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Anglican Bishop of Harare the Rt Revd Chad Gandiya has said that forgiveness still remains the biggest challenge for Christians in his diocese after years of "living in exile”.

Bishop Gandiya said: “People are very happy to have returned to their churches but they are still hurting. The church needs to find new ways of teaching on healing and forgiveness.”

The Bishop was referring to the pain suffered after breakaway bishop Dr. Nobert Kunonga and his supporters grabbed church properties including churches, schools and orphanages, leaving Anglicans nowhere to worship.

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For the past five years, Robert Mugabe’s government has, in effect, persecuted the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe. As I blogged previously in 2011, the ex-bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, a long-time Mugabe supporter, sought to take his diocese out of the Anglican Communion, ostensibly because of Anglican Communion support for gay rights. The church thereupon deposed him and chose a new bishop, Chad Gandiya. But, Mugabe continued to support Kunonga and a pro-Mugabe judge gave him “custody” of church property pending a high court ruling. Kunonga also ended up with a confiscated, previously white-owned, farm. Pro-government goons over the past five years have, in effect, overseen the transfer of the cathedral in Harare, Anglican schools, orphanages, and parish churches to Kunonga and his supporters. The archbishop of Canterbury protested directly to Mugabe last year....

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Archbishop Nolbert Kunonga of the Anglican Church of the Province of Zimbabwe says he has surrendered all property belonging to the Church of the Province of Central Africa and that he would abide by the Supreme Court ruling.

Speaking at a Press conference in Harare yesterday through his provincial diocese secretary, Reverend Admire Chisango, Dr Kunonga said he would forge ahead with his spiritual work despite the setback.

Dr Kunonga who was breaking his silence since the Supreme Court ruling said he would respect the court ruling that conferred ownership rights to his rival CPCA, ending a five-year legal battle.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Central Africa • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

The Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) yesterday said it had taken over most of the properties from defrocked Bishop, Nolbert Kunonga, following a recent Supreme Court ruling.

The court, a fortnight ago ruled that Bishop Chad Gandiya's faction was the rightful owner of the properties which Kunonga had grabbed.

Gandiya's press officer, Precious Shumba, said although the CPCA had faced resistance in some of the parishes, most of the buildings had been taken by midday yesterday.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of Central Africa • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Housing/Real Estate Market • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Writing to supporters around the Anglican Communion, Bp Chad Gandiya said that, despite a Supreme Court order recognising the cathedral as belonging to CPCA's Diocese of Harare, excommunicated bishop, Nolbert Kunonga "did not leave willingly."
"Yesterday Kunonga was evicted from the Diocesan Offices and Cathedral yesterday," he wrote. "He refused to handover three diocesan cars in his possession. He came back later with thugs with chains who started chasing people beating some (some of the guards we had hired were beaten).
"When our people reported it to the police they were shunted from one office to the other because the police said, "they were too junior to deal with the Anglican matter". Eventually they were served and riot police were sent who arrested some of the thugs and we are grateful for that.

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The Zimbabwe Supreme Court has handed the breakaway bishop of Harare, Dr. Nolbert Kunonga a surprise loss and ordered he turn over the diocese’s churches to the lawful bishop, Dr. Chad Gandiya.

The decision caps five years of legal battles between Dr. Kunonga and the Church of the Province of Central Africa and its bishops of Harare, Dr. Sebastian Bakare and Dr. Gandiya. It has also been marked by violent intimidation of Anglicans loyal to the province – estimated to be over 90 per cent of its members – with the security services and police intervening on behalf of Dr. Kunonga to drive Anglicans out of their churches.

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

The ex-communicated Anglican Bishop, Nolbert Kunonga, has lost the latest round in his controversial campaign to take over Anglican Church properties from the main church (CPCA).

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed five appeals that had been lodged by the Kunonga faction, as well as two others launched by his Manicaland counterpart and supporter, Bishop Elson Jakazi.

The appeals were struck off the court's register after Kunonga's lawyers made a u-turn and claimed he was still the CPCA's legitimate Bishop of Harare. This is despite the fact that Kunonga formed his own Church Province of Zimbabwe and appointed himself Bishop of Harare.

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Whilst the British Government seem to be considering easing some sanctions against Mr Mugabe and his personal allies, I am not convinced that the time has come to weaken international opposition to the President of Zimbabwe’s irresponsible, undemocratic, lawless, and at times brutal regime. I certainly won’t be placing an order for a new clerical collar at Wippells just yet.

We cannot allow Robert Mugabe off the hook. When I cut up my clerical collar, I said I would not put it on again until Mr Mugabe had gone from office – we need to stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe and not forget the abuses and exploitation they have suffered at the hands of that administration.

The reason given by Her Majesty’s Government for this ‘step change’ in relations with Zimbabwe is the work going in to drafting a new constitution for that country. The recent meeting of European Union foreign ministers, which agreed to lift these restrictions on Mr Mugabe’s colleagues, have made this decision dependent only upon whether a ‘credible’ referendum is held on the new constitution. Perhaps if they had read the draft constitution they might have taken a different view.

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Anglicans in Zimbabwe's Diocese of Masvingo may once again face arrest for trying to commemorate the life and ministry of Arthur Shearly Cripps1 and for carrying out their ministry.

As ACNS reported last year, clergy and pilgrims were prevented from holding their celebrations at the Shearly Cripps Shrine by excommunicated bishop Dr Norbert Kunonga supported by police. Dr Kunonga claimed to be in charge of the shrine and 78 Anglican churches in Masvingo Diocese.

