Episcopal Life Online – WORLD REPORT
The letter was signed by 14 bishops including Nolbert Kunonga, the Anglican bishop of Harare, who is a staunch ally of President Robert Mugabe and his policies and who once referred to the opposition as dogs barking at an elephant. The central African bishops represent Anglican churches in Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Kunonga has a long-standing feud with his own church members because of his open support for Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party. He met with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, March 7 to discuss the grave challenges faced by the Church, civil society and the State in Zimbabwe.
Yep, the Bad Bishop of Harare has been in the news, and this story finally made its way to Episcopal Life Online. At least it's not the completely fatuously written article that started out as a fawning paean to Mugabe's rule. That one started off:
THE Anglican Church Province of Central Africa has added its voice to the growing condemnation of the illegal Western sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and called for their scrapping, urging Britain to honour its obligations to fund land reforms in the country.
In their Pastoral letter issued at the end of their Episcopal Synod in Harare last week, the 14 bishops and one canon, among them the head of the Province of Central Africa, the Most Rev Bernard Amos Malango, acknowledged that the economic situation in Zimbabwe stemmed from illegal sanctions.
A more temperately worded response from the Catholic bishops of Africa puts it mildly but firmly that Mugabe is the man that's got to go, and that the Anglicans are backing the party of corruption. It's an embarassment, really. It's a pity that +ABC Rowan Williamson couldn't have been a little more forceful in his public statement after his meeting with +Kunonga but what could he do? He had his hands full with the Primates' Meeting around then.
[tags]Anglican, Bishop of Harare, Kunonga[/tags]
iam aproud of our Anglican church stance in promoting reconciliation during political crisis here in zambia. we are not like some of catholics bishops who promotes hate to the seating Government in power. We are hoping the recently appointed Cardinal Mazombwe here in zambia will help to build good image on behalf of Catholic. Mazombwe is mature & sobber clegy
Thank you for your comment, I wish you good luck and God’s peace in your reconciliation. This post is quite old, however, so I think I will have to add the year to it at the top!
Much has changed in Zimbabwe since then, but not enough. I hope that Zambia enjoys peace and prosperity in the coming year, and have some hope that the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe will continue to improve.