BBC NEWS | Africa | Uganda church anoints US bishop

Much of the Anglican Church in Africa is conservative and deeply opposed to the ordination of gay priests.In February, Anglican bishops meeting in Tanzania issued an ultimatum to the American church, demanding an end to the appointment of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex couples.

US bishops have until 30 September to respond.

I haven’t had much to say about this issue of cross-border ordinations and consecrations, although it’s irksome to me personally. As anyone who’s slogged through posts on this blog will know, I’m in favor of gays being priests and gays becoming bishops, because it was gay people who were there for me at key turning points in my journey toward faith.

It’s irksome that the real work of the Primates’ Meeting in Tanzania was reduced to little more than a sideshow while the comings and goings and incendiary statements of the conservative African figurehead-to-be Bishop Akinola of Nigeria was probably directed from offstage by his white Anglo-American “protoge” and the neoconservative allies that likely finance the coming schism/revolution. The result was a completely unfair and impractical ultimatum directing the US House of Bishops to decide something they don’t have the right to decide: to reverse course on ordaining gay clergy and consecrating gay bishops. The shadowy men behind the curtain want this very much, as it is sure to split and weaken the US Episcopalian church, as they are also working to split other mainstream churches over the same issue. It’s time we start fighting the real enemy, as some of the Methodists have done. We must resist They Who Must Not Be Named by naming them, and the IRD is the usual suspect whenever there’s discord and disunity in any mainline church. It’s their stated policy. They’re the bankrollers .

I suppose by mentioning this, someone will come along and comment to the contrary. For some reason, I picture these people as characters from the Harry Potter books (probably because I just finished re-reading the last two volumes). I expect a visit from either Dolores Umbridge or Pius Thicknesse. Even to my modest and ill-favored little blog; apparently these people Google the names of their friends or of their version of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission constantly.

The September 30th response will likely reflect on the fact that there have been a number of “cross-border” bishops consecrated that will be under the control of Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and now Kenya. Schism, revolution, realignment: you takes your pick; I hope the US House of Bishops will finally have realized that there’s no reconciling with people who think we’re little better than devil worshipers. And the response will repeat, again, the fact that the HOB doesn’t run the show here in the US church: any substantive response has to wait until General Convention 2009.

I kind of hope the response is a politely worded and affectionate “Nuts to you.” It seems to me that if “the other side” insists on consecrating extra-provincial bishops on our turf, we should insist on giving material help and support to their neglected, starving, or needy parishioners by bypassing their leadership on their turf. I don’t think that most African Anglicans are as outraged about homosexuals or gay clergy as their leaders make them out to be, even in countries where the leaders are all cozy with corrupt government officials, or padding their nests at the people’s expense.

Meanwhile, we here in the Diocese of Chicago will be sticking our necks out and in the news, as one of the 5 nominees for bishop is not a hetrosexxul!!1! Whut??/? So whut??/?
All five are highly qualified, if a little monochromatic, but the “nomination by petitition” process is still open until September 11. I tend to doubt whether any of the five is a conservative, which would please only a small minority of our diocesan clergy and laity, so I expect that there will be several petitions nominating quite conservative candidates. There is little hope they would receive any serious consideration during the “walkabout” face-to-face meetings and during the elections, which will be trumpted as proof! PROOF! that the Diocese of Chicago is nutty (a phrase I saw in the comments of a well-known conservative-side blog).

Well, we is not nuts. We are impatient to be about the REAL work of the church – feeding the poor, helping the needy, and working for peace and justice and the healing of our broken world.

Even Lord Carey thought this sort of thing was bad when it happened on his watch in 2000, 3 years before +Gene Robinson was elected bishop by the people of the diocese of New Hampshire, and confirmed by General Convention 2003. Since then his opinion has hardened, however.