The Bishop of Masvingo, the Rt Revd Godfrey Tawonezwi has revealed that this year they have had to move the event to the beginning of August for the same reasons, but that the police have labelled the planned gathering "illegal". No-one knows whether meeting at the shrine will end in arrests.

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A former Anglican bishop has been ordained a deacon for the ordinariate.

Robert Mercer, who was received into the Catholic Church in January, was ordained by Auxiliary Bishop Alan Hopes of Westminster at Allen Hall seminary in London. He will be ordained a priest on Monday.

Mr Mercer, 77, was Bishop of Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, in the Anglican Province of Central Africa. He was bishop for 11 years before leaving the Anglican Communion to join the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, part of the worldwide Traditional Anglican Communion. He served as metropolitan bishop from 1988 to 2005, when he retired to England.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

Excommunicated Anglican Church Bishop Nolbert Kunonga continued his onslaught on members of a rival faction after parishioners at St Andrews Arcadia Church in Harare were kicked out of their place of worship over the weekend.

Kunonga was given legal custody of church property by the Supreme Court last year and is using that to evict rival members of the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) led by Bishop Chad Gandiya.

Since his excommunication, Kunonga has taken possession of several Anglican Church buildings around the country, claiming sole custody of the property.

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Zimbabwean police stopped a retreat of 80 clergy over claims that their prayer gathering was not given police clearance under sweeping security laws, the country’s mainstream Anglican church said Tuesday.

Zimbabwe’s Anglican church has been split by a breakaway group led by a bishop close to the president, who has seized church properties without police intervention. The bishop has been excommunicated by world Anglicans.

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Stories of child abuse and neglect at an Anglican orphanage have tempered Zimbabwe Anglican's celebrations at legal decisions provisionally returning church property to them.

Today the Anglican Diocese of Harare revealed that children at the Shearly Cripps Children's Home--an orphanage taken from the church by supporters of the excommunicated bishop Nolbert Kunonga--have been suffering under those who replaced the legitimate staff.

"It has been brought to the attention of the Anglican Diocese of Harare (CPCA) that orphaned children at Shearly Cripps are being ill-treated, under-fed and have become exposed to all forms of threats," said a spokesperson for the diocese. "Reports indicate that one child allegedly drank a harmful substance and was rushed to hospital for urgent medical attention."

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THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and Bishops of the Anglican Province of Central Africa on Monday submitted a dossier to President Robert Mugabe detailing the alleged abuse of Zimbabwe’s Anglicans over the past four years at the hands of the excommunicated former Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga.

The bishops asked Mugabe to use his powers as head of state to guarantee the security of those who worship with the Anglican Church and put an end to all unacceptable and illegal behaviour. Kunonga has denied all the allegations labelled against him. Below is an edited version of the dossier presented to Mugabe....

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Zimbabwe's Anglicans have won back control of a mission school previously taken over by a renegade bishop in a rare court victory, just days after the Archbishop of Canterbury visited to try to resolve the rift in his church.

A High Court judge sitting in Harare ruled that 14 members of staff, including the headmaster, house masters, a nurse and teachers, who were evicted last month should be allowed to return to their posts at Daramombe Mission School immediately.

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The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, said today that the dispute within the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe was “a result not of schism but of thuggery.”

In a statement issued after visiting Zimbabwe with Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury at the weekend, Archbishop Makgoba said members of a pro-Mugabe breakaway faction of the church under deposed bishop Nolbert Kunonga were being “helped to steal church property without recourse.”

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Kunonga spokesman Bishop Alfred Munyanyi dismissed the contents of Williams's dossier saying the Gandiya faction was peddling lies. Munyanyi said he does not see Mr. Mugabe doing anything to alter the situation of Zimbabwe's Anglican Church.

Bishop Gandiya, present at the meeting Monday with the president, told VOA that it was frank and that Mr. Mugabe seemed concerned when confronted with the dossier. He said he hopes Mr. Mugabe will ensure dialogue ends the dispute with Kunonga....

But David Moore, a professor of development studies at the University of Johannesburg told VOA’s Delia Robertson that he does not believe President Mugabe is likely to follow through to end the standoff, noting that he often says one thing then does another.

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Dr Williams admitted at a Press conference after meeting President Mugabe that homosexuality was indeed a problem within the church.

He said not everybody accepted it, but the homosexuals "deserved dignity and respect".

"The church does not allow same sex relationships and that is common ground across the Anglicans," he said.

"On the practice of homosexuality by bishops in the US and Canada, these are provinces, which do not represent the general line."

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Statement by the Archbishops of Canterbury, Central Africa, and Southern Africa and the President of the All Africa Conference of Churches the Archbishop of Tanzania....

Since 2007 Anglican congregations in Zimbabwe have suffered serious persecution at the hands of the police. They have been intimidated. Their churches have been closed. Properties, including schools and clinics, have been seized.

As representatives of the Anglican Communion, and with the support of ecumenical friends worldwide, we strongly and unequivocally support the efforts of ordinary Anglicans to worship in peace and to minister to the spiritual and material needs of their communities.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury on Monday visited Anglicans booted from their Zimbabwe cathedral by a renegade bishop, before meeting President Robert Mugabe about the "godless" assault on his followers.

Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of Anglicans worldwide, had for weeks sought a meeting with the 87-year-old president about the politically charged Church split led by excommunicated bishop and vocal Mugabe ally, Nolbert Kunonga.
An audience was finally granted, and Mugabe received the archbishop on Monday afternoon, an Anglican spokesman said.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams Sunday issued a strong criticism of the government of Robert Mugabe and told thousands of cheering Anglican members in Harare not to retaliate against attacks on the church in Zimbabwe.

Williams' comments risk angering the Zimbabwean president who has not yet confirmed whether he would meet the Anglican archbishop, on a rare visit to Zimbabwe.

Williams, who travelled with police escort, was greeted by thousands of singing and cheering Anglican members at an indoor sports centre in Harare where he delivered a sermon attended by bishops from South Africa, Zambia, Bostwana and Tanzania.

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Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has delivered a sermon in Zimbabwe as part of an African tour to try to heal divisions within the Anglican Church.

Dr Williams urged those at a Eucharist in Harare's National Sports Stadium to shun violence and intimidation.

Nolbert Kunonga, a renegade bishop who backs President Robert Mugabe, has been accused of inciting violence against Anglicans who do not support him.

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The message we want to send from this Eucharistic celebration is that we do not have to live like that – in terror, in bloodshed. God has given us another way. He has opened a door of possibility that no-one can shut. He has announced that he will welcome all to the marriage feast of his Son – and so we see that all, even our bitterest enemies, still have a place in his peace if they will only turn and be saved. Did you hear what St Paul said in today's epistle? 'Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are noble, right, pure, lovely and honourable.' We need to feed ourselves and most especially to feed our young people with such things, to hold before us that great new possibility opened up by God for our minds to be transformed, to be excited not by the false thrills of violence and bloody conflict, by the overheated language of party conflict, but by the hope of joy and reconciliation.

And this also lays upon us the duty to keep alive our own concern for those lest able to help themselves. The Church of God is – or should be – the great hope of the poor; not just as a source of material help, important as that is, but as a source of hope and a guarantee of human dignity. The Church could not exist with any integrity if it forgot that every person is of immeasurable value in God's eyes and so immeasurably worthy of our attention and service. In this country in recent years, you, our Anglican brothers and sisters, have been more and more active and courageous in this practical service, and in reminding the whole society of the universal dignity that the gospel implies. You have also been faithful to those who suffer from the HIV pandemic, which has ravaged a whole generation; and, like Christians elsewhere in Africa, you have been at the forefront of challenging the stigma that can make the suffering so much more bitter and can prevent people from facing the problem honestly. You know that the truth will make you free. To tell the truth about the sufferings and fears people endure, but also to tell the truth about their value in the sight of God – this is the most effective way of banishing stigma and prejudice and superstition.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Archbishop Rowan Williams has accused Kunonga of using state resources to intimidate the loyal Anglican congregation, often with violence. Williams has requested a meeting with Mugabe on Monday to discuss the issue and is due to deliver a sermon in the capital Sunday.

But Kunonga said the archbishop is politicizing divisions within the church by wanting to meet with Mugabe.

It is not yet clear whether Williams will meet with Mugabe on Monday, as requested, said Williams' press offer Marie Papworth on Saturday.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, arrives in Zimbabwe on Sunday in a bid to heal a growing rift in the country's church. Aislinn Laing visited an orphanage where 80 unhappy children are among its victims.

For decades it provided a secure if shabby home to up to 80 orphaned children, and the three Anglican sisters who helped to run it gave all the love and encouragement they could to their vulnerable young charges.

But last month the Shearly Cripps Home in Mashonaland East, 35 miles northeast of Harare, became the latest victim of the debilitating feud that has torn the church apart in Zimbabwe over the past four years.

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"It is reaffirmed that the CPCA position regarding homosexuality is crystal clear. In terms of Canon 22, marriage is between one man and one woman and in consequence, homosexuality is not acceptable in the CPCA which comprises Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe," Reverend Clifford Dzavo, the secretary for the diocese of Harare said in a statement.

"We therefore reiterate that the CPCA does not condone homosexuality. Whatever happens in other Provinces worldwide does not affect us as we do not necessarily share the same views with them."

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the Archbishop of Canterbury flew out to Africa on Wednesday evening to begin a week-long pastoral visit to the Church of the Province of Central Africa. He has requested a meeting with the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, on Monday, when he visits the country.

The 48 hours that Dr Williams spends in Zimbabwe will be the most sensitive. It is thought likely that, if the meeting with President Mugabe goes ahead, the deposed Bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, will be in attendance. Dr Williams will wish to protest at the expul-sion of Anglican congregations from their churches by Kunonga

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Dr Rowan Williams will become the first senior British dignitary to visit Mr Mugabe in Zimbabwe since Baroness Amos travelled to the country in 2001 to check on his pledge to halt violent land reforms.

Dr Williams is expected to urge the 87-year-old leader to rein in his renegade bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who split with the Anglican Province of Central Africa in 2008 over the ordination of homosexuals and has since, with the backing of Mr Mugabe's security forces, seized 40 per cent of church property.

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The Most Rev. Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, plans to travel to Zimbabwe this weekend as part of a central African tour and will seek to persuade President Robert G. Mugabe to help end a bitter rift among the country's Anglicans, according to the archbishop's office here.

Archbishop Williams, the spiritual head of the world's Anglicans, wrote to Mr. Mugabe earlier this year, urging him to stop "the continuing bullying, harassment and persecution" of Anglicans who support the global Anglican Communion rather than a breakaway group led by Nolbert Kunonga, an excommunicated bishop and close ally of the president.

