CAPA primates respond to Canterbury’s call: The Church of England Newspaper, Nov 19, 2010 p 7.

President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya with the CAPA primates on Nov 9 in Nairobi

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

The African primates of the Anglican Communion have written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, offering their counsel on the format and agenda of the forthcoming primates meeting in Dublin.

Meeting at the ACK guest house in Nairobi from Nov 8-9, the primates or representatives from 12 African provinces along with the Primate of Southeast Asia, Archbishop John Chew of Singapore, met in private session to discuss issues of African and international concern.

At the close of the meeting, a letter to Dr. Williams was prepared, responding to his Oct 7 letter suggesting that a regime of facilitated small group meetings be instituted in place of the traditional format of the primates meeting, in light of the threatened boycott of the gathering.

The contents of the African letter have not yet been disclosed, sources tell CEN, as the primates do not want to force Dr. Williams’ hand by way of a leak to the press.

However, in his opening remarks to the meeting, the chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA), Archbishop Ian Earnest of the Indian Ocean stated the question of a boycott of the Dublin meeting had to be taken by each archbishop.

CAPA would make its views known to Dr. Williams, he said, “but the decision to attend rests solely on the individual Archbishop.”

Archbishop Earnest added that Dr. Williams had invited him in his “capacity of CAPA Chairman to be part of a preparatory committee. He is also anxious that a small group of primates meet with him.”

He added, “I would like to have your opinion and thoughts about it.”  Last month Archbishop Earnest announced he would boycott the meeting due to the presence of the US and Canadian primates.

On Nov 9, the primates met with the President Mwai Kibaki at Harambee House.  According to a statement released by the president’s press office, the primates “commended President Kibaki and the coalition government for the strides made in the reform agenda in the country.”

Archbishop Earnest told the president that CAPA was “fully committed” in supporting government efforts “in sustaining peace and stability” across the continent, the statement said.

“CAPA leadership has played a key role in contributing towards peace and stability in their respective countries. For example in the Sudan, Burundi, DRC and Kenya, the Anglican church has contributed to peace,” Archbishop Ernest said.

President Kibaki urged the church to use its influence in “seeking peaceful and amicable solutions to conflicts in Sudan, the horn of Africa and other countries experiencing insecurity in the continent.”