of political transformation in southern Africa, which gave such hope of a safe and prosperous environment for women, children and refugees to live in, are being undermined.”

“Teen pregnancy and abortion, drug abuse and crime, violence in schools and child trafficking, racism and xenophobia on the part of citizens and of the forces of law and order, all perturb us as they do our neighbours,” the bishops said.

They urged the Anglicans of Southern Africa to adopt a communitarian approach to the social and economic inequalities besetting the region and to “renew the compassionate spirit of our church in its outreach to our neighbours in need.”

The bishops also had sharp words for the region’s governments, which were “delivering services to their people which are at best, patchy and inadequate. The humanity of widows, children and refugees deserves better,” they said.