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Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams will visit Zimbabwe in a show of support for Anglicans who are under siege from a renegade ex-bishop who plans to snub the leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Anglicans in Zimbabwe are embroiled in a church property fight with former Bishop Nolbert Kunonga of the capital of Harare. Kunonga left the church in 2007 over what he said was its pro-gay stance.

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Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has blasted the Bishop Chad Gandiya-led faction of the Anglican Church for seeking political intervention in the long-drawn property ownership wrangle still pending before the courts.

This, the Chief Justice said, was tantamount to interference with the independence of the judiciary.

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Evictions of Zimbabwean priests from properties owned by the Harare Diocese of the Anglican church continued following a High Court decision late last week refusing to stop the removals by a faction led by the former Harare Bishop Nolbert Kunonga.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku recently gave Kunonga control of all church properties until a final ruling is made on control of the church’s assets.

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Zengeza West MP Collen Gwiyo brought the matter to the House of Assembly this week.

"My question is directed to the Deputy Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture. I would like the minister to explain government policy with regard to church disputes that are now interfering with classes, in particular there is a faction led by Bishop Kunonga of the Anglican church which has actually affected the education system," Gwiyo said.

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Zimbabwe Supreme Court Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku on Thursday was to hear further arguments in a long-running case pitting former Harare Bishop Nolbert Kunonga against a new Anglican administration appointed by the Church of the Province of Central Africa, headed by current Harare Bishop Chad Gandiya.

At stake in the case are Anglican church assets including churches and other properties, some well beyond the geographical bounds of the diocese.

Kunonga resigned from the Anglican church and was later excommunicated, so there are no religious issues at stake in the tangled legal battle.

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For Dr Williams, or more likely his successor, the unavoidable question has to be whether the received model of Anglican unity, based on an ecclesiology more Catholic than Protestant, is still realistic when many parts of the Anglican world are not prepared to play by its rules. There is no central Anglican authority, a situation that did not seem to matter when a general consensus existed as to what Anglicanism stood for. Its absence now makes the task of the Archbishop of Canterbury, titular head of the Communion and chief defender of its unity, uniquely burdensome. Other international Christian denominations, such as the Lutherans and the Methodists, have felt that the universal dimension of their faith was sufficiently expressed by a looser federal structure, without any attempt to impose uniformity of doctrine or church order. If that pattern is the one towards which Anglicanism is inexorably progressing, any attempt to head it off will be a wasted effort. With his experience, it would not be surprising if Dr Williams was beginning to think he has given it his best shot, but that the task may be beyond even human capability.

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Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has summoned lawyers representing the feuding Anglican Church factions to a meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

Chidyausiku on Tuesday ordered lawyers representing the Bishop Chad Gandiya-led Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) and those aligned to ex-communicated Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga to report to his chambers at 12:00 on Wednesday.

Although the agenda of the meeting was not clear, informed sources indicated that Chidyausiku wanted to engage the lawyers over the church feud which escalated following a ruling which he delivered last month in favour of Kunonga and giving him custody and entitlement to some Anglican church property.

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The fight over control of Anglican Church properties reached frightening proportions yesterday when the Nolbert Kunonga-led faction evicted caregivers at an orphanage in Murehwa, leaving over 100 children in a quandary.

Three caregivers at Shearly Cripps Children’s Home were reportedly forced out of the institution for aligning themselves with the Chad Gandiya diocese, which lost the court battle for the control of the church’s property last year.

According to one evictee, Dorothy Makwarimba, a messenger of court arrived at the orphanage yesterday morning, brandishing a court order for them to vacate.

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The Archbishop’s visit, even though the Church insists it is purely pastoral, could carry more weight than an official visit by a senior politician because the Church is so strong in southern and central Africa. More than 85 per cent of Zimbabweans are Christian.

Given that many no longer recognise Mugabe as their leader, the Anglicans, at least, certainly regard Dr Williams as being in possession of comparable if not greater authority, secular as well as moral and spiritual....

Dr Williams is walking into a den as bad as Daniel’s, where he has no guarantee of achieving anything. But speaking to Anglicans in Zimbabwe yesterday, their hope for what the visit might bring was palpable. For that alone, for bringing the gift of hope to those traumatised Christians, the visit is a risk worth taking.

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You can find the audio here (about 4 minutes). Listen to it all.

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The Archbishop of Canterbury will travel to Harare in October and will seek a meeting with Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe to plead the case for the country’s persecuted Anglicans.

Dr Williams will also visit Malawi and Zambia during his tour of the Church of the Province of Central Africa, and is expected to offer moral encouragement to the Church. President Mugabe’s office has not decided whether the country’s leader since independence will meet with Dr Williams — who has been a harsh critic of the regime.

A spokesman for Lambeth Palace confirmed “the Archbishop is visiting Zimbabwe as part of a wider trip, which will also see him visit Malawi and Zambia,” but noted the itinerary had yet to be finalised.

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Beatings and evictions of Anglican priests in Zimbabwe have caused the Church there to appeal a legal decision to give custody of its property to excommunicated bishop Dr Nolbert Kunonga.

The Church's decision to instruct its lawyer to file a Constitutional appeal against the August 4 ruling by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku comes after a string of successful and attempted evictions left one priest homeless and another hospitalised with a head wound.

