Bishop defends honours for Robert Mugabe: The Church of England Newspaper, Oct 1, 2010 p 8. September 30, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Zimbabwe.comments closed
Dr Crespo and President Mugabe
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Dr. Walter Crespo, the head of the Anglican Church of Ecuador, has denied accusations that he supplied arms to Colombian FARC rebel groups, and has defended his church’s recognition of Robert Mugabe as one of the leading progressive anti-imperialist leaders on the world stage today.
“[I] was, [am], and will remain a man of leftist political convictions” the controversial cleric told The Church of England Newspaper, adding that his “public recognition of the moral leadership of Dr. Mugabe as the legitimate President of Zimbabwe, and a worldwide leader is in perfect line with his historical trajectory.”
The fiery prelate added he “was not, is not, and will never be a puppet of political imperialism or of degenerated ‘official Anglicanism’ as it is practiced by ‘Lambeth’ and ‘815’.” [815 is a slang expression for the US Episcopal Church, whose offices are located at 815 Second Avenue in New York City.]
Last month Dr. Crespo, joined by former Anglican bishops Nolbert Kunonga and Elson Jakazi, invited President Mugabe to Quito to receive an honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Laws. “The conferment of the honorary doctorate to the Head of State is in honour of and recognition of Comrade Mugabe’s outstanding leadership of not only Zimbabwe but of the rest of the world including Latin America,” the bishop said.
On Sept 26, President Robert Mugabe returned to Harare after attending the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The Zimbabwe strongman had been scheduled to travel to fly to Quito to pick up his honorary degree.
A government spokesman said “time constraints” had prevented President Mugabe from traveling to Quito. Media, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu said the president would be traveling to Mexico in December for the 17th Climate Change Convention and “will then fulfill that commitment.”
However, press reports detailing Dr. Crespo’s alleged ties to arms dealings, may have played a part in the postponing the ceremony, émigré Zimbabwean newspapers have reported. SW Radio Africa news stated “it’s thought the revelations about Bishop Crespo’s shady life have diminished the propaganda value of the doctorate.”
The Anglican Diocese of Harare led by Bishop Chad Gandiya and the Church of the Province of Central Africa stated they too “dissociate themselves from any activities associated with Dr. Crespo and the ‘Anglican’ Province of Ecuador.”
The Diocese of Harare stated it was “not at all surprised by this apparent solidarity between Dr. Kunonga and Dr. Crespo, they are both rebels fighting for a nonexistent cause.”
Dr. Crespo told CEN his denomination was not tied to the US Episcopal Church or to the Anglican Communion, but was descended from a Church of England congregation established in Guayaquil in 1821, that in 1957 was incorporated as an independent denomination under Ecuadorian law.
The Ecuadorian bishop stated that he was a man of the left, and that his incarceration in 2001 and imprisonment for three years while awaiting trial for gun running had been engineered by right wing paramilitary groups tied to corrupt elements within the Ecuadorian and Colombian government.
Dr. Crespo stated his leftist credentials were beyond reproach. He was first jailed at age 16 in 1966 by Ecuador’s military junta for his involvement with the High School Students National Federation (FESE) and in 1970 went into exile in Spain.
The bishop told CEN he was jailed a second time by the Franco regime while working as a school teacher. And in 1998 was jailed a third time when he attempted to take his seat as an elected member of Ecuador’s National Assembly.
Ecuador’s anti-clerical laws forbade clergyman from holding civil office, and he was jailed for 231 days for contempt. His jailing led to a revision of the country’s constitution, he said, that now permits clergymen to serve in government office.
The allegations that he was “involved in gun running were false,” he said, adding that in 2001 he was arrested “under dirty charges of supporting FARC.”
Far from being an ally of FARC, Bishop Crespo said, he and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, a German national, were seeking “the freedom of several European citizens kidnapped by the Colombian insurgency.”
His involvement in hostage negotiations with FARC prompted the “conspiracy” by the head of the Colombian security services, Jorge Noguera, and the chief of the Ecuadoran police, which the bishop said led to his jailing and the expulsion of the German bishop from Ecuador.
Jorge Noguera served as chief of the DAS (the Colombian Administrative Department of Security) from 2002 to 2006. In 2007 he was accused of being a member of the AUC, a right-wing paramilitary group, and in 2008, Noguera was arrested and charged with murder and conspiracy for his AUC work while serving as chief of the security services.
Dr. Crespo told CEN he “defeated eight indictments, the last one issued on Dec. 24, 2009” brought by his opponents, while his persecutors were now in jail.
“Where is Noguera now a days? He is in jail in Colombia, arrested by his own accomplices,” the bishop said.
Battle of Britain commemorated at Westminster Abbey: The Church of England Newspaper, Oct 1, 2010 p 4. September 30, 2010
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The Dean of Westminster Abbey received Fighter Command's Ensign on Sept 19 to be laid up in the RAF Memorial Chapel
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Westminster Abbey played host last week for the commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
Over 300 serving members of the RAF joined 24 veterans of the Battle of Britain and the Prince of Wales, at the Sept 19 memorial service, where Fighter Command’s silk Ensign was paraded for the last time before being laid up in the Royal Air Force Memorial Chapel.
Newly qualified RAF Search and Rescue pilot Prince William joined his father and the Duchess of Cornwall, Prime Minister David Cameron, the Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox, and the Chief of the Air Staff Sir Stephen Dalton for the service of thanksgiving. Outside the Abbey a fly past by a Spitfire, Hurricane and 4 Tornado jets concluded the service.
The service led by the Dean of Westminster Abbey, Dr. John Hall, included an Act of Remembrance during which the Battle of Britain Roll of Honour was borne from the Grave of the Unknown Warrior in the Chapel of St George and escorted to the Sacrarium.
In his sermon the Chaplain in Chief of the Royal Air Force, the Ven. Ray Pentland stated “70 years ago our nation stood on the brink of invasion. Churchill declared ‘I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilisation’.”
“This turning point in our nation’s history is the story of victory and of salvation. It is the story of Cam’s Hurricane, Mitchell’s spitfire, Dowding’s preparation, Park’s strategy and Churchill’s leadership. It is the story of the thousands who plotted and planned; who engineered and served; who loved and lost; who fought and won. It is the story of victory against all odds. It is the story of the few and the debt we owe. Could they have dreamt that it would really become our finest hour? Could they have imagined that the work of their hands would become the salvation of our nation?”
“Through their bravery our freedom was won,” Archdeacon Pentland said.
The chief of the Air Staff Sir Stephen Dalton stated “the Battle of Britain continues to inspire the Royal Air Force – not least those who are deployed on operations today in Afghanistan and the South Atlantic.”
“Whilst the current threats Britain faces are very different, the air power that the Royal Air Force delivers today continues to provide the security of our skies and the critical and precise support of our soldiers and marines on the ground. Just as in 1940, the spirit, courage and determination of our airmen and women sustain our success on operations,” he said.
Battle of Britain Sunday commemorates the July 10 to Oct 31 1940 air battle 10 July to 31 October 1940 which Sir Winston Church described as “one of the decisive battles of the war.”
“The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” Churchill told Parliament on Aug 20, 1940.
Kunonga grabs two more churches: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 8. September 29, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Zimbabwe.comments closed
Dr. Nolbert Kunonga
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Zimbabwe’s church property battle heated up last week as police evicted Anglicans loyal to Bishop Chad Gandiya and the Church of the Province of Central Africa from their church.
However, the Zimbabwe Standard reports the latest eviction by police on behalf of breakaway Bishop Nolbert Kunonga was from a church built by a congregation in Chitungwiza after they had been evicted from their original church home.
In 2007, the Anglican congregation in Chitungwiza, a suburban township south of the capital near the city’s airport, was evicted from their church in the township’s Unit K ward after they refused to back a priest installed by Dr. Kunonga. The congregation began building a new church in the township’s Unit M ward, with construction completed earlier this month.
On Sept 18 The Standard reported that two weeks ago a police inspector came to the church and told the congregation and parish workers to leave. He had “orders from above” to turn the building over to Dr. Kunonga. A Kunonga priest soon took up physical residence in the church, with the vestry room turned into a bedroom.
Dr. Kunonga’s claim upon the church rests with his recognition by the security services as the Anglican bishop in Harare, sources in Zimbabwe tell CEN.
The seizure of the Unit M church follows the confiscation earlier this month of a second church in Chitungwiza by Dr. Kunonga. On Sept 1 The Zimbabwean reported the congregation of a church in the Zengeza 2 section of the township was evicted to make way for a fee paying pre-school.
Members of the congregation have denounced Dr. Kunonga for driving the congregation out of their building to worship in the open air during the Southern African winter, while he has enriched himself by turning their church into a for-profit school.
New Archbishop for Rwanda: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 7. September 29, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Rwanda, Church of England Newspaper.comments closed
Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje of Rwanda addressing Anglican participants at the World Council of Churches General Assembly in Brazil
The Bishop of Byumba, the Rt. Rev. Onesphore Rwaje has been elected the primate of the Anglican Church of Rwanda. On Sept 17, the Rwandan House of Bishops meeting in Kigali elected Bishop Rwaje to serve as primate of the East African province in succession to Archbishop Emmanuel Kolini. Archbishop Rwaje will also be translated to the newly created diocese of Gasabo, after having served as Bishop of Byumba since 1991.
The new archbishop has served as President of the Protestant Council of Rwanda, Dean of the province, and as the Anglican Church of Rwanda’s delegate to the World Council of Churches and the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, and as an alternate member of the general committee of the All Africa Council of Churches.
The chairman of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, Rwanda’s missionary outreach in the United States and Canada, Bishop Chuck Murphy said he welcomed the election of Archbishop Rwaje.
“The presence of the Holy Spirit was clear and evident throughout the meeting, and we were blessed to have an election on the first ballot with overwhelming support for the Dean of the Province of Rwanda, Bishop Onesphore Rwaje,” he said.
Lambeth bats and buildings conference scheduled for November: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 4. September 29, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper.comments closed
Tony Baldry MP, Second Church Estates Commissioner
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Lambeth Palace will play host to a conference on bats and buildings in November that will look at ways of accommodating churchgoers and the winged mammals roosting in Britain’s churches, the Second Church Estates Commissioner told Parliament last week.
On Sept 14 the member for Mid Norfolk, Mr. George Freeman (Cons.) asked the Church Estates Commissioner Mr. Tony Baldry what costs had been incurred by churches “with conditions attached to planning permissions in respect of bats,” and the numbers and costs of damages caused by bat infestations in Norfolk churches.
Mr. Baldry stated the Church Commissioners possessed no figures on the total costs “to parishes in Norfolk of getting the necessary bat surveys done before work on the fabric of church buildings can be started, nor of the total cost borne by parishes in mitigating the damage caused by bats in Norfolk churches.”
However, the average costs to conduct an ecological survey ranged from £1,000 and £2,000, he said. The cost of cleaning was also high, he said giving the example of St Andrew’s Church in Holme Hale, Norfolk, “one of the worst effected in the country,” which last year “paid £2,600 in cleaning costs to clear up after its resident bats.”
Mr. Baldry stated the damage caused by bats was “incalculable, mainly because in many cases it is irreversible.”
The Church Buildings Council was working closely with Natural England and DEFRA “to try and find ways of mitigating the burden to churches within the law, and is currently conducting a pilot project in Norfolk to explore ways of encouraging the bats to find alternative accommodation by for example the use of bat boxes outside on the eaves.”
The results of this study would be presented at a conservation conference held at Lambeth Palace in November,” he said.
“Norfolk has the highest number of medieval churches in Europe,” Mr. Baldry said, and “in many instances bats and congregations can co-exist quite happily. The problems and costs escalate where the bats occupy churches in large numbers,” the second church estates commissioner observed.
US House of Bishops calls for the Bishop of Pennsylvania to resign: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 6. September 28, 2010
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The Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., Bishop of Pennsylvania
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The US Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops has called upon the Bishop of Pennsylvania to resign. In a resolution adopted at their Sept 16 to 21 meeting in Phoenix, the bishops called upon the Rt. Rev. Charles E. Bennison, Jr., to step down for the “sake of the wholeness and unity” of the church.
In a decision dated July 28, but released in mid August, the Episcopal Church’s Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop overturned the conviction of Bishop Bennison on charges of conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy. It concluded the conduct in question had occurred more than 35 years ago and the church was accordingly barred from prosecution under the ten-year statute of limitations rule.
