A Zambian priest has challenged Christians across Africa to stand up and fight corrupt practices that are “soiling the fabric” of many countries on the continent.

The Revd John Kafwanka, currently Director of Mission at the Anglican Communion Office, was speaking following the recent arrest of Ugandan anti-corruption activist and retired Assistant Bishop of Kampala Diocese the Rt Revd Zac Niringiye.

Niringiye and eight other campaigners were arrested on Monday by the police at Uganda's Makerere University for distributing pamphlets calling for an end to high-level corruption. The group was later released on bond.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Central Africa • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda • Zambia • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Church of Uganda Bishops are converging at Lweza conference center in Lweza along Entebbe road for a week long retreat to elect a new Archbishop.

The New Archbishop will replace the outgoing Archbishop Church of Uganda the Right Rev. Henry Luke Orombi .

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Despite a terrorism threat, tens of thousands of Christians visited Namugongo to honour 26 Ugandans who were killed because of their faith 126 years ago. Some of the pilgrims walked for hundreds of kilometres before reaching the shrines.

On the concrete floor next to Namugongo's Catholic Martyrs shrine sits Regine. The old lady doesn't know her exact age. For the last three nights she has been sleeping here, next to the church. Nobody accompanied Regine when she travelled across Uganda. "Last night it rained and we all got wet. I didn't care about that. We have to endure some suffering to strengthen our faith. Just like the martyrs here did," she says.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • History • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Religious leaders from the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox denominations have welcomed a proposal by the government to start funding the activities of the church to expand its role in social service delivery.

The clerics under the Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) said the church needs state funding in critical areas such as health and education because their interventions in these sectors supplements government's efforts to improve the livelihood of the population.

The Anglican archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi who is the UJCC chairman said during their annual assembly at Pope Paul memorial center in Kampala that if the church starts receiving State funding, it would make a sizeable contribution towards poverty alleviation and improving the standards of living among the populace.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

As Uganda gears up for the 50th independence jubilee, bishops from the Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox faiths have called on spiritual leaders and politicians to advocate for unity and love to promote peaceful coexistence among Ugandans.

The bishops under Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) came together for a prayer pilgrimage at the Catholic and Anglican shrines in Namugongo Wednesday ahead of Uganda Martyrs’ Day due June 3rd.

The historic day is marked in memory of the 45 Catholic and Anglican martyrs who were murdered on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda for refusing to forsake their faith between 1885 and 1886.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda • * Religion News & Commentary • Ecumenical Relations • Other Churches

Precious in thy sight, O Lord, is the death of thy saints, whose faithful witness, by thy providence, hath its great reward: We give thee thanks for thy martyrs James Hannington and his companions, who purchased with their blood a road unto Uganda for the proclamation of the Gospel; and we pray that with them we also may obtain the crown of righteousness which is laid up for all who love the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • Spirituality/Prayer • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

The villages and farming communities that surround Uganda's capital, Kampala, are gripped by fear.

Schoolchildren are closely watched by teachers and parents as they make their way home from school. In playgrounds and on the roadside are posters warning of the danger of abduction by witch doctors for the purpose of child sacrifice.

The ritual, which some believe brings wealth and good health, was almost unheard of in the country until about three years ago, but it has re-emerged, seemingly alongside a boom in the country's economy.

I happened to catch this on the BBC World News this morning. Be warned the content is disturbing--read it all; KSH.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Children • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Economy • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda (COU), Henry Luke Orombi has urged the members of the Anglican Church to be more prayerful like their counterpart Muslims, Catholics and born again Christians.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Christian Life / Church Life • Spirituality/Prayer • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Jennifer Anguko was slowly bleeding to death right in the maternity ward of a major public hospital. Only a lone midwife was on duty, the hospital later admitted, and no doctor examined her for 12 hours. An obstetrician who investigated the case said Ms. Anguko, the mother of three young children, had arrived in time to be saved.

Her husband, Valente Inziku, a teacher, frantically changed her blood-soaked bedclothes as her life seeped away. “I’m going to leave you,” she told him as he cradled her. He said she pleaded, “Look after our children.”

Half of the 340,000 deaths of women from pregnancy-related causes each year occur in Africa, almost all in anonymity. But Ms. Anguko was a popular elected official seeking treatment in a 400-bed hospital, and a lawsuit over her death may be the first legal test of an African government’s obligation to provide basic maternal care.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • Women • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

At least a million Christians celebrated the Uganda Martyrs' Day at Namugongo shrine yesterday with the lead celebrant calling for "serious dialogue to address political and social problems in the country".