A press release from the Diocese said: “Clergy and members of the laity belonging to the Anglican Diocese of Harare (CPCA*) across Harare, Mashonaland West, East and Central have been receiving threats, constant harassment and lately severe beatings from Kunonga’s hooligans, masquerading as clergy, accompanied by ‘certainly hired thugs’.

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Clergy and pilgrims hoping to visit the Arthur Shearly Cripps Shrine last week were once again frustrated by excommunicated bishop Dr Norbert Kunonga who now claims to be in charge of the shrine and 78 Anglican churches in Masvingo Diocese.

The Anglican Diocese of Masvingo said its leaders advised Anglican worshippers against taking part in this year’s Shearly Cripps celebrations, scheduled for 29 to 31 July, after a court ruled that Dr Kunonga could not be prevented from attending the shrine.

A diocesan spokesperson told ACNS, “Kunonga got wind of the Diocesan preparations for commemoration of Arthur Shearly Cripps by pilgrims at the Arthur Shearly Cripps Shrine this month end, and he began to counter these efforts.

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For the second year running, Anglicans in Zimbabwe have been forced to find another place to mark the memorial of African martyr Bernard Mizeki after being denied access to their official shrine.

Last year worshippers, who had travelled from all over the country, were driven away by the Zimbabwe Republic Police despite assurances from the government that they would not be disturbed or harassed.

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Sixteen church-goers have been arrested and priests have been turned out of their homes in Zimbabwe’s Diocese of Harare – where the Anglican Church is facing persecution at the hands of an ex-communicated bishop.

The Rt Revd Chad Gandiya, Bishop of Harare, said the arrests were illegal and that those detained – including a elderly woman – were traumatised.

The diocese is now trying to arrange bail and has asked for prayers for those in prison and their families.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Latest News • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Religion, like politics, is often a dangerous business in this country.

As President Robert Mugabe, 87, pushes for an election this year, the harassment of independent churches seen as hostile to his government has intensified.

Truncheon-wielding riot police officers stormed a Nazarene church here in the capital last month to break up a gathering called to pray for peace. Days later, the authorities in Lupane arrested a Roman Catholic priest leading a memorial service for civilians massacred in the early years of Mr. Mugabe’s decades in power.

Mr. Mugabe, a Roman Catholic, recently denounced black bishops in established churches as pawns of whites and the West, singling out for special opprobrium Catholic bishops who have “a nauseating habit of unnecessarily attacking his person,” the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Latest News • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

The second meeting of the Steering Group of TEAC 2 (Theological Education in the Anglican Communion) took place in Harare, Zimbabwe, February 17 – 24 2011, at the invitation of Bishop Chad Gandiya, Anglican Bishop of Harare and a member of the Steering Group. It was chaired by Archbishop Colin Johnson of Toronto, Canada.

Although problems with obtaining a visa for Zimbabwe had prevented several members of the Steering Group from getting to Harare, and their input was missed, the fidelity and witness amidst persecution of Bishop Chad and his clergy and people offered a vital context for TEAC’s work.

The Group offered two days of ‘Continuing Ministerial Education’ to about 80 clergy from the Diocese of Harare and other Dioceses of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. The training developed themes explored in the Signposts statement which seeks to set out the essentials of the Anglican Way, ‘Formed by Scripture’, ‘Shaped through Worship’, ‘Ordered for Communion’, ‘Directed by God’s Mission’. Members of the Steering Group gained as well as gave, honoured to meet with the courageous clergy of the diocese and learn of their experiences. The powerful Shona song, “Namata urinde” “Watch and pray” (which can be heard in the audi player below) marked the beginning and end of the teaching sessions and seemed an extraordinarily apt watchword for these Christians standing firm in their faith in spite of difficulties and dangers.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Latest News • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe • * Theology • Seminary / Theological Education

Zimbabwe’s church property battle heated up last week as police evicted Anglicans loyal to Bishop Chad Gandiya and the Church of the Province of Central Africa from their church.

However, the Zimbabwe Standard reports the latest eviction by police on behalf of breakaway Bishop Nolbert Kunonga was from a church built by a congregation in Chitungwiza after they had been evicted from their original church home.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Latest News • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

You may find information about it here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Culture-Watch • Art • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have condemned the recent resurgence of police intimidation of Anglicans in Zimbabwe. Church goers, including clergy and local bishops, have been barred from entering their churches and threatened with arrest and violence.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Since the start of Advent the ZRP and Kunonga loyalists have disrupted services and locked out congregations across the diocese loyal to Dr Gandiya and the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA).

Dr Kunonga’s fresh campaign for control of the church in Harare is a “real test to the fragile government of National Unity,” the Rev Paul Gwese reported, “as it was at the intervention of the co-ministers of Home Affairs” that Anglicans were able to “use their churches without been disrupted by rogue police officers aligned to Kunonga.”

In an email sent to supporters dated Nov 29, Dr Gandiya recounted how the ZRP and Kunonga clergy broke up a service he was leading at St Clare’s Mission in Murewa.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Latest News • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Above all, the crisis in church and state has invited everyone to deepen their faith and to rediscover the prophetic symbolism of the broken bread and wine at the heart of the Christian shared meal, in the presence of the one whose sacrifice enacts and enables real justice to be both seen and done. That may sound like pious old hat in a west so over-secularised it can't see the cross for the trees. But in Zimbabwe, the shared reality of Jesus Christ is helping a whole nation to transcend tyranny. I found myself using as a prayer this short hymn, which a distinguished friend of mine, David Isitt, a former chaplain of King's College, Cambridge, and canon of Bristol, wrote to help people grasp this hope of transformation.