The appellate court’s unanimous decision restored Bishop Bennison to office following his June 26, 2008 conviction, dealing a sharp blow to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and her chancellor, Mr. David Booth Beers, who had championed the case.
Protests over the Bishop Bennison’s successful appeal have been made by the Diocese of Pennsylvania’s Standing Committee and lay leaders in the Episcopal Church, and on Sept 21 the House of Bishops passed a resolution that stated they too were “profoundly troubled by the outcome of the disciplinary action” against Bishop Bennison.
The bishops said that while they respected the “decision of the Court of Review” the “ultimate resolution of this matter [was] unsatisfactory and morally repugnant.”
The resolution stated Bishop Bennison had offered a “wholly inadequate response” towards explaining his conduct thirty-five years, and believed his protestations of innocence were an “inexcusable violation of his ordination vows.”
“As the House of Bishops, we have come to the conclusion that Bishop Bennison’s capacity to exercise the ministry of pastoral oversight is irretrievably damaged,” the resolution stated.
“Therefore, we exhort Charles, our brother in Christ, in the strongest possible terms, to tender his immediate and unconditional resignation as the Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. For the sake of the wholeness and unity of the body of Christ, in the Diocese of Pennsylvania and in the church, we implore our brother to take this action without further delay.”
Gloucester welcome for NATO: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 5. September 27, 2010
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Bishop Michael Perham and Dean Nicholas Bury of Gloucester welcoming representatives from 15 NATO nations to Gloucestershire
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Gloucester Cathedral played host last week for a ceremony welcoming NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) upon its redeployment from Germany to the Imjin Barracks in Innsworth.
On Sept 16 the Diocese and County of Gloucester welcomed 400 serving personnel and their families in a service led by the Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt. Rev. Michael Perham, and the Dean of Gloucester, the Very Rev. Nicholas Bury, which commenced with a formal procession of flag bearers into the Cathedral, bearing the flags of all 15 Nations of the ARRC.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Sir Henry Elwes told the congregation the ARRC “will add hugely to the fabric of our society. I can say truthfully that you could not have picked a better city in which to site your new HQ.”
“However, we are acutely conscious that your work is not all fun – we understand that you play a key role in striving for peace in the world. I can guarantee that we in Gloucester will be right behind you in this cause. We won’t forget your families while you are away in Afghanistan. On behalf of the whole city, we welcome you to Gloucester and we support you in the difficult tasks that you face. We are proud to have you here,” Sir Henry said.
The commanding officer of the ARRC, Lt. Gen. Sir Richard Shirreff thanked Gloucester for its welcome. “Our presence here tonight is a symbol not only of your hospitality and willingness to accept us, but also of our determination to contribute as much possible to the community that we have been welcomed into so warmly.”
Created at the close of the Cold War, the headquarters detachment of the ARRC is under the operational command of NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and took command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2006. Previously, it had been deployed as the headquarters commanding Land Forces during the Kosovo War in 1999 and in the 1995-1996 IFOR operation in Bosnia.
Nigerian bishop released by kidnappers: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 8. September 27, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Nigeria, Crime.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Bishop of Ngbo has been released unharmed by kidnappers in Southeastern Nigeria’s Ebonyi State, one day after he was abducted by armed gunmen. While driving to Owerri earlier this month, Bishop Christian Ebisike’s car stopped at a roadblock and he was taken at gunpoint.
The next day the bishop was released by his abductors on the Ontisha – Owerri road. It is not known if a ransom was paid.
On Jan 24 Bishop Peter Imasuen of Benin was also kidnapped at his home in Benin City, the capital of Edo State in Southern Nigeria.
Bishop Imasuen was abducted by armed gunmen who followed home after Sunday services at St Matthew’s Cathedral. As his car entered the walled compound of his home, bandits forced their way inside, overpowering a watchman. The bishop was bundled into a car by gunmen and driven away. A ransom of £200,000 was demanded, and the bishop was released unharmed four days later. Church leaders declined to state whether the ransom was paid.
Last week the Bishop of Abakaliki, the Rt. Rev. Benson Onyibor denounced the government’s inability to halt the wave of kidnappings plaguing the oil-rich southeastern Delta region. “I am not accusing anybody but I know that the government is not sincere; they could do something to stop this mess. They are the chief security officers of the country and they should not only start acting whenever people are kidnapped,” he told the Nigerian Compass.
However, “we prayed to the Lord for [Bishop Ebisike’s] release and the church is happy that at the end of the tunnel there was light and so, we are happy over the situation,” Bishop Onyibor said.
Speculation centers round a criminal gang as having masterminded the abduction, dismissing suggestions the seizure was related to political divisions in Nigeria or to the region’s separatist movement.
Church call for government crackdown on Malay & Muslim extremism: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 8. September 26, 2010
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Bishop Ng Moon Hing of West Malaysia
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Church leaders in Malaysia have called upon the government of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to combat the Malay and Muslim chauvinism within the government that has threatened to divide the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Southeast Asian nation.
In a statement released on Sept 16 to mark Malaysia Day, the national holiday that commemorates the federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore in 1963 to form Malaysia, the leaders of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) urged the government to stamp out racism and religious extremism within its ranks.
“In recent times we have seen even those who occupy positions of influence blatantly exhibiting racist attitudes and behavior and promoting hate speech and disunity,” the CFM said in a statement signed by its president, the Anglican Bishop Ng Moon Hing of West Malaysia, and other Catholic, Evangelical and Orthodox leaders.
“Malaysians deserve courageous and committed leaders who will have the courage and the strength of character to do what is right and who are resolute in bringing wrong-doers to justice,” they said.
Earlier this year Malaysia saw an outbreak of church burning by Islamic extremists, and an increase in anti-Chinese and anti-Indian agitation by Malay nationalists. The church leaders welcomed the government’s efforts to foster religious and racial reconciliation, but warned there were “evil people in this country that clearly do not seek the common good and well-being of all Malaysians. We call on the government to work to frustrate the efforts of all such groups even if it means acting against elements within the administration of the ruling coalition itself.”
The independence day letter also urged the government to tackle “rampant corruption” and the destabilizing effects of Sharia law. “Unresolved issues include the many cases where the religious conversion of one spouse in a marriage has resulted in great injustice to the non-converting spouse and the children of the marriage; the continuing ban of the Allah word which affects the printing of the Alkitab and Christian publications and the lack of adequate and proper land to build places of worship and for use as burial grounds for non-Muslims.”
The church leaders stated that as Malaysians “we have always lived in the midst of minarets, church steeples, temple bells, religious celebrations and processions. This is the hallmark of Malaysian life.”
“Yet today many of us are being segregated, separated and segmented by the inappropriate application and imposition of sectarian religious values by elements within the very same government that is charged with protecting and preserving our religious freedoms and fundamental liberties. We call on all Malaysians not to allow such insensitive attitudes and actions to divide us, and to stand together to oppose those who would damage and ultimately destroy the unity that our founding fathers so earnestly and sincerely forged with one another,” they said
Colorado church criminal case concludes: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 6. September 25, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Colorado, Property Litigation.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The leader of Colorado’s largest breakaway congregation, the Rev. Donald Armstrong has reached an out of court agreement with the Pueblo County District Attorney to settle a 20 count criminal indictment accusing him of stealing over £250,000 from his former Episcopal Church congregation.
The plea deal ends the long running ecclesial and personal war between Mr. Armstrong and Bishop Robert O’Neill of Colorado that has bitterly divided Anglicans in Colorado Springs and consumed £2 million—over half—of the diocese’s endowment, and cost the parish almost £700,000.
On Sept 17, District Attorney Bill Thiebaut announced that 19 felony counts of theft would be dismissed in exchange for Mr. Armstrong pleading “no contest” to one class-three felony, the theft of $15,000 or more. Final adjudication on this last charge, however would be withheld, and if Mr. Armstrong complies with the terms of his probation set by the court, the conviction will be expunged from the court’s record.
Mr. Armstrong also entered an ‘Alford Plea’ to a single misdemeanor charge. Under American law an Alford Plea is when a defendant asserts his innocence but admits that sufficient evidence exists to convict him of the offense. Under Colorado law, Mr. Armstrong will plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge, but does not have to specifically admit to the guilt itself. The plea agreement acknowledges there is no factual basis to the misdemeanor charge, but Mr. Armstrong accepts it to obtain the benefit of the plea agreement.
After the agreement was announced the parish released a statement welcoming the District Attorney’s decision saying it brings “to conclusion this long and torturous ordeal for our congregation.”
The parish stated it believed the “controversies within the larger denominational church were the catalyst for the Diocese’s investigation and complaint, for the purpose of silencing our bold and successful defense of orthodoxy.”
It stated the “disparity between the magnitude of charges” lodged against Mr. Armstrong and the “final content of the plea agreement vindicates” Mr. Armstrong and the church’s stewardship of its funds.
However, the Chancellor of the Diocese of Colorado, Larry Hitt, said Mr. Armstrong’s entry of a ‘no contest’ plea to the felony charge and his “effective guilty plea to a class 1 misdemeanor theft charge constitute a tacit acknowledgment of the truth of the criminal charges against him.”
Mr. Hitt stated “Armstrong’s theft constituted an abuse of trust and a betrayal by a priest of the church. His unlawful actions and efforts to divert the focus of the dispute away from his own behavior caused harm and suffering for the church, its clergy, its membership and the poor whom we are called to serve.”
In 2007, Mr. Armstrong’s congregation Grace & St Stephens quit the diocese of Colorado, joining the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA). The diocese responded by deposing Mr. Armstrong and litigation ensued over control of the property. On March 24, 2009 a court awarded ownership of the multi-million dollar church to the diocese. In its quest to retrieve the buildings, the diocese had accused Mr. Armstrong of tax fraud and misappropriating church funds to pay for his children’s university education.
However, in November 2008 Mr. Armstrong’s attorney Dennis Hartley reported that an investigation by Federal tax authorities had found no wrongdoing.
Mr. Armstrong told The Church of England Newspaper he was pleased by the outcome. “This is really over,” he said.
A spokesman for CANA told CEN Mr. Armstrong remains a “priest in good standing” with CANA, and that Bishop Martyn Minns “will soon be making a visit to the parish in Colorado Springs to more fully understand this difficult and sad situation.”
Radio 4’s unusual service for the Ryder Cup: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 5. September 25, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church in Wales, Church of England Newspaper, Popular Culture.comments closed
St Peters, Chepstow
Radio 4’s Sunday Worship programme for this Sunday will be broadcast from a Norman church located on a golf course in Wales.
To commemorate the Ryder Cup golf tournament underway in Newport, the Archbishop of Wales will lead services at the Church of St Peter located on the groups of the Marriot St Pierre Hotel and Country Club in Chepstow, Monmouthshire.
Dr. Morgan will be joined by former professional golfer Kitrina Douglas, the Cambrensis Choir, and the director of the Welsh Christian Golf Society, the Rev. John Hall, a former Ryder Cup team member.
“Many prayers are offered up by anxious players between the bunkers and the greens of golf courses throughout the country, but this is the only course which actually has a chapel on site,” Dr. Morgan said.
“This service is a chance for us to celebrate great competitions like the Ryder Cup and to give thanks to God for making us whole people – in terms of body, mind and spirit. It will also remind us that leading a Christian life is something which, like golf, requires lots of practice, patience and the understanding of those around us,” the archbishop said.
Diocese faces gender discrimination complaint before a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 6. September 24, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Church of England Newspaper, Human Sexuality --- The gay issue.comments closed
Bishop Michael Ingham
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Diocese of New Westminster has been named a defendant in a complaint filed with the British Colombia Human Rights Tribunal and has been charged with sex, age and disability discrimination by a Vancouver transsexual.
In June, Pamela Burge (65) filed a complaint charging the 127 Society for Housing, her building manager, and the Diocese of New Westminster with violating the B.C. Human Rights Code for evicting her from her apartment managed by the church-affiliated society. She charged the defendants were uncomfortable with her being a transsexual and wanted her to leave the property.
The first diocese in North America to authorize rites for the blessing of same-sex unions, New Westminster and its bishop, the Rt. Rev. Michael Ingham, have been in the forefront of the gay rights movement within the church. However, supporters of Ms. Burge have denounced the diocese as being hypocritical for having placed its financial interests ahead of the civil rights of a transsexual.
“I could never imagine this happening to me as a middle-class man or even as a regular woman,” she told the Georgia Straight, adding “What rights do you have—never mind if you’re a tranny—if you go to a building managed by a nonprofit?” said Ms. Burge, who formally had been known as Tim Burge.