Clad in the ceremonial catholic robes, Archbishop Sabino Ocan Odoki of Arua Diocese, told pilgrims that this will be the only way to amicably solve the country's problems instead of "the walk-to-work campaign and teargas".

"Uganda is known for her beauty and hospitality but it is also known for political turbulence and tribalism. We should address this through dialogue," he said to a crowd which included the newly-appointed Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Sekandi who represented the President, and pilgrims who had trekked from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Sudan, DR Congo, among other countries.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Thousands of pilgrims yesterday flocked to both the Catholic and Anglican shrines at Namugongo, near Kampala, to mark the Martyrs day.

Every June 3, Christians of the two denominations in the region and the rest of Africa pay homage to the 45 Martyrs, who were killed by Buganda King Muwanga II in 1884, for converting to Christianity.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: Grant that we who remember before thee the blessed martyrs of Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom they gave obedience even unto death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • Parish Ministry • Death / Burial / Funerals • Spirituality/Prayer • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

But if any single African country has attracted American ire, it is Uganda. Is this because of a spate of anti-gay attacks? When a tiny college newspaper organized an egregious hate campaign last October against prominent gay activists, including Kato, a Ugandan court issued a permanent injunction against the publication. And David Kato's death is among only a handful of documented instances in which homosexuals have been killed in Uganda in recent years, with police now claiming that Kato was murdered by an acquaintance for reasons unrelated to homophobia. Despite Rachel Maddow's running commentary on Uganda—under the headline "Uganda Be Kidding Me!"—more Ugandans consider homosexual behavior morally acceptable or neutral—almost one in five—than people in any other major African country, including sexually tolerant South Africa, according to a 2010 Pew Forum survey.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda • America/U.S.A.

Matt Alexander and his friend Ed O'Bryan, a Charleston doctor, were chatting at Chick-fil-A following an afternoon of surfing at Folly Beach in the summer of 2008 when -- for reasons that still aren't entirely clear to them -- the conversation turned from waves to global medical missions.

Alexander, now 29, and O'Bryan, 32, discussed their shared enthusiasm for caring for patients in parts of the world with desperate shortages of health professionals. They griped that many missions treat people on a limited-time-only basis.

The duo was still sandy-footed and salty-haired when they hatched the idea for Palmetto Medical Initiative, a Charleston nonprofit group that aims to bring high-quality health care to impoverished corners of the world.

Read it all from the local paper.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Health & Medicine • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda • * South Carolina

The absent primates do not approve of the US church’s ordination of actively gay bishops or its same-sex blessings.

Defending Bishop Orombi, Archbishop Williams, head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, emphasised that, as with other relevant Anglican primates, Bishop Orombi’s position concerned “exclusion from ministry on grounds of behaviour, not orientation”.

He continued that Mr Kato had been “named in this rotten, disgraceful Ugandan publication” – the Rolling Stone newspaper in Kampala – in which “effectively, his murder had been called for.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Primates • Partial Primates Meeting in Dublin 2011 • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Sexuality • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • * Culture-Watch • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

David Kato knew he was a marked man.

As the most outspoken gay rights advocate in Uganda, a country where homophobia is so severe that Parliament is considering a bill to execute gay people, Mr. Kato had received a stream of death threats, his friends said. A few months ago, a Ugandan newspaper ran an antigay diatribe with Mr. Kato’s picture on the front page under a banner urging, “Hang Them.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Kato was beaten to death with a hammer in his rough-and-tumble neighborhood. Police officials were quick to chalk up the motive to robbery, but members of the small and increasingly besieged gay community in Uganda suspect otherwise.

Read it all and pray for those involved.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Sexuality • --Civil Unions & Partnerships • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

The Anglican Church has expressed fears that violence could occur in the forth coming presidential elections due to increasing voter bribery.

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Henry Luke Orombi says according to the recent concluded party primaries which were marred by irregularities and election malpractice the same might occur again in 2011 general elections.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Precious in thy sight, O Lord, is the death of thy saints, whose faithful witness, by thy providence, hath its great reward: We give thee thanks for thy martyrs James Hannington and his companions, who purchased with their blood a road unto Uganda for the proclamation of the Gospel; and we pray that with them we also may obtain the crown of righteousness which is laid up for all who love the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Church of Uganda • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • Missions • Spirituality/Prayer • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

The bombings orchestrated by Somalia's al-Shabab militia that killed at least 74 people watching the World Cup finals on television Sunday night are the latest sign of the growing ambitions of al-Qaeda's regional affiliates outside the traditional theaters of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

The attacks, intended to inflict maximum damage on civilian targets, mark the first major international assault by Somali militants in a region where the United States and its allies are attempting to stem the rise of Islamist militancy. At least one American was killed and several were wounded in Sunday's strikes.