Lord, we receive /Your body and your blood /And claim communion /in one bond of love. In faith and hope /For all your world we plead, /Where hungry children /Cry for want of bread. Take in your hands /Once more, O Lord of Life, /This broken bread, /this cup of sacrifice. So shall the world /In mercy find relief; /Your children make their /Eucharist in peace.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Commentary • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Twenty-five years ago, people involved in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa would say wistfully: “Look at Zimbabwe. It's come through a bitter war of liberation without wrecking its social cohesion, it's developed a proper democratic culture and it's feeding itself.”

Granted, this was, even then, a slightly too rosy picture, but it wasn't nonsense. It represented a conviction that Zimbabwe was showing what was possible to its neighbours and indeed to the whole continent.

And this means that one of the worst of the countless casualties inflicted by Robert Mugabe on his wretched country is the destruction of many people's hopes, both in Zimbabwe itself and throughout Africa. The continent can't afford more failed states, mass hunger, contempt for the rule of law. And how much more painful it is when a country has been held up as a sign of promise.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Archbishop of York John Sentamu • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

It lasts a little over 25 minutes for those who wish to watch it.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Primates • Primates Meeting Alexandria Egypt, February 2009 • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

The Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Alexandria, Egypt on 3rd February, 2009, heard first hand reports of the situation in Zimbabwe, and note with horror the appalling difficulties of the people of this nation under the current regime.

We give thanks to God for the faithful witness of the Christians of Zimbabwe during this time of pain and suffering, especially those who are being denied access to their churches. We wish to assure them of our love, support and prayers as they face gross violation of human rights, hunger and loss of life as well as the scourge of a cholera epidemic, all due directly to the deteriorating socio-political and economic situation in Zimbabwe.

It is a matter of grave concern that there is an apparent breakdown of the rule of law within the country, and that the democratic process is being undermined, as shown in the flagrant disregard of the outcome of the democratic elections of March 31st 2008, so that Mr Robert Mugabe illegitimately holds on to power. Even the recent political situation of power sharing, brokered by SADC, may not be long lasting and simply further entrench Mr Mugabe’s regime. There appears to be a total disregard for life, consistently demonstrated by Mr Mugabe through systematic kidnap, torture and the killing of Zimbabwean people. The economy of Zimbabwe has collapsed, as evidenced by the use of foreign currencies in an independent state.

We therefore call upon President Robert Mugabe to respect the outcome of the elections of 2008 and to step down. We call for the implementation of the rule of law and the restoration of democratic processes.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Primates • Primates Meeting Alexandria Egypt, February 2009 • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

(ACNS) I am deeply pained by the terrible deterioration, disease and despair we are seeing in Zimbabwe.

I welcome signs that the South African government is alive to the implications of the total collapse of governance in Zimbabwe, of which we see new evidence daily.

But the silence of SADC leaders in general is disgraceful. Why throughout this crisis have we seen no evidence of public leadership from King Mswati III, chairperson of SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation?

He should not only be taking high-profile action on Zimbabwe, but needs to show that peace and democracy are possible in his own country.

Are SADC's leaders not moved by the terrible human suffering in Zimbabwe? Where is their ubuntu? Must people be massacred in Zimbabwe's streets before SADC will take firm, decisive and public action? Will they even then?

No, SADC has failed and is morally bankrupt. President Mugabe has demonstrated again and again that he will not share power. He is no longer fit to rule. I appeal to the chair of the African Union, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania to step in and declare publicly that Mugabe's rule is now illegitimate and that he must step aside, and for the AU to work speedily with the United Nations to set up a transitional government to take control.

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

Mugabe and his corrupt regime must go. Lord Acton said: 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' How can anyone share power in a thoroughly corrupt regime?

The sterility of the power-sharing agreement can be seen through this broken land where its people die from eating anthrax-infected cattle or from starvation. Where sewers are open and there is no running water in towns hospitals any longer. A place where there is no electricity to operate the most basic services. A land where cholera is claiming more lives by the day.

The time has come for the international community to recognise that the power-sharing deal signed in September is dead. The impasse within the South African-sponsored negotiations between the MDC and Zanu PF has been sustained by a Mugabe regime which is unwilling to give up power and refuses to recognise the rule of law.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • CoE Bishops • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Christian Aid partner organisations in Zimbabwe are responding to the cholera outbreak which is now affecting the entire country.

According to the World Health organisation more than 12,000 cases have been reported and 565 people have died.

In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, the Dabane Trust, a Christian Aid partner which specialises in drought recovery programmes, is providing an emergency response in both the city and in the outlying rural areas.

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More than 425 people have died since the outbreak in August and the number is expected to rise due to poor sanitation worsted by the onset of the rainy season.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has accused the government of under-reporting the deaths, saying that he believed more than 500 people had died and half a million were affected by cholera.

Zimbabwe's dilapidated infrastructure has made clean water a luxury, with many people relying on shallow wells and latrines in their yards.

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

A deep moral and spiritual crisis in Zimbabwe explains why the nation has become so corrupt, the Bishop of Harare, Dr Sebastian Bakare, told the Human Rights Conference in Lulea, Sweden, last week.