Ms. Burge, who lived at the apartment complex for 12 years, denied claims made by the Society that she was in arrears on her rent, and said the building’s manager had evicted her due to her status as a transsexual. Ms Burge’s appeal to the Residential Tenancy Branch, which arbitrates landlord-tenant disputes, was unsuccessful as the board found in favour of the Society last month. However, the Straight reported the arbitrator of the hearing “repeatedly referred to her as ‘Mr. Burge’” during the proceedings “which offended her” and that as a consequence she was unable to present fairly her case.
Stymied in her attempt to find justice, Ms. Burge then brought a complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal. According to its website the tribunal’s job “is to resolve human rights complaints in a way that is fair to the parties” by “helping the parties to settle the complaint; deciding preliminary applications to dismiss complaints; and holding hearings.”
The tribunal “operates much like a court but is less formal and more flexible,” and has the legal authority to enforce its rulings.
The diocese did not respond to requests for comments.
Missionary’s murder was motivated by church politics, witness charges: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 24, 2010 p 7. September 23, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of Central Africa.comments closed
Canon Rodney Hunter
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The trial of man accused of poisoning an English missionary in Malawi has entered its closing stages. Leonard Mondoma stands accused of murdering the Rev Canon Rodney Hunter at the behest of supporters of a rival political faction in the Diocese of Lake Malawi.
The Malawi murder in the vicarage trial reconvened on Sept 20 in a court in Nkhotakota, almost four years after the crime was alleged to have taken place.
On Nov 10, 2006, Canon Hunter was found dead in his home in Nkhotakota. The Malawian press reported that a black substance had been found on the lips of the 72 year old assistant priest of All Saints Cathedral in Lake Malawi, suggesting he had been poisoned.
Prosecution witness the Rev. Denis Kayamba has accused Mr. Mondoma of poisoning Canon Hunter, claiming the motive for the murder arose from the disputes over the election of a bishop for the diocese. Mr. Mondoma’s attorneys have denied the charges, arguing Canon Hunter died from natural causes.
Police arrested Bernard Mlota, a lay member of the diocese, and Leonard Mondoma, Canon Hunter’s cook, on suspicion of murder shortly after his death. Mr. Mlota died in 2008, while Mr. Mondoma was released on bail awaiting trial after 18 months in prison. The murder trial began in January 2010 and after several delays has been set down for the current court session.
A former librarian of Pusey House, Canon Hunter came out to Malawi in 1965. In 2005, the traditionalist cleric spearheaded opposition within the diocese to the election of liberal London vicar Nicholas Henderson as bishop of Lake Malawi. Following the challenge by Canon Hunter and other members of the dioceses, the bishops of the Province of Central Africa declined to affirm Mr. Henderson’s election, citing his ties to the Modern Churchpersons Union.
Supporters of Mr. Henderson mounted several unsuccessful challenges to the bishops’ decision and also filed an appeal with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Panel of Reference. The rival camps also came to blows in July 2006, when Henderson partisans allegedly disrupted services at All Saints Cathedral, assaulting Canon Hunter.
Writing in the July 2006 issue of New Directions, Canon Hunter blamed Mr. Henderson for the turmoil within the diocese. Henderson partisans, known as the “Task Force” were “responsible for all the pro-Henderson activities, locking the buildings, letter writing, disruption of services, legal action etc. All this depends on Mr. Henderson himself,” he wrote.
“If he would accept the decision of the Court of Confirmation as final, as it is according to the canons, and allow the Task Force to disband, the disturbance would end. I am convinced that the solution to our problem lies in England where it began,” Canon Hunter stated.
The year after Canon Hunter’s death, his nephew, Mark Hunter told the Oct 2007 Forward in Faith meeting in London he believed his uncle had been murdered. Mr. Hunter stated “it is salutary to note that, of the three people directly opposing the appointment of Nicholas Henderson as bishop, two are now dead and a third, Dennis Kayamba, in fear of his life.”
In July 2007 the secretary of Forward in Faith for Lake Malawi, Mr. Michael Saimon, died in unexplained circumstances, while Canon Kayamba’s family had taken refuge outside the diocese after threats were made on his life.
In a statement released after the FIF speech, Mr. Henderson stated that “no evidence” has been produced “other than Kayamba’s word” that links Mr. Mondoma to Canon Hunter’s death.
“I would like to point out that, as the principal suspect, Canon Hunter’s hapless cook (whom I have never met) is not and never has been one of my ‘supporters’,” he said, noting that Mr. Mondoma was “absolutely loyal and vocally supportive in Canon Hunter’s cause.”
An autopsy conducted by pathologist Dr Charles Dzamalala in 2007 concluded Canon Hunter had died of “respiratory failure most probably due to poisoning.” A South African laboratory report also found an “unusual substance” in the deceased’s digestive track.
In his defence, attorneys for Mr. Mondoma presented to the court during its January session a report from St Anne’s Hospital in Malawi that concluded Canon Hunter had died of stomach cancer. They have also argued the foreign substances found during the autopsy were medications taken to treat Canon Hunter’s stomach cancer.
The case for the prosecution is expected to conclude during the week of October 11, when its final witness, Dr. Dzamalala will present his findings.
Moscow warns Church of England not to consecrate gay or women bishops: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 5. September 22, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Russian Orthodox, Women Priests.comments closed
Metropolitan Hilarion
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision to exclude members of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Church of Canada from the Anglican-Orthodox dialogue commission is too little and comes too late to save one hundred years of dialogue between the two churches.
In an address given at Lambeth Palace on Sept 9, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, denounced the introduction of gay bishops and blessings by North American Anglicans, and warned that if the Church of England went ahead with women bishops, it would end any hope of the Orthodox recognizing the validity of Anglican orders.
While Metropolitan Hilarion’s comments to the annual Nicean Club dinner were not new, his remarks did come as a robust vote of no confidence in Dr. Rowan Williams’ handling of the Anglican crisis. The Russian leader also dismissed out of hand claims there would not be major ecumenical consequences if the Church of England consecrated women bishops.
During a July 28, 2008 meeting at the Lambeth Conference, Hilarion told Dr. Williams the Russian Orthodox Church believed a “code of practice” was insufficient to protect opponents of women bishops within the Church of England. The consecration of women bishops would be an “additional obstacle” to Orthodox-Anglican dialogue, Hilarion said, adding that such a move would exclude “even the theoretical possibility of the Orthodox churches acknowledging the apostolic succession” of Anglican bishops.
In his Nicean Club address, Hilarion returned to the same theme. He recounted the history of Anglican-Orthodox dialogue, but noted that in recent years the Christian world had fragmented.
“Nowadays it is increasingly difficult to speak of ‘Christianity’ as a unified scale of spiritual and moral values, universally adopted by all Christians. It is more appropriate, rather, to speak of ‘Christianities’, that is, different versions of Christianity espoused by diverse communities,” he said.
Current Christian divisions were not primarily denominational, he said, as the “abyss that exist today divides not so much the Orthodox from the Catholics or the Catholics from the Protestants as it does the ‘traditionalists’ from the ‘liberals’.”
The Anglican Communion had split along these lines, while the “Orthodox-Anglican Dialogue itself has come under threat.”
While the Orthodox Churches “appreciate the proposal Archbishop Rowan Williams made this year to exclude from the dialogue those Anglican churches which failed to observe the moratorium on the ordination of open homosexuals,” this “proposal” was not “quite sufficient to save the dialogue from an approaching collapse. The dialogue is doomed to closure if the unrestrained liberalization of Christian values continues in many communities of the Anglican world.”
Relations between the Russian and English Churches were no better, Hilarion said. The Russian view was that women priests had “taken Anglicanism farther away from the Orthodox Church and contributed to further division in Christendom as a whole,” he said.
Women bishops would deepen the divide. “I can say with certainty that the introduction of the female episcopate excludes even a theoretical possibility for the Orthodox to recognize the apostolic continuity of the Anglican hierarchy,” he said.
The Russian Orthodox Church had suspended all relations with those “churches and communities that trample on the principles of Christian ethics and traditional morals,” he said, citing the 2003 break with the Episcopal Church and 2005 break with the Church of Sweden.
The Russian Orthodox Church would “not remain silent and look with indifference at a world that is gradually deteriorating,” Hilarion said. However, the Orthodox had not given up on the Anglicans, he said, even though “many of our Anglican brothers and sisters betray our common witness by departing from traditional Christian values and replacing them by contemporary secular standards.”
“I very much hope that the official position of the Anglican Church on theological, ecclesiological and moral issues will be in tune with the tradition of the Ancient Undivided Church and that the Anglican leadership will not surrender to the pressure coming from liberals,” the Russian church leader said.
Pope’s visit to forge stronger ties with the Church of England: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 3. September 21, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Roman Catholic Church.comments closed
Archbishop Kurt Koch
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to the UK will not shy away from confronting the hard issues dividing the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England, the President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity told an Italian newspaper last week.
However, Archbishop Kurt Koch told L’Osservatore Romano the visit would seek first to strengthen the “close bond between the Catholic and Anglican communities” in Britain and across the world.
In an interview published on Sept 9, Archbishop Koch said the pope’s visit would have “great ecumenical importance.” The Sept 16-19 trip would build upon the “growing cordiality and friendship” in Anglican-Catholic relations that have arisen in the wake of Pope John Paul II’s 1982 visit. He added the visit would also allow both churches to clarify the progress achieved towards corporate reunion, while also acknowledging the “innate difficulties in the search for unity.”
On Sept 8, Benedict read a statement during a General Audience about his forth coming visit, noting it “will be a particular joy for me to beatify the Venerable John Henry Newman in Birmingham on Sunday 19 September.”
“This truly great Englishman lived an exemplary priestly life and through his extensive writings made a lasting contribution to Church and society both in his native land and in many other parts of the world. It is my hope and prayer that more and more people will benefit from his gentle wisdom and be inspired by his example of integrity and holiness of life,” the pope said.
Archbishop Koch noted Cardinal Newman has significance for both traditions. The Catholic convert had encouraged Roman Catholics to support Anglicans in proclaiming Christian principles and doctrines.
“This message is fully valid today,” he said, “when Anglicans and Catholics acknowledge the need to support one another and to collaborate in the task of proclaiming the Gospel to a modern, quite complex society.”
Cardinal Newman’s “example encourages Christians of all traditions to be involved with integrity and fidelity with the Gospel, to build a society that welcomes, sustains and promotes all its members,” he said.
While acknowledging the tension in the church’s relationship caused by the push for women bishops in the Church of England and the gay movement in liberal Anglicanism, Archbishop Koch urged these conflicts not be allowed to overwhelm the “larger context of the common Christian testimony between Catholics and Anglicans.”
“This will be profoundly symbolized and brought about when the Pope and the archbishop of Canterbury meet at Lambeth Palace and, later, pray together in Westminster Abbey before the tomb of St. Edward the Confessor,” he said. On Sept 17, Westminster Abbey will host an ecumenical celebration, which will call upon all Christians to work together to proclaim the Gospel “so that faith can have a creative role in British society,” Archbishop Koch said.
New Zealand’s South Island rocked by earthquake: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 6. September 21, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia, Church of England Newspaper, Disaster Relief.comments closed
St John's, Hororata
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Diocese of Christchurch has begun to clean up in the wake of the earthquake that hit New Zealand’s South Island on Sept 4.
The 7.1-magnitude earthquake caused £900 million in damage, Prime Minister John Key said last week after inspecting the damage in Christchurch and the surrounding countryside. Over 100,000 homes were damaged in the earthquake, which also damaged water, sewer and power lines. No one was killed, however, by the quake.
Writing to her diocese on Sept 5, Bishop Victoria Matthews gave “thanks for the gift of life and friends at this time.”
She urged everyone to “check on your neighbours” and to look out for one another. “At these times there is a huge need for community. People need to talk about what they have experienced and how they are feeling about the disaster,” she said.
Twenty Anglican and Catholic churches were damaged in the earthquake. Christchurch Cathedral suffered no significant structural damage, Dean Peter Beck reported, however, other churches suffered significant damage and will be closed for months.
The Archbishops of New Zealand, Aotearoa and Polynesia released a statement thanking “God that no-one has died, although there has been a range of injuries. Many buildings, including a significant number of churches, will need major repairs. We know that many are praying for the Diocese of Christchurch, the Hui Amorangi O Te Wai Pounamu and the city as a whole as they recover from the shock,” they said.
