Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Archbishop of Canterbury: 'I don't govern Anglican Communion'

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has rejected suggestions that his position in the worldwide Anglican Communion is a left over from British colonialism.

Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda made the suggestion in a comment piece published in The Times newspaper of London on 1 August in which he said that the "spiritual leadership of a global communion should not be reduced to one man appointed by a secular government".

Said Williams, "Archbishop Orombi isn't the first person who has used this language of colonial relics about the Canterbury relationship. I think it's a misunderstanding really. It would be fair only if Canterbury governed. Now, I don't govern the communion."

In his article, Orombi said that Williams is at the heart of the Anglican Communion but he had not been elected by his peers. "We have come to see this as a remnant of British colonialism, and it is not serving us well," said the Ugandan cleric.

Orombi is one of an estimated 230 or so Anglican bishops who are boycotting the 16 July to 3 August Lambeth Conference, or global gathering, of Anglican bishops as a protest at the presence of leaders of the U.S. Episcopal (Anglican) Church, which in 2003 consecrated a non-celibate gay cleric, V. Gene Robinson, as a bishop.

"I don't govern the Anglican Communion. I preside and I convene and there is a sense in which I have a hand in shaping the agenda," said Williams.

"But given the fact that the programme for this conference was very largely designed by people quite outside the European context and given the fact that some of the things we have been talking about are very much instances of partnership between the developing world and churches here, I think [the charge] of colonialism is a bit of a red herring."

Archbishop Williams was speaking on 31 July, the "pivotal day" of the conference when more than 650 bishops from the 77-million strong worldwide Anglican Communion were discussing sexuality, and the future of homosexual men and women in the communion, following Robinson's consecration.

"Morality, for some people in the media, means sex," said Archbishop Williams, asked about an apparent media obsession with sexuality. "In the Bible, morality means justice, compassion, the defence of the needy. It means humility, realism, self-questioning, repentance and generosity. That's quite a lot to be going on with."

As bishops sweltered in extraordinary heat and humidity, the archbishop said that he would love to see people concentrate on "the real issues" when it comes to Africa.

Williams said that the issue of a gay man being consecrated as a bishop in the United States means "very little" to Africans living in far-flung parts of the continent.

"Day by day, it means very little, even if they've heard about it. The only point in which it does impact on Mr and Mrs Average in Africa is when they have unsympathetic neighbours, Christians or non-Christians, who'd say - ' Oh, you're from the gay church, aren't you?'"

He added: "In Zimbabwe, of course, it has been used as a major issue in and out of the church."

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe several years ago mounted a campaign against homosexuals, describing them as being "worse than pigs and dogs".

Williams continued, "I think you'd find other cases of gay people being attacked - not only in Africa - but throughout the world. It's not just a local problem. But the overwhelming concern of most Africans is clean water, food, employment, transparent governance."

The archbishop said that the development of Africa and concern about what he called "real issues" facing that continent was for him a priority.

"It's an absolute priority for me. Certainly, in the visits to Africa I've made over the last few years, we always ask beforehand what outcome we want. It's not enough for the archbishop to go and be photographed kissing babies."

He said that the Anglican Communion in Africa wants to help educate people, provide better health facilities and assist during famines.

"In Sudan, Lambeth Palace [the London office of the archbishop] helped a bit creating a relationship between the World Food Programme and a couple of dioceses through church schools for the security of food distribution. In Burundi we have managed to help put in place a grant from Irish Aid towards school building there."

Williams said he particularly admired the resilience of Anglicans in Zimbabwe, where church services have been disrupted by the security forces and militant young supporters of Robert Mugabe's former ruling Zanu-PF party, in alliance with Nolbert Kunonga, the deposed former bishop of Harare who is a strong supporter of Mugabe.

"In the last couple of years, we have been in very regular contact and some of my staff here have been heavily involved in that," said Williams.

"The archbishop of Cape Town and myself spoke together with the secretary general of the United Nations after a conversation with the Zimbabwean bishops to understand the seriousness of the situation in that country," said Williams.

"We did try last year with the former bishop of Harare to see if there was anything we could do through the World Food Programme to allow the churches to assist but, of course, that was the point at which the government [of Zimbabwe] and government supporters wanted absolutely nothing in foreign aid and what a frustrating experience that was."

One of the key people behind the design of the 2008 Lambeth Conference was the new archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, a church leader of "extraordinary stature", said Williams.

"In South Africa, the Anglican church in electing a new leader, skipped a generation and went to a relatively young bishop who has a consistent track record and history with disadvantaged people in Soweto and re-building the church in South Africa and I think with Archbishop Thabo, they got it just right," said Williams.

He said that he and other Anglican leaders were aware of growing frustration among young Africans about unfulfilled Western promises to help them climb out of poverty.

Asked if that could eventually lead to angry young people turning their backs on Christianity and embracing, say, a militant form of Islam, Williams said, "There is concern but not panic about that. I cannot see the patterns of recruitment by militant Islam working the same way in Africa as in other parts of the world." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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