The social, economic, and po­litical challenges were just the tip of the iceberg, Dr Bakare said in a keynote address on the place of the Church. He lamented Zimbabwe’s reputation as “a nation that denies basic democratic principles and human rights”, and said that the majority of people were denied a meaningful life, lacking “every-thing except the air they breathe”. Those benefiting from political patronage had access to all that made life easier.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Latest News • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Dr Sentamu commented:

"This is a step in the right direction on a path that will hopefully lead to a full restoration of justice, democracy and a final end to the brutal regime of Robert Mugabe.

There will be understandable caution amongst the international community who will be concerned that any aid that follows today's announcement will find its way to the poor of Zimbabwe and not to those who have abused power over the past three decades.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • CoE Bishops • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

Concern over the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe: A Message from the Heads of Christian Denominations in Zimbabwe

As the shepherds of the people, we, Church leaders of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops'
Conference (ZCBC) and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), express our deep concern over the deteriorating political, security, economic and human rights situation in Zimbabwe following the March 29, 2008 national elections.

Before the elections, we issued statements urging Zimbabweans to conduct themselves peacefully and with tolerance towards those who held different views and political affiliation from one's own. After the elections, we issued statements commending Zimbabweans for the generally peaceful and politically mature manner in which they conducted themselves before, during and soon after the elections.

Reports that are coming through to us from our Churches and members throughout the country indicate that the peaceful environment has, regrettably, changed:

Given the political uncertainty, anxiety and frustration created by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC's) failure to release the results of the presidential poll 4 weeks after polling day:

Organized violence perpetrated against individuals, families and communities who are accused of campaigning or voting for the "wrong"
political party in the March 29, 2008 elections has been unleashed throughout the country, particularly in the countryside and in some high density urban areas. People are being abducted, tortured, humiliated by being asked to repeat slogans of the political party they are alleged not to support, ordered to attend mass meetings where they are told they voted for the "wrong" candidate and should never repeat it in the run-off election for President, and, in some cases, people are murdered.

The deterioration in the humanitarian situation is plummeting at a frightful pace. The cost of living has gone beyond the reach of the majority of our people. There is widespread famine in most parts of the countryside on account of poor harvests and delays in the process of importing maize from neighbouring countries. The shops are empty and basic foodstuffs are unavailable. Victims of organized torture who are ferried to hospital find little solace as the hospitals have no drugs or medicines to treat them.

As the shepherds of the people, we appeal:

1. To the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the
African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) to work towards arresting the deteriorating political and security situation in Zimbabwe. We warn the world that if nothing is done to help the people of Zimbabwe from their predicament, we shall soon be witnessing genocide similar to that experienced in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and other hot spots in Africa and elsewhere.

2. For the immediate end to political intimidation and retribution
arising from how people are perceived to have voted in the March 29,
2008 elections and arising from the desire to influence how people will vote in the anticipated run-off in the presidential poll. Youth militia and war veteran/military base camps that have been set up in different parts of the country should be closed as a step towards restoring the peace and freedom of people's movement that was witnessed before and during the March 29, 2008 elections.

3. To ZEC to release the true results of the presidential poll of
March 29, 2008 without further delay. The unprecedented delay in the publication of these results has caused anxiety, frustration, depression, suspicion and in some cases illness among people of Zimbabwe both at home and abroad. A pall of despondency hangs over the nation which finds itself in a crisis of expectations and governance. The nation is in a crisis, in limbo and no real business is taking place anywhere as the nation waits.

4. To, finally, the people of Zimbabwe themselves. You played your
part when you turned out to vote on 29 March 2008. We, again, commend you for exercising your democratic right peacefully. At this difficult time in our nation, we urge you to maintain and protect your dignity and your vote. We urge you to refuse to be used for a political party or other people's selfish end especially where it concerns violence against other people, including those who hold different views from your own. It was the Lord Jesus who said, "Whatever you do to one of these little ones, you do it unto me (Matthew 25:45).

We call on all Zimbabweans and on all friends of Zimbabwe to continue to pray for our beautiful nation. As the shepherds of God's flock, we shall continue to speak on behalf of Zimbabwe's suffering masses and we pray that God's will be done.

We remain God's humble servants:

The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference (ZCBC) The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC)

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

The United Nations Security Council must decide what to do about Robert Mugabe's theft of the Zimbabwe presidential election last week. It should begin with the international arms embargo called for Saturday by President George W. Bush, who announced that he will impose strong unilateral sanctions "against this illegitimate government of Zimbabwe and those who support it." The Security Council should also take up stronger economic sanctions along the lines of a U.S. draft resolution.

Strong international support for tougher sanctions on Mr. Mugabe and his followers could help motivate the African Union (AU) to move beyond its unsatisfactory call on Tuesday for a government of national unity.

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In broadcasts monitored in South Africa, [Morgan] Tsvangirai described the election campaign as a "violent, illegimate sham of an election process."

He appealed for the African Union and the United Nations to act to prevent "genocide" in the country.

Tsvangirai made the announcement in Harare Sunday after extensive debate within his Movement for Democratic Change. It came against the backdrop of rising violence and intimidation in the buildup to the election, scheduled to be held on June 27. Dozens of activists have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands forced from their homes.