Finland consecrates first woman bishop: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 8. September 20, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Finland, Women Priests.comments closed
Bishop Irja Askola of Helsinki
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Church of Finland has consecrated its first female bishop. On Sept 12 the Rt. Rev. Irja Askola was consecrated Bishop of Helsinki for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
A member of the Porvoo Group of churches in Communion with the Church of England, Finland now joins Norway, Sweden and Denmark in appointing women bishops. Women bishops from Sweden, Denmark and Germany were among those laying hands on the new bishop. The former Bishop of Limerick the Rt. Rev. Edward Darling served as a co-consecrator and the Dean of Leicester, the Very Rev Vivienne Faull, and the suffragan Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, the Rt. Rev. David Hamid, represented the Church of England.
The consecration of Bishop Askola has come at the price of soured ecumenical relations in Finland, however. In June, the head of the Orthodox Church of Finland said the consecration of a woman bishop would drive Lutherans and the Orthodox father apart. In an interview with Kotimaa the leader of Finland’s Catholics, Bishop Teemu Sippo, said that while he would work with the new Lutheran bishop, her consecration would drive the two churches farther apart.
The chairman of the Pentecostal Church of Finland, Vesa Pylvänäinen, said his group was concerned over her theological views. Her support for same-sex blessings would likely push traditionalists out of the Lutheran Church. “I am quite sure that this will happen,” Pastor Pylvänen told the Helsingen Sanomat.
In her address to the congregation, Bishop Askola said, “people have a longing for trust. If we do not know how to speak with each other, even with those who have different opinions, backgrounds or lifestyles, we are on the way to destruction. Disagreement does not destroy us.”
The new bishop added that people need to hear that someone shows unconditional mercy toward them, the Helsingen Sanomat reported.
The consecration of the new bishop follows close upon the dismissal of traditionalist Bishop Matti Väisänen. On Aug 11, the Diocese of Tampere removed Bishop Väisänen from the ranks of its ministers after he was consecrated by traditionalist Lutheran bishops from Sweden and Africa to serve members of the state church who are unable to accept the oversight of a woman bishop.
In 2006 the Finnish Bishops’ Conference ruled that male priests may not refuse to work with women priests, and stated that those who rejected the validity of women’s orders would not be appointed as parish vicars. The church has also refused to ordain clergy opposed to women priests.
Bomb blast destroys Pakistani church: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 8. September 20, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Pakistan, Terrorism.comments closed
St Paul's, Mardan
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
St Paul’s Church in Mardan in Pakistan’s Northwest frontier has been destroyed in a bomb blast.
On the night of Sept 12 at approximately 12:00 midnight a remote-controlled explosive device placed against the wall of the break away congregation of the Diocese of Peshawar detonated, causing one wall of the church to collapse. Two policemen were reported injured in the blast, which sparked panic among revelers in the streets celebrating the second day of the Muslim Eid festival.
Had the bomb exploded during daylight hours, it would have taken a higher toll, police said, as the colonial era church is located next to a school, an open air market and a mosque. No group has so far claimed responsibility, while church sources tell CEN it is unclear whether the media controversy surrounding a proposed Koran burning by a Florida Pentecostal church had any connection to the blast.
Bishop Peter Majeed, rector of St Paul’s, reports that he and his family were not injured.
While Christians have been the target of Taliban violence in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, formerly known as the Northwest Frontier Province, Sunday’s blast was the first attack on a church in several years.
In August 2008, St Paul’s withdrew from the Diocese of Peshawar when Mr. Majeed was consecrated as Bishop of the Northern Diocese Mardan by the former Church of Pakistan Bishop of Karachi, the Rt. Rev. Arne Rudvin.
Bishop Rudvin, who had been the Lutheran Bishop of Mardan before the Lutheran Church joined Anglicans to form the United Church of Pakistan, consecrated Bishop Majeed to re-establish the Lutheran succession in Pakistan. He justified his actions by claiming the Church of Pakistan was corrupt and had succumbed to Western liberalism.
The August 2008 issue of the Diocese of Peshawar newspaper said the attempt to reestablish a Lutheran church in Pakistan was not recognized by the diocese’s European partners. The Danmission, the Norwegian Mission Society, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, and the Church of Scotland had “condemned the totally illegal consecration” and did not recognize Bishop Majeed’s claims.
On Sept 7, 2008 Bishop Majeed was installed as bishop and took possession of St Paul’s Church in Mardan, Bishop Rudvin’s former see. On Sept 19, a Pakistani court permitted Bishop Majeed to keep possession of the colonial era church and its adjacent properties. However, the Diocese of Peshawar has appealed the ruling.
Trial begins for Truro priest acused of sexual abuse of children: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 4. September 19, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Church of England, Church of England Newspaper.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The trial of the Rural Dean of East Wivelshire on charges of sexually assaulting 11 schoolchildren began this week before the Plymouth Crown Court. On Sept 12 the Rev. Canon Andrew Wilson, Rector of St Andrew’s Church, Calstock in the Diocese of Truro plead not guilty to 16 counts of sexual abuse.
Canon Wilson is alleged to have committed the crimes between 1974 and 1980 against four boys and seven girls, aged six to nine, when he served as a teacher at Pennycross Primary School in Plymouth.
The prosecutor, Mr. Andrew Oldland told the court the police were made aware of the complaint after one of the victims saw a television programme on clergy child abuse.
The programme allegedly sparked memories of abuse at the hands of Mr. Wilson, which she said took place when he called her forward from the class to read.
After filing her complaint with the police, she contacted other former classmates via Facebook. The first victim did not share details of her abuse, Mr. Oldland told the court, but other victims came forward with similar claims, prompting police action.
Ordained in 1982, Canon Wilson served as a non-stipendiary priest until 1987, when he retired from teaching. He has since served as a parish priest in Plymouth, Plymstock, Lifton, Saltash and Yelverton, and was appointed rural dean of East Wivelshire and rector of Calstock in 2000.
Following his indictment on Aug 26, 2009 a spokesman for the Diocese of Truro said Canon Wilson would “not be exercising any further ministry until a time when the police investigation – in which, of course, the diocese is co-operating fully – is complete.”
The trial continues.
New abuse cases across the Communion: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 6. September 19, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Church of England Newspaper.comments closed
First published in the Church of England Newspaper.
Nine women were sexually abused by the late Bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania, the current bishop of the rural Episcopal diocese reports. In a Sept 12 letter, Bishop Sean Rowe stated that seven of the women were abused as children in the 1970s and early 80’s by his predecessor, Bishop Donald Davis, while two reported having been harassed when they were adults.
The revelations of sexual abuse by Bishop Davis, who died in 2007, come as reports of clergy child abuse were made public this week in Australia, Canada and Africa. Five women have filed suit against a Canadian diocese seeking compensation for abuse they suffered at the hands of a priest convicted of sex crimes; a Newfoundland priest was imprisoned for possessing child pornography; and an Australian school chaplain was jailed for taking nude photos of a student.
In the Pennsylvania case, Bishop Sean Rowe wrote to his diocese to give them an update on his July report that four women had come forward telling of their experiences at the hands of Bishop Davis. Bishop Rowe said that after his initial report, five more women had contacted him.
“I have had conversations with all five of the women who contacted me since my invitation in early July, and they have told me that their only interest in coming forward has been in helping me arrive at a fuller picture of the scope of Bishop Davis’ abuse,” Bishop Rowe said.
“I want to thank them for their courage and to apologize to them once again for the abuse visited on them in what should have been an atmosphere of safety and love.”
In Canada, five women filed a lawsuit in the against the Rev. Kenneth Gibbs, the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, and the Dioceses of Moosonee and Algoma.
In November 2009, Mr. Gibbs (77) was convicted on eight counts of indecent assault committed against the women when they were young girls in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The former priest was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment.
The five women, along with a sixth who did not appear at trial, are seeking £1.6 million in damages from the diocese and the national church for failing to exercise oversight of Mr. Gibbs.
On Sept 10, the Rev. Robin Barrett, rector of St. John’s Church in Goulds, Newfoundland pled guilty to possessing and distributing child pornography, and was sentenced to 2 and a half years in prison. Mr. Barrett, who was suspended from the ministry after police found 3,451 video files and 31,460 pornographic images of children under the age of 11 at his home, told the court he was sorry for his actions.
“I apologize to the children,” Mr. Barrett (51) said. “By viewing and trading their images, I was victimizing them again.”
In 2003 Canada’s Anglican Journal published a profile of the priest, telling of his having left his wife and three children “to publicly live the rest of his life as a gay man.” He told the Journal it was his intention to abide by the church’s guidelines which only permit celibate gays and lesbians to serve as clergy.
After Mr. Barrett’s arrest, Bishop Cyrus Pitman of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador said he was worried that “people will connect this up with people who are gay and lesbian, which is unfortunate.”
On Sept 2 a former school chaplain in Queensland, Australia was jailed for eighteen months for taking nude photos of a 15 year old school girl under his pastoral care. The Rev. Chris Firman had plead not guilty to taking indecent pictures in 1999 of the schoolgirl, saying they were “artistic.”
From 1998 to 1999, Mr. Firman (52) taught at the Whitsunday Anglican School in Mackay, Queensland, and at St Marks Anglican School in Perth, Western Australia from 2000 to 2006. In 2007, Mr. Firman was deposed from the priesthood after he was given an 18-month intensive supervision order by a Perth court for possessing child pornography.
Archbishop warns MPs that anarchy awaits the Solomon Islands: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 6 September 18, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Melanesia, Church of England Newspaper.comments closed
Archbishop David Vunagi of Melanesia
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Archbishop of Melanesia has commissioned the new parliament of the Solomon Islands at a memorial service at St. Barnabas’ Cathedral in Honiara.
Preaching on the theme “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13-14) Archbishop David Vunagi on Sept 12 called upon the 49 members of Parliament to put the nation’s interests above regional and tribal concerns. He warned the new MPs the country risked sliding back into anarchy if they could not work together.
On Aug 4 the Central Pacific island nation elected a new parliament, and on Aug 27 the MPs concluded three weeks of political deal making to elect veteran politician Danny Philip as prime minister by a vote of 26 to 23.
Political instability has bedeviled the Solomon Islands in recent years, leading to the deployment in 2003 of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Hundreds of soldiers, police and civil servants have been brought into the Solomon Islands from the Pacific to rebuild the country’s social and political infrastructure, which was nearly destroyed by tribal disputes.
While the new prime minister has pledged to work with RAMSI, he has also promised to introduce a “forgiveness bill,” granting amnesty for crimes committed during the “tension” years of 1998 to 2003 when immigrants from Malaita to the main island of Guadalcanal fought local islanders. Wars among the rival militias led the collapse of the central government, and prompted intervention from Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific countries.
The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation reported that Mr. Philip told supporters he would not expel RAMSI, but has promised to review its mission, prompting concerns the Solomon Islands could once again descend into anarchy. The composition of the new government has also fueled concerns with the former leader of the Malaita Eagle Forces (MEF) militia, joining backing Mr. Philip. Jimmy “Rasta” Lusibaea, who was released from prison in 2007 after serving a four-year term of imprisonment, was elected MP for North Malaita, and is a member of the new prime minister’s coalition.
In his charge to the new MPs, Archbishop Vunagi urged government and opposition to work together to avoid the mistakes of the past, and transform the Solomon Islands for the benefit of all its people.
No break in Africa’s united front on the Episcopal Church: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 17, 2010 p 8. September 17, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Southern Africa, CAPA, Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of Central Africa.comments closed
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
A letter alleging the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and the Church of the Province of Central Africa have dissented from the final communiqué of last month’s All African Bishops Meeting in Entebbe, does not have the official backing of the two provinces The Church of England Newspaper has learned.
Leaders of the two provinces tell CEN that while parts of the dissenting letter reflect the views held by some Southern and Central Africa bishops, neither province’s House of Bishops have discussed nor endorsed the letter purportedly issued on their behalf.
“The purpose of the gathering of CAPA Bishops in Entebbe, Uganda, was to deal with matters on the agenda which focused on developmental issues facing Africa and how the Anglican church in Africa should rise to these challenges. The introduction of extraneous views of the North American Schismatics should not deflect from the agenda of CAPA,” Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana told CEN.
He hoped the “wider church” would not “fall into the error of thinking that Africa is one country. CAPA is made of 12 Provinces, holding different views. The frenzy of those chomping at the bit should not make the wider church assume that they are speaking for us all.”