One final note: it’s irksome that as in the American GOP, there are rumors of a lot of bishops who live deeply closeted. I can only wonder how many of them would remain as outraged about gay bishops being openly consecrated or nominated in the US, if they were outed themselves. I was reminded on how this is such an open secret that it’s fodder for humor in some circles, going back a number of years. I was watching an old rerun on TiVo the other night of “The Vicar of Dibley” when Vicar Gerry has this exchange with the bishop, who calls to warn her that her conservative nemesis David has called yet again to complain about her and have her removed. From their conversation, it’s clear that he’s not only gay, but living with a male companion – a different one since the last time Gerry talked to him.

 Well, there’s a familiar name: the “bad bishop of Harare” has also not received an invitation to Lambeth, along with another politically tricky bishop from the Southern Cone who is allied with the regressive, repressive wing of the Anglican Communion.  Apparently “contumacy” is a form of stubborn unrepentant behavior, or contempt of rules or church canon maybe, and I expect it’s related to a word I know from Shakespeare, “contumely,” which currently means “abusive language.”

“Invitations to the 2008 conference have been mailed to over 800 bishops by the Conference’s host, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams. Invitations to two other diocesan bishops, including the controversial Bishop of Harare, Dr Nolbert Kunonga, have been held pending further “consultation,” said Canon Kearon, the ACC secretary general. Dr Williams is “seeking further advice” on inviting Dr Kunonga, Canon Kearon told The Church of England Newspaper but noted his case and that of “one or two others” had “nothing to do with the Windsor process.”

In 2002 the EU banned Dr Kunonga from travel to Europe in response to his complicity with the crimes of the regime of Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe. A spokesman for the ACC noted Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of Recife would not be invited either. In 2005 Bishop Cavalcanti and 32 of his clergy were deposed by the Primate of Brazil for contumacy. They and over 90 per cent of the communicants in the diocese transferred to the jurisdiction of the Province of the Southern Cone under the jurisdiction of Archbishop Gregory Venables.

Gosh, I… So let me get this straight (to coin a phrase).

Bp. V. Gene Robinson is not invited, although his standing as a regularly elected and sustained bishop is not in question, and he is seen as a divisive focal point by many, and a role model by many. Bp. Martyn Minns is not invited, and it’s not clear whether it’s because it’s because he’d be a divisive figure or whether it’s because his elevation was a little irregular.  Border-crossing and poaching are frowned on but occasionally flouted in the Anglican world, and he’s now a Bishop of Nigeria under the leadership of Abp. Akinola, who vexed our Presiding Bishop by popping over to Virginia to conduct the service without bothering to make a courtesy call. Meanwhile, Kunonga and Cavalcante are on the bubble and not yet invited because they’re troublesome to the comity of the Communion and also kind of embarassing, public-relationswise. Cavalcanti was the border-crossing bishop who, with 4 other conservative (retired) US bishops, confirmed a bunch of people in Ohio “irregularly.” Kunonga is just beyond the pale. Way beyond.

Bp. Gene is considered as troublesome, bad, divisive, or embarassing as the other four bishops? Meanwhile… how many closeted gay bishops from Britain and other countries have already sent their RSVPs to the Archbishop of Canterbury? Rather a lot, really, one suspects. A well-known “outing” action from 1995 put the number at about 15 in Britain alone, including 5 that were still in the closet.  That was more than 10 years ago, so numb

I don’t know what the right line to take is; if all the outraged supporters that have already posted their reactions stay away, on both sides of the fence, then what you have is the people in the middle going to Lambeth, which isn’t so very bad. But Bp. Akinola is probably still going, even though his protege’ Bp. Martyn has been snubbed, and all those of his ilk too. If the progressives stay away, the regressives have full play.

Meanwhile: lots of hunger. Lots of poverty. War. Disease. Bad water. Lack of education. Lack of medical care. It’s such a waste of time and resources, all this wrangling over who puts what where and whether or not they are worthy or sinful before the Lord to teach the people and administer the sacraments.

Via The Lead

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]