The United States has provided millions of dollars in military and economic aid, training, equipment, logistical support and intelligence to regional counterterrorism allies such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya. Uganda is a training ground for soldiers for Somalia's transitional government, which al-Shabab is seeking to overthrow, in a program backed by the United States and European nations. Troops from Uganda and Burundi make up a U.S.- and Western-backed African Union peacekeeping force in the Somali capital of Mogadishu that protects the fragile government.

A top spokesman for al-Shabab, speaking from Mogadishu, said the militia carried out the bombings, and he alluded to the group's aspiration to use Somalia as a launching pad for international attacks. Ali Mohamud Raghe, the spokesman, threatened further attacks if Uganda and Burundi continue to supply troops to the African Union force.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Terrorism • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

The draconian penalties in Uganda’s proposed ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’ have come under sharp criticism from the Christian Churches of Uganda.

In its December 17 Christmas message, the Uganda Joint Christian Council, a coalition of the country’s Anglican, Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, said that while its individual member churches had not yet issued formal statements on the proposed bill, all were opposed to the harsh penalties proposed for the suppression of vice.

On 14 Oct MP David Bahati of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) tabled a private-members bill before parliament entitled the ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’ that would stiffen Uganda’s sodomy laws. The proposed law has come in part in response to concerns over growing child-sex tourism in East Africa and the highly publicized arrests of two NGO workers, as well as with the perception that Uganda’s culture is under siege by the West.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches

Pastor Rick Warren today asked Ugandan pastors to oppose a proposed law that could bring death to Ugandans engaging in gay sex.

The Saddleback Church pastor had come under fire last week on the Internet and in the media for not taking a stand or issuing a condemnation of the proposed legislation.

In a video posted on YouTube, Warren asked Ugandan pastors to speak out against a proposed law by a Ugandan pastor who endorsed proposed legislation making gay sex punishable by life in prison or even in some cases death.

Read the whole article.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Evangelicals

Uganda will drop the death penalty and life imprisonment for gays in a refined version of an anti- gay bill expected to be ready for presentation to Parliament in two weeks, James Nsaba Buturo, the minister of ethics and integrity, said.

The draft bill, which is under consideration by a parliamentary committee, will drop the two punishments to attract the support of religious leaders who are opposed to these penalties, Buturo said today in a phone interview from the capital, Kampala.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

The recent election in the Diocese of Los Angeles of a partnered lesbian as bishop suffragan raises the questions of covenant and communion within The Episcopal Church (TEC) and the Anglican Communion once again. Leadership in the Diocese of Texas has consistently adhered to the request for gracious restraint and a moratorium put forth in the Windsor Report and supports the ongoing process of a Covenant within the global Communion and will continue to do so.

The Diocese of Los Angeles and the Rev. Canon Mary D. Glasspool, elected on December 5, must now follow a consent process. The implications of this vote are far reaching and it remains to be seen if more than half of TEC's 109 diocesan standing committees and more than half of the diocesan bishops will approve her election. It may take up to four months for the consent process to unfold.

The Windsor Report, written following the election and consecration of the Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson, NH in 2003, requested a moratorium on the consecration of gay bishops and in 2006, The Episcopal Church agreed to refrain from electing additional actively gay bishops. This summer, the Church's General Convention acknowledged there is great diversity of opinion within the Church on the issueof sexuality, marriage and ordination.

The Diocese of Texas is a diverse diocese and opinions among our clergy and our laity vary on the issue of sexuality. We have many gay and lesbian members across the diocese and week after week they join with the rest of our Church as faithful communicants to worship and work on behalf of Jesus Christ. We acknowledge the blessing of diverse opinions on scripture and sexuality, while as a whole the Diocese of Texas has continued and continues to offer a clear response to the wider Communion through a traditional teaching on marriage and ordination.

Even so, the Diocese of Texas has always supported both the Windsor Report and the Covenant Process which seeks to realize a Communion where everyone across the globe has a voice in the common life of the Church. We cannot isolate ourselves by listening only to the voices of any one province, or even the voices of any one diocese within our province. In the Diocese of Texas we are interested in our relationships locally and abroad, believing we are stronger when we listen to and partner with diverse cultures around the world.