Released at the close of the close of the Aug 23-29 Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, the dissenting letter concurred with the objections raised by the majority over the consecration of of a partnered lesbian priest as suffragan bishop of Los Angeles. The American church displayed a “gross insensitivity to the feelings of the rest of the Communion” when it consecrated Mary Glasspool, the dissenting letter said.
However, the letter distinguished Southern and Central Africa’s response to the Episcopal Church from that of the rest of Africa as “provinces differ in their relationships with [the Episcopal Church] in light of their actions.
The majority communique committed Africa to “network with orthodox Anglicans around the world, including Communion Partners in the USA and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), in holistic mission and evangelism.” The dissenting letter, however, said Southern and Central Africa did not “support ACNA’s position for legitimacy through the elimination” of the Episcopal Church.
A network of dioceses, congregations, and clergy within the Episcopal Church, the Communion Partners are home to the remaining conservatives in the Episcopal Church, while the ACNA is the province-in-waiting comprised of traditionalists who have withdrawn from the Episcopal Church.
The letter also attacked the managers of the All African meeting, saying the “majority” of provinces were being “ambushed by an agenda that is contrary to the beliefs and practices of our various Provinces” and voiced objections to CAPA being used as “pawn in battles it is not party to” within the Anglican Communion.
Of the 396 bishops present, 11 of the 29 Southern African bishops and 12 of the 15 Central African bishops were present, Archbishop Henry Orombi reported, while the chairman of CAPA, Archbishop Ian Ernest told CEN that ten of the 12 African primates endorsed their communiqué. The Archbishop of Capetown did not attend the meeting, he noted, while the acting primate of Central Africa, Bishop Albert Chama of Northern Zambia was forced to leave the meeting early due to a scheduling conflict.
Senior bishops attending the Entebbe meeting tell CEN that they were not aware of any move to issue a dissenting statement during the conference, and stated that the only significant change to the agenda was made in the final business session. ACC General Secretary Canon Kenneth Kearon’s invitation to attend the meeting was withdrawn, and presentations by staffers from the Anglican Consultative Council and by Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana were dropped.
One South African bishop, who said he was unaware of the statement, said it was not possible for the church’s House of Bishops to have endorsed the unsigned dissenting statement, as the bishops would not meet as a group until shortly before the state of the Sept 29 – Oct 3 meeting of General Synod.
A spokesman for Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Capetown said the “formal position” of the South African church “in relation to the common life of the Anglican Communion remains as set out in the Statement by the Synod of Bishops’ meeting of September 2009.”
In 2009 the Southern African bishops stated “our worldwide Anglican Communion has for a number of years been struggling with the issue of human sexuality without, as yet, having reached any significant consensus. There are, indeed, broken and damaged relationships within the Communion, but there is still a deep desire among the bishops throughout the world to maintain the bonds of unity in obedience to the High Priestly prayer of our Lord that ‘they may be one as we are one’.”
It backed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for the “exploration of an Anglican Covenant, as a means of providing a basic statement of the common faith and mission that holds the Anglican Churches together in visible community.”
The statement also stated that “maintaining as we do, that Christian marriage is a lifelong union between one man and one woman, we hold that clergy unable to commit to another in a Christian marriage partnership are called to a life of celibacy.”
The Southern African church had not moved from these principles, the spokesman said, and agreed with the dissenting letter so far as these sentiments were “reflected in broad terms within the letter.” However the dissenting letter “is not a formal or official position of this Province.”
One Central African bishop stated he was not aware of the letter, while a second stated that no meeting of their House of Bishops has taken place since the Entebbe gathering. While the dissenting letter may reflect the views of its authors, who include some of the Central African bishops, as far as he knew it did not express the formal stance of the province.
Kenyan archbishop’s wife dies in fall: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 10, 2010 p 6. September 16, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Kenya, Church of England Newspaper.comments closed
Archbishop and Mrs Wabukala
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The wife of the Archbishop of Kenya, Caren Wabukala has died after a fall in her home in Nairobi.
A senior Kenyan bishop told The Church of England Newspaper that at approximately 8:00 pm, Mrs. Wabukala slipped on a step of a steep staircase at the archbishop’s official residence in Nairobi. Her family was unable to revive her, and she was rushed to Nairobi Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Earlier in the day, Mrs. Wabukala and her husband, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, had attended the consecration of the Bishop of Nairobi, and that afternoon she participated in a Bible study and was reported as being in good spirits.
Archbishop Wabukala received word of his wife’s accident while waiting to board a plane to London, and rushed to Nairobi Hospital upon hearing the news. However, he arrived after her death had been pronounced.
The mother of six children, Mrs Wabukala and her husband had been married for 34 years.
The Nairobi Standard reported that when news of the death was made public, government ministers and leaders of Kenyan society gathered at the archbishop’s official resident to offer their condolences.
Prime Minster Raila Odinga offered his “condolences to the archbishop, his family, friends and the Anglican Church where Caren served with dedication. I wish the archbishop the strength and courage to cope with the loss and assure him of support where needed.”
Kenyan vice-president Kalonzo Musyoka said Mrs Wabukala would be “remembered as a strong pillar in the Anglican Church, who stood firmly in her faith and contributed immensely to the spread of the work of God.”
The archbishop’s wife funeral service will take place on Sept 9 followed by internment in Bugoma on Sept 11.
Mothers’ Union launches ‘Bye Buy Childhood’ campaign: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 10, 2010 p 4. September 16, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Youth/Children.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Mothers’ Union has announced the kick-off date for its new campaign to combat the “commercialisation of childhood” in the UK.
On Sept 13 the Mothers’ Union will roll out its “Bye Buy Childhood” campaign designed to “hold the UK government accountable” to its pledge to address the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood. A booklet is also being prepared to provide talking points for members of the Mothers’ Union in the UK and Republic of Ireland to lobby local and national government.
The Mothers’ Union “believes children should be valued as children, not consumers,” said the 4 million member international Christian charity centered on supporting marriage and family life.
“However, childhood has become a marketing opportunity worth £99 billion in the UK. Marketers target children’s natural inexperience, through methods such as celebrity endorsement, in order to reach not only children’s pocket money but also the household purse,” it said in a statement released this week.
Advertising encouraged a “materialism which negatively affects children’s wellbeing, family life and peer relationships, and can encourage values that Jesus taught against,” the Mothers’ Union said.
“Families can feel overwhelmed by this commercialisation of childhood and unsure how to challenge powerful marketing initiatives,” it said on the campaign website: http://www.byebuychildhood.org
Scottish Episcopal Church defends inclusive language liturgies: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 10, 2010 p 4. September 16, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Hymnody/Liturgy, Scottish Episcopal Church.comments closed
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Scottish Episcopal Church has denied charges that its use of gender neutral language in its revisions to the 1982 Eucharistic liturgy marks a change in the church’s view on the nature of God. Inclusive language, the church said on Sept 6, merely reflected current speech patterns, and implied no theological changes.
On Aug 21 The Church of England Newspaper first reported the Scottish Episcopal Church’s College of Bishops had approved inclusive language prayers, authorising optional changes that remove “Lord”, “He”, “his”, “him”, and “us men” from its 1982 Eucharistic Liturgy.
The Daily Telegraph on Sept 6 reported that traditionalists had criticised the changes “on the grounds that they smack of political correctness and because they believe they are not consistent with the teachings of the Bible.”
In noted the “controversial changes were discussed at the church’s General Synod recently. The minutes of the synod reveal that female priests had asked why God was still referred to as a man.”
The Scottish Episcopal Church this week released a statement clarifying its actions stating the permitted changes to the 1982 Eucharist had not “altered the Church’s understanding of God.”
It further stated that changes such as “God is love and we are his children” found in the Confession and Absolution to “God is love and we are God’s children” were drafted “in a way that reflects everyday speech and writing.”
Times have changed, the SEC said, and since the 1982 liturgy was drafted “conventions have changed concerning the use of words which express gender, and the Church is merely seeking to reflect these in its worship. No change in our understanding of God is taking place.”
Bishop’s sectarian warning for Ulster: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 10, 2010 p 4. September 15, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland.comments closed
Bishop Michael Jackson of Clogher
irst published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Bishop of Clogher has warned that unless religious leaders took affirmative steps, Ulster risked being pulled back into sectarianism. Bishop Michael Jackson also chided the government for its pusillanimity in the face of public protests over the recommendations from the Eames-Bradley Commission that compensation be paid to the relatives of those killed, including terrorists, during the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland.
Speaking on Sept 2 at an Inter-Faith conference sponsored by the Church of Ireland in Dublin, Bishop Jackson said the recommendations made by Consultative Group on the Past headed by the former Primate of All Ireland, Lord Eames, and ex-Policing Board vice-chairman Denis Bradley had been unfairly rejected.
In July, the Northern Ireland office stated that the majority of responses received from the community had rejected the Eames-Bradley report; 20 of 28 organisations who responded to the report rejected the recommendation that £12,000 be paid to all the families of victims of violence, as did 169 of 174 individual responses.
Formed in June 2007 to hold a cross-community consultation on how best to build a “shared future” in Northern Ireland, the Consultative Group on the Past offered 31 recommendations in Jan 2009. Following the report’s publication, all interested parties were invited to submit their views on the recommendations and a total of 246 responses were received.
Last month, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson said “the Consultative Group’s report should be seen as an important contribution to the debate about the past.”
“I am committed to listening to the views of people from across the community in Northern Ireland on the role I can play on this important issue,” the minister said.
Among the disputed recommendations proposed by the Consultative Group was a “legacy commission”, which was dismissed by the Ulster Unionist Party as a “one sided truth commission,” and the one-off payment of £12,000 to the nearest relative of anyone killed during conflict from January 1966: a recommendation rejected out of hand by then Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward.
The Ulster Special Constabulary Association described the “financial inducements” as a “crude and insensitive way to attempt to deal with the suffering of families,” while the NI Retired Police Officer’s Association dismissed calls for further public inquiries as “partisan, pointless, costly, time-consuming and divisive”.
In his address to the Inter-Faith conference, Bishop Jackson said “Ireland offers us a particular cluster of opportunities and possibilities. Vast tracts of our country and people are constantly and continually in danger of being taken back into sectarianism, whether polite or less polite, from a vacuum to a vortex.”
Ireland had yet to rally round a single way of dealing with its past and future. “ The findings and recommendations of the Consultative Group on the Past – alias The Eames-Bradley Commission – despite already being used as a template in sophisticated conflict resolution internationally, found its impact whittled away almost to nothing in the minds of so many because of the specific £12,000 payment suggested to families of victims,” Bishop Jackson said.
Bishop Jackson stated it was up to the church to promote equality of opportunity as outlined in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
“Would it not be something rather wonderful were the Church of Ireland to grapple creatively, compassionately and courageously with the spirit contained within the letter of Section 75, rather than, perhaps, looking quizzically at it over our half-moon glasses, and looking to see what of ourselves as we are we can safeguard as we pick through it?” he asked.
Church of Ireland archbishop calls for compassion for the Catholic priesthood: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 10, 2010 p 4. September 15, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Abuse, Church of England Newspaper, Church of Ireland, Roman Catholic Church.comments closed
Archbishop Walton Empey
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The former Anglican Archbishop of Dublin has called for a halt to the attacks on the integrity of the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. In a letter printed in the Irish Times on Sept 2, Archbishop Walton Empey launched an “appeal for support to those priests who continue to minister in the most challenging circumstances” in the wake of the clergy abuse scandals.
Ireland has seen a sharp rise in anti-clericalism fueled in part by the release last year of the “Murphy Report” which investigated the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of allegations of sexual abuse laid against 46 priests of the archdiocese of Dublin between Jan 1, 1975 and April 30, 2004. The report identified 440 victims and stated that four successive Catholic Archbishops of Dublin had acted improperly in investigating and responding to the allegations. It also faulted the Gardaí, accusing the police services of covering up the scandal.
The report documented a culture of cover-up within the church over clergy sexual abuse. One priest who admitted his guilt, confessed to having committed sexual abuse over 100 times, while a second admitted to having abused children for 25 years.
On Dec 1, the Church of Ireland’s Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. John Neill said the report “makes horrific reading.”
“The tragedy is that abuse and the secrecy surrounding it has ruined so many young lives,” he said, citing the words of Mark 9:42. “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
However, Irish Anglicans distanced themselves from comments later made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who told the BBC that the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland had “lost all credibility” over its handling of the crisis.
On April 3, the head of the Church of Ireland’s Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue, Bishop Richard Clarke of Meath and Kildare called Dr Williams’ comments “extremely unfortunate,” while Dr. Neill expressed his “deep regret” over the remarks.
“As one who with so many of my colleagues in ministry shares with that Church in a joint proclamation of the Gospel, and who acknowledges the pain and deep suffering of the victims of abuse, I also feel for the countless priests and bishops who daily live out their Christian vocation,” Dr. Neill said on April 2.
The climate has not improved in the intervening months, Archbishop Empey stated. “As a retired priest and bishop of another Communion I was loathe to comment on the current situation within the Roman Catholic Church as it might be interpreted at best as meddling in the affairs of another church and at worst to be seen as patronizing in tone,” he said.
However, the Catholic priesthood deserved the “support and respect of every Christian regardless of denomination,” the former Archbishop of Dublin said.
In his letter to the Irish Times, Archbishop Empey recounted that “some years ago I was walking to the Mater Private Hospital to visit a good friend, Archbishop Joe Cassidy. On the way, I passed a group of teenagers who shouted, ‘Abused any children lately, Father’?”
“On reaching the hospital I sat down for a few minutes to compose myself before my visit. I thought of all the fine priests who had to suffer such insults and worse almost every day and wondered if I could have endured it. It is shameful that they should be tarred with the same brush as those who committed such horrendous crimes.”
“I would add my voice to the plea that they ‘not be left alone at the altar’,” Archbishop Empey said.
Tengatenga calls for the reform of Malawi’s sedition laws: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 10, 2010 p 6. September 14, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of Central Africa, Politics.comments closed
Bishop James Tengatenga
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The senior Anglican bishop in Malawi has called upon the government to rethink its use of sedition laws to punish troublesome priests.
“If one is speaking their mind and pointing at what they see and that automatically becomes sedition, then we are in a problem. Then, we may want to revisit what we call sedition,” Bishop James Tengatenga of Southern Malawi said in an interview with Capital FM radio’s Straight Talk programme last week.
Bishop Tengatenga’s comments come in the wake of the jailing of the General Secretary of the Livingstonia Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Central Africa. On Aug 20, the Rev. Levi Nyondo was arrested after giving a funeral oration for former health minister Dr. Moses Chirambo
Dr. Chirambo, Malawi’s first ophthalmologist, was elected a Member of Parliament in 2008 and appointed Health Minister on June 16, 2009. On Aug 13 he died in a South African hospital from anesthetic related complications while undergoing prostate surgery, a week after having been sacked by President Bingu wa Mutharika in a cabinet reshuffle.
Mr. Nyondo told the mourners that it was ironic that the government would praise the late Dr. Chirambo, when it had just dismissed him from office. He further charged the government with grooming the president’s brother, Peter Mutharika, to succeed the current president at the 2014 general elections. The Presbyterian Church opposed the president’s political nepotism, and would back the candidacy of current vice-president Joyce Banda, he said.
Police arrested Mr. Nyondo after the funeral, charging him with sedition. He was subsequently released on bail. The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church denounced the arrest. “We are shocked and surprised that government could arrest a general secretary of a reputable church,” the Rev. Mezuwa Banda told journalists.
Bishop Tengatenga, who also serves as chairman of the Anglican Consultative Council, told the Church of England Newspaper Mr. Nyondo’s arrest “was uncalled for and that it is harassment that has no place in a democratic state. It deserved to be denounced in the strongest terms.”
Bishop Tengatenga called upon the government to review the country’s speech laws. “Speaking in public does not necessarily mean demeaning but obviously one needs to balance speaking in public and also speaking in camera as two ways in which we deal one another,” he said.
Using the sedition law to squelch political dissent “will not help anybody. It will not help the state. It will not help the church. And it will not help Malawi.”
He also voiced concerns over the consolidation of political power within the Mutharika family.
“The constitution is very clear about the role of the President. It’s not by appointment, it’s by election,” Bishop Tengatenga said.
“A dynasty is not something that we are into. We are in a republican state,” Bishop Tengatenga told Capital FM.
Questions over Taliban murders raised: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 10, 2010 p 5. September 14, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Pakistan, Terrorism.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Reports that three American Christian aid workers were murdered by the Taliban last month in Pakistan’s Swat Valley are untrue, Church World Service reports.
On Aug 27 the Compass Direct news service reported that the aid workers had been abducted on Aug 23. Citing the District Coordination Officer (DCO) for Swat, Atif-ur-Rehman, the news service reported three bodies were recovered on Aug 25.
“Military sources who withheld news of the deaths from electronic and print media to avoid panicking other relief workers granted permission to Compass to publish it in limited form,” Compass Direct said. It also quoted Rizwan Paul, described as the head of a Pakistani Christian human rights advocacy group called Life for All, as saying the dead had been taken to Islamabad by the army.
The following day the BosNewsLife news service reported that three “American Christian aid workers” had been killed. Citing army sources, BosNewsLife reported the bodies had been taken to the US Embassy in Islamabad. The names of the dead had not been released so as to avoid “panic” among the foreign aid community.
It cited an unnamed Pakistani military source as saying the bodies of the three had been taken to the U.S. Embassy. The source said the names of the victims and their organization had not been released so as “not to create panic” among other foreign aid workers.
However Church World Service last week issued a statement saying, “the local government, military commanders and police officials have informed our security team that this a baseless news report. All the names of the officials mentioned are fake and similarly no organisation called Life For All has been working in Swat area.”
It noted the Taliban had threatened Christian and foreign aid workers in the past, “so this is a sensitive issue.”
A spokesman for the US Embassy has also denied receiving the bodies of dead aid workers and has not been notified of the kidnapping of murder of any US nationals.
Speaking to CNS on Sept 1, Mr. Paul said asserted that three foreign aid workers had been killed, but the government was covering up the murders. “Pakistan military and other sources are trying their best to stop the news from getting out,” he said.
Study finds link between a doctor’s faith and end of life care: The Church of England Newspaper, Sep 10 p 5. September 12, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Health/HIV-AIDS.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
A doctor’s religious faith, or lack of faith, influences a patient’s end of life care, a study published in this month’s Journal of Medical Ethics, has concluded.
In a study published on-line Aug 23, Dr. Clive Seale, professor in the Centre for Health Sciences at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, found that self-identified agnostic and atheist physicians were almost twice as likely to take decisions that speed up the dying process as compared to their religious peers.
In a survey taken of over 3700 geriatric, palliative care, intensive care and general practice physicians in the UK, Dr. Seale received 2933 responses from physicians asking about their faith and religious beliefs, ethnicity, and views on assisted dying and euthanasia. The survey also asked whether they had prescribed ‘terminal sedation’, giving patients a continuous deep sedation until they died, or if they had spoken to their patients about health care decisions judged likely to shorten life.
The results showed that Geriatricians—specialists in the care of the elderly—were more likely to be Hindu or Muslim, while hospice or palliative care physicians were more likely to be white Christians, who responded to questions about faith. Overall, however, white doctors—the largest ethnic group—were those least likely to report strong religious beliefs.
The survey found strong links between a physician’s specialty and faith and the likelihood of discussing treatments judged likely to end the life of their patients. Hospital specialists were ten times more likely to discuss life ending treatments than palliative care doctors, while those physicians who described themselves as “extremely” non-religious were twice as likely to have recommended treatments that would end life as compared to their religious counterparts.
The Seale survey also found a link between views on religious faith and support for assisted dying and euthanasia legislation, with palliative care specialists and those with strong religious beliefs the most strongly opposed to such legislation.
While the survey does not predict that all religious and non-religious doctors act in certain ways, Dr. Seale concluded that there was a need to acknowledge the links between a doctor’s religious beliefs and the clinical decisions they make.
Diocesan mergers ahead in the US and Canada: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 10, 2010 p 6. September 11, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Canada, Church of England Newspaper, Kansas, Western Kansas.comments closed
The Rt. Rev. Dean Wolfe, Bishop of Kansas
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Aging congregations and falling attendance may force the mergers of the dioceses of Montreal and Quebec, the Montreal Anglican reports. The diocesan newspaper said the bishops, clergy and lay leaders of the two dioceses were considering proposals that would begin a “process of discernment toward a fuller partnership as diocesan institutional churches.”
In November 2009 Bishop Barry Clarke of Montreal, Bishop Dennis Drainville of Quebec, Archdeacon Janet Griffith Johnson of Montreal, and Archdeacon Garth Bulmer of Quebec met to craft a two year “discernment process.” An agreement between the two dioceses dated Dec 17 proposed a joint committee to look into “opportunities and obstacles to partnership” between the two dioceses.
Last year Bishop Drainville told the Canadian House of Bishops his diocese was “teetering on the verge of extinction.” Of the diocese’s 82 congregations, 50 were childless and 35 congregations had an average age of 75. These graying congregations often had no more than 10 people in church on Sundays, he said. “The critical mass isn’t there, there’s no money anymore,” he said.
Between 1961 and 2001 the Anglican Church of Canada lost 53 per cent of its members, with numbers declining from 1.36 million to 642,000. The rate of decline has increased in recent years, according to an independent report given to the Canadian House of Bishops in 2006 by retired marketing expert Keith McKerracher. The church has not released detailed statistics on attendance and membership for the last ten years.
After the report’s release, McKerracher said, “My point to the bishops was: Hey listen, guys, we’re declining much faster than any other church. We’re losing 12,836 Anglicans a year. That’s 2 percent a year. If you draw a line on the graph, there’ll only be one person left in the Canadian Anglican church by 2061.”
Pressure to amalgamate dioceses has also been felt in the United States, with discussions underway between the rural Wisconsin dioceses of Eau Claire and Fond du Lac. On May 10, Kansas Bishop Dean Wolfe called for a merger of that state’s two dioceses: Kansas and Western Kansas.
He noted that as Western Kansas was at that time without a bishop, the two dioceses had a “unique opportunity, in this brief moment, to engage in a crucial conversation and it is an opportunity which may not present itself again for many years. I believe if our two great dioceses were to join forces it would create an atmosphere of holy excitement and renewed hope throughout our state.”
A merger would permit a “comprehensive evangelism strategy for the state of Kansas as a whole”; “raise the profile of the Episcopal Church throughout the state”; strengthen the church’s youth programmes; offer “higher quality education programmes”; and provide a rationalization of costs and efficiencies of scale for the two dioceses faced with declining membership and revenues.
However, on Aug 21 Western Kansas elected the rector of Grace Church in Hutchinson, Kansas the Rev. Michael Milliken as its bishop. However in a break with tradition in the Episcopal Church, Bishop-elect Milliken will remain rector of his parish while assuming Episcopal duties as the diocese spread across the prairie of the western two-thirds of the state. With 2,100 parishioners in 28 congregations, the diocese is unable to afford the costs of a full time bishop.
Barbados cathedral plea: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 3, 2010 p 7. September 10, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of the West Indies.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Diocese of Barbados has launched a fundraising drive to raise £2.5 million to repair the Cathedral of St Michael and All Angels in Bridgetown.
Termites have eaten away at the floors, pews and kneelers, the windows are falling out, and the walls are in need of major repair, the diocesan newspaper reported in 2008, and unless £500,000 could be found immediately, St. Michael’s “could eventually be abandoned as Bridgetown ruin.”
To restore the coral stone cathedral to its former glory £2.5 million will need to be raised, the chairman of the board of Diocesan Trustees, Hartley Richards told the cathedral congregation on Aug 29.
The congregation learned that the first stage in restoring the cathedral would start in September, with the repair of the chancel roof, gutters and downpipes and the masonry eaves. This will be followed by the repair of the cathedral’s windows and doors, followed by a complete revamping of the electrical system.
The second stage would see the repair of the Cathedral cemetery, whose graves include many of the island’s colonial governors and former prime ministers.
The diocese had taken over the task of restoring the Cathedral, Mr. Hartley said, and would seek financial help from across the diocese as well as from the Barbadian Diaspora in the UK and US.
Anti-Christian riot in Bombay: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 3, 2010 p 6 September 10, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of North India.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Church of North India reports that a mob of Hindu fanatics broke up a worship service at St. Emmanuel’s Church in Bombay, ransacking the building on Aug 1. Several members of the congregation were injured in the attack during evening prayers, and two men were admitted to a local hospital.
Indian press accounts of the attack report that eight men belonging to a Hindu nationalist group burst into the church during the Sunday evening service, attacking the worshippers with iron rods and clubs.