As bishop of the Diocese of Texas I will continue to honor the request of my brother and sister bishops across our province and the Communion, and the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and will not consent to the Rev. Glasspool's election.

While I will not vote to consent to this election, I am unified with others throughout the Anglican Communion around the issues of safeguarding human rights everywhere. We reject the pending Ugandan legislation that would introduce the death penalty for people who violate portions of that country's anti-homosexuality laws.I believe that "efforts to criminalize homosexual behavior are incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ" (General Convention 2006, Resolution D005). This has been the position of Anglican bodies, including several Lambeth Conferences.

The Primates' Meeting noted that, as Anglicans, "we assure homosexual people that they are children of God, loved and valued by him, and deserving of the best we can give of pastoral care and friendship" (Primates' Communiqué, Dromantine, 2005). Recently, our Presiding Bishop has spoken out and our Archbishop has been meeting intensively with the leaders of Uganda to insure the dignity of every human being is honored as a creature of God.

--(The Rt. Rev.) C. Andrew Doyle is Bishop of Texas

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: Los Angeles • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Uganda may pass a law that could lead to the death penalty for homosexual behavior.

The proposed law is odious.

Due to the legacy of colonialism, Western people should be sensitive about interfering in sub-Saharan African politics and modest in making moral pronouncements regarding Africa, but this law deserves universal condemnation. Uganda experienced many evils under colonialism, including the loss of basic liberties.

Experiencing evil does not give a free pass to do evil and this bill is wicked.

It is not a close call.

No good can come of this bill and great harm will be done if it is passed.

This well expresses my basic sentiments on this matter. Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

But what is the Pope offering disenchanted Anglican flock? Is it that "enticing"? The invitation to Catholicism for the Anglicans hasn't yet been structured but there may be separate services held in Catholic churches. There may also be special prayer books and training centres but the chain of command will still lead to the Pope.

The migrant Anglicans may also have to accept all Roman Catholic doctrine and teachings and could use elements of Anglican tradition. However, this is the jewel in the Nile for most; married Anglican clergy can still be ordained as Roman Catholic Priests with a view to eventually providing pastoral care for other former Anglicans.

This is where the olive branch offered by the Pope becomes somewhat tainted. Celibacy is a requirement to join the Catholic priesthood and if so, won't the ordainment of married Anglican clergy as Roman priests smack of opportunism by the Pope? Why tear up the rulebook to accommodate married Anglicans? Does that mean celibacy will in the future be a non entity for those wishing to be Roman priests? Are all Catholics happy with this cross fertilisation?

Read the whole article.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI

The pending Ugandan legislation that would imprison for life or execute people who violate that country's anti-homosexuality laws would be a "terrible violation of the human rights of an already persecuted minority," Episcopal Church House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson has said.

Anderson was responding to a Nov. 16 request that Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Archbishop Henri Orombi of Uganda and she speak out against the legislation. Anderson is the first to issue a statement.

Homosexuality in Uganda currently carries a penalty of up to 14 years imprisonment. If passed, the bill would extend prison sentences for homosexuals up to and including life imprisonment and introduce the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," which includes assault against people under the age of 18 and those with disabilities.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • Episcopal Church (TEC) • House of Deputies President • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

However, unless we are to succumb to cultural relativism, the proposed legislation cannot simply be ignored given its apparent support from a leading government minister, its incompatibility with Anglican teaching, its undermining of Anglican ministry and mission, and the danger it represents to many Anglicans and others in Uganda who are likely to face prosecution should it become law. We need therefore to:
*
Pray for David Bahati (the Bill's sponsor) and the Minister for Ethics and Integrity (who is so supportive of it), for all those who will be involved in any Parliamentary discussion of it (due now in January 2010) and able to amend or defeat it, for all those who now feel even further threatened simply by its publication, and for all those in the Ugandan Church seeking to be faithful witnesses and salt and light in their country.

* Seek to understand more about what is happening and the wider context in Uganda eg most of us in this country would not know the answer to many, if any, of the following questions: (1) how likely is this to become law in its present form, what sort of amendments are realistically possibly, and what will happen if it does enter the statute book?, (2) how does it compare in terms of stringency and penalties to existing legislation in relation to other (hetero)sexual conduct viewed as wrong?, (3) what are the real social and criminal problems which it is a misguided attempt to address and how can they be better addressed? eg has there been a rise in sexual abuse of minors?, (4) is there any reason other than homophobic prejudice and scapegoating as to why the bill and signficant political leaders are particularly targeting homosexual people?, (5) how widespread are the attitudes the bill represents within Ugandan church and society and how can the Christians there and elsewhere in the Communion best reform that culture and its laws?, (6) how is the Church of Uganda ministering to GLBT people?, (7) what are the real threats to marriage and family life in Uganda that this bill claims to be responding to?