Joseph Dias, the secretary of the Bombay chapter of the Catholic Secular Forum, an Indian Christian charitable organization, told the Times of India the men appeared to have been drunk when they assaulted the church. The police have arrested two men in connection with the attack.
While sectarian motives are suspected to have sparked the attack, speculation within Church circles in Bombay centers round the belief that the local ‘land mafia’ is seeking to drive Christians out of the area and acquire their properties for commercial development.
African bishops call for doctrinal discipline: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 3, 2010 p 1. September 9, 2010
Posted by geoconger in CAPA, Church of England Newspaper.comments closed
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The second All African Bishops Conference has objected to the Episcopal Church’s consecration of Mary Glasspool as suffragan bishop of Los Angeles, but declined to take action against the US Church.
In a statement released at the close of the Aug 23-29 meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, on behalf of the 396 bishops attending the gathering, the conference called the consecration of a partnered lesbian priest a “clear departure from the standard teaching of the Anglican Communion” on human sexuality.
The Glasspool consecration had been taken in defiance of “the warnings from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion” and successive pan-Anglican meetings, they said. However, the meeting stopped short of calling for concerted disciplinary action against the Episcopal Church, calling instead for closer links with the remaining conservatives in the Episcopal Church and the third province movement in North America — the ACNA.
“We are committed to network with orthodox Anglicans around the world, including Communion Partners in the USA and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), in holistic mission and evangelism,” the communiqué stated.
Meeting at the Imperial Hotel in Entebbe, on the shores of Lake Victoria, the meeting offered confusing signals to participants. Speakers such as Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda, Bishop Mouneer Anis of Egypt and key Ugandan government ministers offered pointed criticisms and critiques of the divisions within the Anglican Communion.
The chairman of CAPA, Archbishop Ian Ernest of the Indian Ocean told reporters Africa was the hope for the Anglican future. “Today, the West is lacking obedience to the word of God. It is for us to redress the situation,” he said.
However, the official agenda prepared by the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) office in Nairobi looked at anodyne issues of social and institutional development in the African church, while a wan Archbishop of Canterbury returned to themes of patience and forbearance in his address to the gathering.
To polite, but tepid applause, Dr Williams urged the bishops to listen to others. “We listen to Jesus, and then we must learn to listen to those we lead and serve; to find out what their own hopes and needs and confusions are. We must love and attend to their humanity in all its diversity, so that we become better able to address words of hope and challenge to them. We cannot assume we always know better,” Dr Williams said.
Heavy going for many bishops, Dr Williams’ sermon appeared to answer few questions, while tensions between the conference organisers and the host Ugandan Church went public at the end of the conference, when CAPA released a letter of apology to the Ugandan Church.
The Church of Uganda has been an outspoken advocate for self-reliance, and its primate has banned his bishops and church organisations from soliciting funds from the Episcopal Church. However, CAPA accepted a grant of $25,000 from Trinity Church in New York to help underwrite the conference, embarrassing the host Ugandan Church.
In an interview with Virtue-on-line, Archbishop Robert Duncan of the ACNA said the second All Africa conference compared unfavourably with the first. The second conference “has lacked the clarity of the first,” he said, adding the “contrast between the spirit of GAFCON and this conference was striking. The prayerful, joyful always aware that God-is-right -here attitude of the African Church was present only when we worshipped or shared relationally. The sessions at the conference were dominated by Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and social solutions where the gospel of Jesus is not the driving force.”
In their closing statement, the bishops avoided mention of the MDGs and offered solutions to the problems facing the Church. Combatting the moral and intellectual drift of the Church required closer interaction among the provinces of the developing world, a stronger commitment to theological education, dedicated involvement with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Faith and Order commission, and dedicated ecumenical and interfaith work.
However, discipline remained the key, the African bishops said. For the Communion to maintain its credibility, it must be “obligatory of all Provinces to observe the agreed decisions and recommendations” of the Anglican Communion
Diocese wins first round of Indian parish property fight: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 3, 2010 p 6. September 8, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of South India, Property Litigation.comments closed
St Andrews Kirk, Madras
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Indian government has dismissed the land ownership claims of a breakaway congregation of the Diocese of Madras, holding the Church of South India Trust Association (CSITA) and not St Andrew’s Kirk in Madras held the beneficial interest in the church’s properties.
While Anglican attention has focused on the 55 US church property lawsuits, the DNA India news service has reported that over 5000 church property lawsuits are making their way through the Indian courts.
In the St Andrew’s Kirk case, the lay leadership of the congregation asked the Defence Estates Office to award it control of the 189 year old Georgian church and 10 acres of land in Madras. The Diocese of Madras objected saying that when St Andrew’s joined the new denomination after independence, trusteeship of its land passed from the Church of Scotland’s Colonial Chaplaincy Board and the congregation to the CSITA.
Ownership of India’s churches has seen several imperfect attempts at consolidation. In 1927 Parliament passed the Indian Church Act and Indian Church Measure, which created an autonomous Church of India, Burma and Ceylon (CIBC) out of the Church of England in India. Under the new law, trusteeship of properties held by the viceroy passed to the CIBC.
However title to the majority of India’s Anglican properties were not held by the government, but by local trusts, mission agencies and dioceses, while garrison churches and other church properties on government land remained under state control. Ownership of churches belonging to the Church of Scotland and other Christian denominations also remained outside government control.
With the formation of the Church of South India in 1947 the Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and the Congregational churches in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, and the northeast of Sri Lanka were merged. Each of the denominations also agreed to turn over their properties to the newly formed CSITA.
Upon independence in 1948, the government of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru decreed that title to property held in trust for the Church of South India and the Anglican churches in the North would pass to the state. Local church trusts and associations would administer the properties.
In the St Andrew’s case, Bishop V. Devasahayam of Madras told The Hindu the congregation first “maintained that it does not want to secede from the CSI,” and now “claims that it is not part of the CSI.” The congregation claimed that it never joined the CSI but remained an autonomous entity under the terms of an Act of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland of 1899.
But a letter from the current Principal Clerk of the Church of Scotland, Dr. Finlay A.J. Macdonald, told the Indian government the 1899 legislation had “no current force.” “The congregation today comes entirely within the jurisdiction of the CSI and cannot claim that its affairs are regulated in any way by the Church of Scotland,” Dr. Macdonald said.
In its ruling the government held that title to the land belonged to the Ministry of Defence and that the lease was owned by the CSITA.
Church of Finland deposes traditionalist bishop: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 3, 2010 p 6. September 8, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Finland, Women Priests.comments closed
Bishop Matti Väisänen
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Church of Finland has defrocked the leader of the church’s traditionalist movement, the Luther Foundation, saying that by accepting consecration at the hands of foreign Swedish and African Lutheran bishops, Bishop Matti Väisänen had violated his ordination vows to the state church.
On Aug 11, the Diocese of Tampere removed Bishop Väisänen from the ranks of its ministers. Spokesman Leevi Häikiö told STT television the diocese had no choice in the matter.
“Defrocking Väisänen will influence how his actions and the religious ceremonies he administers will be evaluated. In our eyes Väisänen is now a layman,” Mr. Häikiö said.
Formed in 1999, the Luther Foundation began as a confessional movement within the state church for those opposed to the ordination of women. In 2006 the Finnish Bishops’ Conference ruled that male priests may not refuse to work with women priests, and stated that those who rejected the validity of women’s orders would not be appointed as parish vicars. The church has also refused to ordain clergy opposed to women priests.
In 2007 a state court fined the Rev. Ari Norro 20-days pay for refusing to con-celebrate the Eucharist with a woman priest. The Hyvinkää District Court held that religious convictions cannot trump the state’s sexual discrimination laws, and that by agreeing to serve in the ministry of the state church, a clergyman forfeited his rights of conscience.
The church’s purge of traditionalists has led to the formation of 17 congregations that operate within the tradition of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland, but are self-governing and financially independent. In March, the leaders of the Church of Sweden’s traditionalist movement, the Mission Province, consecrated Bishop Väisänen to provide episcopal oversight to the ‘free diocese’ in Finland and to ordain new clergy for the movement.
On Aug 12, Bishop Väisänen released a statement saying the state church’s action would have no bearing on his ministry, and that the failure of the state church to be faithful to its confessional standards had led to this situation.
“Because shepherds who bind themselves to the apostolic view on the office of the ministry are no longer being ordained in our church, I have received the office of bishop. The justification for this ecclesial emergency right is based on the Holy Bible and the Lutheran confessions. It is not an offence against the ordination oath but in the most profound sense precisely acting in accordance with the duties of that oath,” he said.
While the Luther Foundation has not yet broken with the Church of Finland, the issue may be put to the test in October, when Bishop Väisänen is scheduled to ordain four graduates of the Theological Faculty of the University of Helsinki. Bishop Matti Repo of Tampere told the Finnish press that if Bishop Väisänen starts ordaining ministers, it will be an indication that the Luther Foundation considers itself a church unto itself. “Real bishops guide the Church to unity, not disunity,” he said.
3 Christian aid workers murdered in Pakistan: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 3, 2010 p 6. September 7, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of Pakistan.comments closed
Bishop Alexander Malik of Lahore
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Three Christian aid workers have been murdered by the Taliban in the Swat Valley of Pakistan’s North West Frontier the BosNewsLife agency has reported.
The Christian news agency reported that the three American aid workers were kidnapped by suspected Islamist militants. Their bodies were recovered on Aug 25 by the Pakistani Army and turned over to the US embassy. A source in the Pakistani Army told BosNewsLife the names of the dead and the charity for which they worked have not been made public so as “not to create panic” among foreign aid workers.
Last week, the Diocese of Peshawar released a statement saying that in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa Province, formerly known as the North West Frontier Province “the worst hit area is Swat. The people of Swat were first hit by militancy and now they are terrorized by the natural disaster, worst of its kind in the living memory. Thousands are still trapped in floods, as roads and bridges have been washed away.”
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the deaths, which so far have not been confirmed by the US Embassy in Islamabad.
The monsoon-driven floods have flooded an area the size of England, along the Indus river valley and have caused an estimated £3.25 billion in damages and displaced over 21 million people. The United Nations reports that an estimated 800,000 people remain stranded by the floods and are in need of food and clean water.
While this year’s monsoon has deposited 30 per cent more rain across the region, environmentalists blame the massive deforestation in the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa province for the flash floods and landslides. The Pakistani press has also reported that many of the dams and levees built for flood control that have burst were built with sand covered by a veneer of concrete, evidence they say of systemic corruption in the government’s flood control program
The government of President Asif Ali Zardari has come under intense press and public criticism for visiting France and England at the height of the crisis and not cutting short his overseas tour. Prime Minister Yousaf Reza Gilani has focused his energies, critics charge, on the forthcoming parliamentary by-elections, and has addressed several political rallies announcing new development projects in marginal constituencies. The failure of the civilian government to respond to the crisis will likely further destabilize the regime, political analysts note, paving the way for a return to power by the army or the seizure of power by extremists.
The army has taken an active part in relief efforts, deploying over 100,000 troops in a rescue and relief mission entitled Operation Lab Baik. Army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani has taken personal command of the military relief efforts and has been on the ground since the start of the crisis.
Coupled with the army’s efforts have been the activities of domestic and international relief agencies and the Taliban. The Islamist Jama’at-e-Islami’s Al-Khidmat Foundation has organized relief assistance camps, while the outlawed Jama’at-ud-Dawa and Laskar-i-Taiba are reported to have provided food and medical assistance in rural areas. In the Swat valley, the Tehreek-e-Taliban is reported by the Pakistani press to have a greater public presence in its relief efforts than the Pakistani government.
The UN’s emergency relief appeal for $459 million has resulted in pledges of assistance of $815.58 million from overseas NGOs and governments.
The minority Christian community in Pakistan has also joined forces to provide relief assistance.
Roman Catholic Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan and Church of Pakistan Bishop Alexander Malik of Lahore led a convoy containing food items and bottled water to the southern Punjab town of Khan Bela.
“This is our diocese. We have seen death with our own eyes in visits to flood hit areas. We came through these deadly waters to bring you food and show you that we care,” Bishop Francis told the UCA news agency on Aug 26.
“We are all Pakistanis and stand together amid this crisis,” Bishop Malik said.
Sudan now the frontline in the battle against Islamic extremism, archbishop warns: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 3, 2010 p 8. September 6, 2010
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An independent Southern Sudan will stand as a bulwark against Islamist expansionism in East Africa, the Primate of the Sudan, Archbishop Daniel Deng of Juba said last week.
In a statement given to the All Africa Bishops Conference in Uganda, Archbishop Deng also warned the Sudan was in danger of falling back into civil war, and urged the Anglican bishops of Africa to pray that the January independence referendum be peaceful and fair.
Christians in the Sudan have been under pressure from Islam since 641 AD, Archbishop Deng said, but “in the past 20 years there have been attempts to legally suppress it following the compulsory introduction of Sharia Law in 1983. This reduced many millions of Christians to second class citizens in their home country.”
The Islamist government in Khartoum has also “declared jihad against Sudanese Christians, and between 1983 and 2005, around 2.5 million people died, millions were maimed, and over 4 million more were displaced to camps—some of whom have not been permitted to return until this day,” he said.
“Fundamentalist elements” of the Khartoum government were “suspected of wishing to keep the South underdeveloped and to use the southern people as cheap labourers in the North whilst taking all the minerals of the South for the development of the North. Their long-term intentions are to use the conversion of the south to Islam as a springboard for the Islamization of East Africa and beyond,” the archbishop warned.
“Having endured this systematic persecution” the Southern Sudan will likely vote for independence, for “in their own states, they will not face Islamization and Arabization or marginalization from the North.”
The peace process in Sudan “has reached a critical point” the archbishop said, noting that “we are now less than 4 months away from the referendum on southern Sudan self-determination and popular consultations for Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile.”
Preparations for the elections have not been fully implemented, he said, and the government had failed to honor the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) due to the “lack of reconciliation process, the lack of transparency over the National Census and oil revenues, the failure to repeal or alter laws which are contrary to the spirit of the CPA which guarantees equality and freedom for all.”
The Episcopal Church of the Sudan was “afraid that the registration of voters will not be carried out in a fair way.” The government census reports that “only 500,000 Southerners live in the North, a figure which is deliberately underestimated, as around four million Southerners have moved to the North since the mid-1980s.”
The church was also worried about the rights of “Southerners currently living in the North. If the South votes for separation, these people would become foreigners in Northern Sudan and will be at the mercy of the Khartoum authorities,” he said.
The Episcopal Church called on “all those involved in referendum planning to put the safety, livelihoods, and rights of the poorest and most vulnerable first.”
Archbishop Deng also called upon the Anglican bishops of Africa to pray for the Sudan. “We request especial support from you all for the Church in Northern Sudan as it continues to face the official persecution from the Khartoum government,” he said.
“The global Church must stand united in support of our brothers and sisters who daily witness to faith in Jesus Christ whilst suffering to do so. If this does not happen, then Christianity in Northern Sudan has the most uncertain future and may even be facing destruction,” Archbishop Deng said.
Questions over Anglican honours claim for Robert Mugabe: The Church of England Newspaper, Sept 3, 2010 p 7. September 4, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Zimbabwe.comments closed
- Dr. Crespo and President Mugabe at State House in Harare
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is to be honored by the Anglican Church of Ecuador with an honorary doctorate, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation reported on Aug 28.
The state broadcaster reported that at a meeting at State house in Harare on Saturday, Anglican Bishop Walter Crespo of Ecuador lauded the Zimbabwe strongman as a political and spiritual leader, who had led the fight against Anglo-American imperialism in the developing world.
However, church leaders in the South American republic note the controversial Dr. Crespo is not affiliated with the Episcopal Church’s Dioceses of Litoral and Central Ecuador, but is head of his own self-styled Anglican Province of Ecuador, linked to former Bishop of Harare Dr. Nolbert Kunonga’s Anglican Province of Zimbabwe.
Dr. Crespo has cut a curious clerical swath across the religious landscape of South America, having been arrested for allegedly supplying arms to the FARC guerrilla movement in Colombia.
Last week Dr. Crespo invited President Mugabe to Quito to receive an honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Laws. “The conferment of the honorary doctorate to the Head of State is in honour of and recognition of Comrade Mugabe’s outstanding leadership of not only Zimbabwe but of the rest of the world including Latin America,” the bishop said.
President Mugabe thanked Dr. Crespo and his hosts, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga and the former Bishop of Manicaland Elson Jakazi, stating he would pick up the degree in Quito after attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month. The Zimbabwe strongman stated he and Dr. Kunonga shared a “common stand” with Dr. Crespo on “certain basic principles: Christian, cultural, and humanitarian.”
Procreation, President Mugabe said, was God’s purpose of sexual relations. “When God created Adam he also created Eve so there can be that harmony, family harmony between men and women between the children of Adam and Eve and God made it that way to be for multiplication.” The octogenarian strongman said.
In 2000, Dr. Crespo was arrested by the Ecuadorian police in conjunction with the sale of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the principle rebel group in neighboring Colombia.
El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language edition of the Miami Herald reported in October 2000, that Dr. Crespo brokered the deal to supply the rebels with weapons purchased from the Ecuadorean Air Force, ostensively bound for the Mugabe regime.
The Herald reported that the weapons, M-72-A2 rockets and cluster bombs, had been purchased by Ecuador in 1977, and were decommissioned in 2000 by Admiral Hugo Unda, the country’s minister of defence. The “obsolete” weapons, valued at $3 million were sold to the Zimbabwean government for $240,000 via a Brazilian corporation. The weapons left Ecuador on a chartered Russian Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, which filed a flight plan from the air base in Taura, Ecuador to Harare via Chile, Brazil and Angola.
The Herald reported that once the plane touched down in Chile the arms were disembarked and transshipped via a fleet of small planes to FARC bases in the Colombian jungle.
Dr. Crespo, who was held for almost three years in prison until the charges were dropped for lack of evidence, said a confession he had given to the Ecuadorian police, admitting to organizing the scheme, had been obtained unlawfully after police drugged his food. The bishop has since denied any involvement with the arms deal.
Bishop suspends priest for political activism in Malawi: The Church of England Newspaper, Aug 27, 2010 p 6. September 3, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of the Province of Central Africa, Politics.comments closed
Malawi Vice President Joyce Banda
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Anglican Church in Malawi has suspended a priest for political activism. In a letter dated Aug 6, the Bishop of Upper Shire, the Rt. Rev. Brighton Malasa told the Rev. Michael Mtambo he was being suspended for having chaired a press conference that criticized the government for its attacks on Vice-President Joyce Banda.
According to an extract of the letter printed by The Nation, Bishop Malasa accused the priest of being “involved in partisan politics as evidenced in press statements aired on Zodiak Broadcasting Station on 4th August and quoted in Daily Times and The Nation newspapers of 5th August, 2010, respectively. On the contrary, you are not the spokesperson of the Anglican Church in Malawi.”
By chairing the press conference “you are putting the church at a wrong and partisan position, a thing which we can’t tolerate.” Fr. Mtambo was guilty of “gross disobedience and insubordination against your own vows and those in authority” and would be suspended without pay.
Fr. Mtambo said he would challenge the suspension in court. “I do not know what wrong thing I have done because the news conference was organised by the Clergy Initiative for Integral Development (CIID) where I am a member. I am for the truth. I do not regret conducting the news conference.”
At the press conference, Fr. Mtambo and members of the CIID denounced attacks on Vice President Banda by the state-controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. The priest said he was not campaigning for the vice-president, but was disturbed by the state broadcaster’s promotion of the president’s brother, Peter Mutharika, at the expense of the vice president.
While the election to replace President Mutharika will not be held until 2014, vice president Banda and the president’s younger brother Peter, a law professor, have been jockeying for position as the 76 year old president’s heir.
Party leaders supporting the vice president have been expelled or demoted from the hierarchy of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the Daily Times reported, while The Nation reported that four key ministers were axed in a cabinet reshuffle last week.
Fr. Mtambo’s sacking comes after he condemned the DPP Southern Region Governor Noel Masangwi’s remarks that Malawi was not ready for a female president. Bishop Masala has denied the sacking was politically motivated, stating the priest was relieved due to poor performance.
Archbishop calls for end to South African general strike: The Church of England Newspaper, Aug 27, 2010 p 6. September 1, 2010
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Church of England Newspaper, Politics.comments closed
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Archbishop of Cape Town has urged government unions to end their nationwide strike, saying the industrial action was “doing a great deal of harm” to South Africa.
On Aug 18, over a million public sector employees went on strike after negotiations broke down with the government. The unions have demanded an 8.6 per cent pay hike and a 1,000 rand (£88) housing allowance. The government had countered with a 7 per cent raise, and a 700 rand allowance.
“Our country is facing a huge crisis at this moment,” Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said on Aug 19. “Striking essential public service employees and educators are, however unintentionally, causing much anguish and even physical suffering,” he said.
The archbishop said he understood the plight of the striking workers and supported their right “to seek justice in terms of fair and adequate salaries and other benefits, especially in the face of corruption by some government officials.”
“However, the present strikes are creating suffering – for patients in hospitals, especially those who are seriously ill; for out-patients no longer able to receive much-needed medication; for students who are working hard to prepare for [matriculation] examinations and for learners who are trying to develop a culture of education and learning in order to improve their chances in the future,” the archbishop said.
The government had secured a court order banning essential works from joining the strike, but in Durban union activists blocked the entrances to King Edward Hospital, and the SAPA news agency reported that police fired rubber bullets at strikers blocking Addington Hospital.
Cape Town’s hospitals appear not to have been affected by the strike, so far, while police in Johannesburg report peaceful picketing at the city’s public hospitals. The South African Defence Force reports that soldiers have been deployed to 37 state hospitals to maintain basic levels of service.
In a statement released on Aug 23, the government appealed to “public sector unions to sign the offer without delay and further appeals to all public servants who are on strike to return to their posts,” adding it was “extremely concerned about the violence and intimidation that continues to characterise the strike in parts of the country”.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union stated, “we have resolved that we are not going to retreat from continuing with our demonstrations until our demands are met.”
“Our strike is legal and we will continue to intensify our actions,” they said.
However, Archbishop Makgoba called for the unions to put the needs of the nation first.
“How do we look at our society and say, ‘let not your hearts be troubled,’ when patients needing high levels of care are without proper nursing staff and students are told they must provide for their own education?,” he asked.
“We urge all essential service staff to return to your positions immediately. At the same time, we urge government ministers and to all others involved to negotiate an urgent resolution to this crippling action,” the archbishop said.
Bishop backs rise in drinking age to 20: The Church of England Newspaper, Aug 27, 2010 p 6. September 1, 2010
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Bishop Ross Bay of Auckland
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
The Bishop of Auckland has backed the National Party government plans for a rise of the legal age for drinking from 18 to 20, but has expressed disappointment the government will allow a “conscience vote” from its MPs on the bill.
A report from the New Zealand Law Commission released in April offered 153 recommendations for reducing the harmful effects of alcohol upon society, including tax increases, stricter blood alcohol limits for drink driving offences, and raising the drinking age.
The proposed legislation has not yet been released, but Transport Minister Steven Joyce said the party planned to introduce a ‘zero’ drink drive limit for repeat offenders and for drivers under the age of 20. Mr. Joyce said the National Party had affirmed that “all transport safety measures will continue to be voted on as a party,” but raising the purchase age of alcohol would be a free vote.
The Rt. Rev. Ross Bay, Bishop of Auckland backed the tough new laws, and called for cross party support for the bills. “Legislation will not fully solve the problem but it can send a strong signal to society that it is time to change attitudes,” the bishop said, adding that “MPs can provide leadership on this and vote as a unified body rather than turning to a conscience vote for the proposed age split regarding the purchase of alcohol.”
New Zealand was facing a “crisis” over binge drinking, he said. “We need strong leadership for this generation and Parliament needs to act and show leadership for such a significant issue in society.”
Alcohol abuse had become a significant health issue the New Zealand Ministry of Health concluded in a 2007 report on alcohol consumption. Alcohol abuse harmed not only drinkers, but those around them. “People had also experienced problems as a result of someone else’s drinking, including physical assault, sexual harassment, and impacts on their family life, social life and financial position,” the report Alcohol Use in New Zealand found.
An estimated 81.2 per cent of New Zealanders aged 12–65 years “had consumed alcohol in the last 12 months” the study found, and of these 14.7 per cent consumed large amounts of alcohol at least once a week, which was defined as consuming six standard drinks in one sitting for men, or four for women. “Overall, 9.5 per cent had consumed enough alcohol to feel drunk at least once a week,” while “20.7 per cent had done at least some of their driving under the influence of alcohol in the last 12 months,” the study found.