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

“You can’t understand Africa without understanding religion,” said Emmanuel Katongole, a Catholic priest from Uganda. As he led a tour of Kampala, Uganda’s capital, it was soon clear what he meant. Slogans such as “Jesus cares” and “Try Jesus” adorn taxicabs. Ads for a Catholic bank named Centenary print the letter T as a cross. Businesses have such names as “Holy Light Clinic,” “Born Again Bankers” and “Holy Hair Care.” “There is no Western-style division between secular and sacred or public and private here,” Katongole said.

But the infusion of religion into everyday life has not made Uganda a peaceful land. “We have a culture in Uganda of taking power by the point of a gun,” said Archbishop John Baptist Odama. The archbishop’s see, based in the town of Gulu in the north of the country, has been the scene of a vicious civil war for the past 22 years. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony, has waged an antigovernment insurgency, savagely attacking rural villages and abducting children, who are turned into soldiers or sex slaves. An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 children have been kidnapped over the years.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

AN OPEN LETTER OF SUPPORT TO BISHOP BOB DUNCAN
24th September 2008

The Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan
Pittsburgh, PA USA

Dear Bishop Duncan,

I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the name above all names, and the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I have very intentionally addressed this letter to you as Bishop Duncan, for, indeed, you are a Bishop.

I was upcountry tending to pastoral business when the TEC House of Bishops took their vote to supposedly depose you, so I am very sorry that I could not add my name at the time to the very good statement issued by my esteemed colleagues, Archbishops Venables, Gomez, and Nzimbi. I hope you know of the unqualified support you have from me and our entire House of Bishops.

In 2004, when the Church of Uganda broke communion with TEC, we stated that, although we were breaking communion with TEC, we remained in communion with you, the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and all who uphold the historic and Biblical faith of Anglicanism and did not support the unbiblical decision of confirming the election of Gene Robinson to the episcopate.

Despite the shameful action taken last week by the majority of TEC Bishops, nothing about our position has changed. We continue to recognize you as a Bishop of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We continue to recognize you as a Bishop in good standing in the Anglican Communion, and we whole-heartedly support the action of Archbishop Greg Venables and the House of Bishops of the Province of the Southern Cone to receive you into their House of Bishops. We continue in full communion with you and we do not recognize the action of the TEC House of Bishops to depose you.

Furthermore, we are praying that on 4th October the majority of the Diocese of Pittsburgh will vote to be reunited with you as their Bishop. When the King of Buganda tried to destroy the Christian movement in 1886 by killing the converts in his court, he instead fueled the spread of the Gospel among our people. I believe that can also happen in North America. So, do not be discouraged. Our God is a God of redemption, and He will take what was intended for evil and bring good out of it.

Finally, if the world couldn’t see it before, this vote reveals how spiritually lost TEC is and why North America needs a new Province that authentically represents historic and Biblical Anglicanism. The Instruments of the Anglican Communion could have averted this crisis. Instead, institutional inertia is preferred, and meanwhile, the tear in the fabric of our communion is now deeper and wider, the mission of the church suffers, and many people miss out on hearing the good news that a Saviour has come.

I look forward to the day when you are not only the Moderator of the Common Cause Partnership, but when we can also welcome you to the table of Primates as the Archbishop of a new, Biblically faithful Province in North America. May the Lord grant you wisdom and apostolic favour as you lead that movement, and may He add daily the number who are being saved.

Yours, in Christ,

The Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi

ARCHBISHOP OF CHURCH OF UGANDA.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: Pittsburgh • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

The church in Africa has often said that it conceives its mission in terms of service rather than power. It preaches to political leaders and leaders in other fields to use their position in service to humankind, especially the vulnerable. That means, in fact, that the church is concerned about the question of power.

It cannot avoid engaging the critical question of the manifestations of the use or abuse of power, which often lie at the heart of ethnic war and conflict in countries like Uganda where Church growth is phenomenal. And it is not just a matter of the bishops or the church challenging society about the proper use of power and position.

They too need to engage critically with the way they exercise their power over clergy and laity alike. It is inevitable to comment about the absence of the bishops at Canterbury of the Church of Uganda.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • Lambeth 2008 • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

I should have known better. I should have understood that a City with such a rich and extensive history as Canterbury cannot be "done" in one day. My original assumption was that I would spend perhaps twenty minutes in the Cathedral, take the thirty-minute train ride to Goodenstone Park Garden and then on to Augustine's Abbey. I might even tuck in a castle or two along the way, I thought. Can't be done. In the end, I spent two and a half hours "communing with saints" in the Cathedral. Then, it was almost lunch time and it seemed wiser to abandon my ambitious plan of taking the entire county of Kent in a day and stay right here in Canterbury. A visit to the Norman Castle (dating back to the 11th century) and a couple of museums wrapped up the day.

The Cathedral visit was incredibly satisfying; a truly fulfilling and spiritual experience. There was a strong awareness for every moment of the visit that I was physically present and meditating in the exact physical location that thousands and thousands of people - going back to the sixth century A.D. - have been. There was a sense of being in communion with all those saints and recognizing once again the vastness of this holy family both in space and time. A truly awesome experience that language simply cannot fully express.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Anglican Church of Canada • Lambeth 2008 • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

As the divisions in the Anglican faith grow wider ahead of the Lambeth conference in the UK over homosexuality, Uganda’s Archbishop was in London last week to drum up support for traditional Anglican teachings.

But Archbishop Henry Orombi denied trying to ‘poach’ traditional Church of England supporters.

Archbishop Orombi, who is Archbishop of Uganda as well as Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney, Australia and Archbishop Greg Venables, Primate of South America’s Southern Cone, were in London last week to address a meeting of the Church of England supporters on the formation of a new grouping within the church known as the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.

The meeting and the setting up of Foca drew strong criticism from the spiritual head of the Anglican faith, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

But the three clergymen denied that they were trying to “seize power” within the church. Archbishop Orombi said that he had travelled to Britain to ‘help restore traditional theology’ to the mother church.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Uganda • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

The Christian leaders declared that they would remain in the Anglican Communion, but be independent of Canterbury, the seat of Anglicanism currently under the leadership of Dr. Rowan Williams.

“Our fellowship is not breaking away from the Anglican Communion. We, together with many other faithful Anglicans throughout the world, believe in the doctrinal foundation of Anglicanism. We intend to remain faithful to this standard and we call on others in the Communion to reaffirm and return to it,” they declared.

The conference, which ended yesterday, was aimed at deliberating on the crisis that had divided the Anglican Communion. It brought together over 1,140 lay and clergy, including 291 bishops representing millions of faithful Anglican Christians, mainly from developing nations. A total of 107 delegates represented Uganda.

The Conference adopted the 14-point Jerusalem Declaration to offer future guidance to the movement.

The meeting called for the formation of another Anglican Province in North America. This would include the 44 churches in the US, which are now part of the Church of Uganda.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Global South Churches & Primates • GAFCON 2008 • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Watch and listen to it all.

Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

Uganda has a small but thriving Jewish community. A reporter joined them for Passover last year.

Listen to it all and note carefully the reason for the leader's conversion from Anglicanism to Judaism.

Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Faiths • Judaism

A mother in traditional Ugandan dress wailed uncontrollably as rescue workers searched for the body of her daughter amongst the ruins and ashes of Buddo Junior School dormitory.

Other hushed onlookers crowded around in shock. An acrid smell hung in the air.

"My brother's just told me he can't identify his child," one man, who has a son at the school, said.

Like other parents, he rushed to the primary school, about 14km from the capital, Kampala, when he heard of the fire which gutted a girls' dormitory on Monday night.

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Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda

UGANDA’S rebel outfit, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has been angered by a new US proposal urging rebel leader Joseph Kony (pictured) and his other indicted colleagues to surrender to the government of Uganda and give up themselves to the national judicial process, largely to shake off the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The proposal, circulating to negotiators in the South Sudan regional capital Juba, has prompted Kony to accuse US President George Bush’s administration of exerting pressure on the rebels and using underhand methods. The US and EU last week joined the South Sudan mediated talks in Juba as observers.

In a document; Scenario For Peace and Justice in Northern Uganda, Mr Timothy Shortley, senior adviser to US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Dr Jendayi Fraser, who has been in Juba as a US observer to the peace talks, says his proposals are meant to expedite the negotiations.

In the paper, the US representative proposes that Joseph Kony and his colleagues who are wanted by the ICC, place themselves in the custody of the Ugandan authorities. This, he says, would ensure they are safe and a peace agreement signed in Juba.

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Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Uganda