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Stephen Crittenden: While we have you here, Canon Conger, as well as being one of the senior correspondents for the truly excellent Church of England Newspaper, you have your own very fine blog site on all matters Anglican, and it seems like a good opportunity to catch up on what's going on in North America in the lead-up to the Lambeth conference. It seems that things are being ramped up to quite a considerable degree in the lead-up to Lambeth. I notice that the church in California is preparing to conduct its first gay marriages, Bishop G. Robinson of New Hampshire who's the gay bishop at the centre of the whole crisis, has recently announced that he wants to marry. A number of dioceses in Canada seem to be moving in the direction of same sex blessings. It really does look like Lambeth could be a real showdown would you agree? Or is that not how you read the situation?

George Conger: Well the Archbishop of Canterbury is desperate that nothing happen at Lambeth. He wants to prevent any sort of showdown, and so he's devised a program that minimises any opportunity for collective mass action on particular issues. Using the tool of small groups and face-to-face discussion, a cynic would say that's the way to prevent real action from taking place. What you're seeing in the US are people as I say, establishing facts on the ground, going into the conference saying 'Well this is the situation where I am', and basically playing a political gamesmanship. 'This is how far we're going to go and get what we want, be it same sex blessings, the normalisation of gay clergy, or from the conservative side, we're going to have parallel churches overseen by African archbishops in the US', and basically saying, 'What are you going to do about it?' It's a game of brinksmanship right now in the run-up to Lambeth. And there could be an explosion. Neither side is backing away, and for conservatives this is an issue of salvation; that the liberals are teaching a false doctrine, a false Christ; for liberals, the conservatives are blind to the call of justice and the prophetic words of the gospel. There are two religions in one church. There's no sanction for bad behaviour in the Anglican communion.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Commentary • Lambeth 2008 • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe • Australia / NZ

Zimbabweans in rural areas "fear for their lives," a church official said after a report warned that Zimbabwe is headed toward civil war.

Postelection attacks have been "most severe" in rural areas, and many Zimbabweans in these areas may be too afraid to vote for the opposition in the runoff presidential election June 27, said Alouis Chaumba, head of Zimbabwe's Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.

However, many people in the country's towns and cities "are motivated to vote again to ensure an end to the present system," he told Catholic News Service in a May 26 telephone interview from the capital, Harare.

"Many communities feel that voting will be an act of solidarity with their friends who have been killed or wounded in the violence, so that they did not die in vain," Chaumba said.

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Filed under: * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic

The parishioners were lined up for Holy Communion on Sunday when the riot police stormed the stately St. Francis Anglican Church in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. Helmeted, black-booted officers banged on the pews with their batons as terrified members of the congregation stampeded for the doors, witnesses said.

A policeman swung his stick in vicious arcs, striking matrons, a girl and a grandmother who had bent over to pick up a Bible dropped in the melee. A lone housewife began singing from a hymn in Shona, "We will keep worshiping no matter the trials!" Hundreds of women, many dressed in the Anglican Mothers' Union uniform of black skirt, white shirt and blue headdress, lifted their voices to join hers.

Beneath their defiance, though, lay raw fear as the country's ruling party stepped up its campaign of intimidation ahead of a presidential runoff. In a conflict that has penetrated ever deeper into Zimbabwe's social fabric, the party has focused on a growing roster of groups that elude its direct control — a list that includes the Anglican diocese of Harare, as well as charitable and civic organizations, trade unions, teachers, independent election monitors and the political opposition.

Anglican leaders and parishioners said in interviews that the church was not concerned with politics and that it counted people from both the ruling party and the opposition in its congregations.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Latest News • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

We join in particular the call from the heads of Christian denominations in Zimbabwe and our brother Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, for the government of South Africa, the SADC region and the United Nations to act effectively. There must be an immediate arms embargo and any ships carrying arms must be recalled.

A year ago we committed ourselves, with the Anglican Archbishop of the province, to work with the bishops of Zimbabwe to support those who spoke on behalf of the poor and marginalised in that country and to denounce those that would not leave ministers of the gospel free to serve them. As we have just heard one bishop say, "It is Zimbabweans who are suffering at the hands of Zimbabweans. The political parties must protect the people who are voting."

The current climate of political intimidation, violence, vote rigging and delay has left the presidential election process without credibility. Now the people of Zimbabwe are left even more vulnerable to conflict heaped upon poverty and the threat of national disintegration. It is therefore crucial that the international community act in support of regional efforts to bring a mediated settlement to this political crisis so that the social and economic and spiritual crisis of the country can be addressed. We commend the efforts of governments and agencies actively seeking to end the crisis and pray that those whose efforts have seemed lacklustre to renew their commitment as fellow Christians, Africans and members of the human family and international community.

Churches across England have been praying for Zimbabwe before, during and after the polls. Agencies and dioceses from the UK have worked ably to support partners and parishes. We join with those now calling for an international day of prayer for Zimbabwe this Sunday (April 28) as part of a search for increased solidarity and justice for the people of Zimbabwe at home and in the UK. Ecumenically, and as part of a broad based coalition, we must work to build a civil society movement that both creates political will and gives voice to those who demand an end to the mayhem that grows out of injustice, poverty, exclusion and violence.

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • * International News & Commentary • Africa • Zimbabwe

There is growing regional and international pressure for an arms embargo to be placed on Zimbabwe, until a legitimate government is in place. This is mainly because of the Chinese arms ship that was turned away from South Africa last week.

A High Court order sought by pressure groups in Durban barred its transit overland to Zimbabwe, while trade unions in the region urged their members to refuse to unload it. Campaigners are arguing that presidential election results have still not been announced 25 days after the elections and as such any arms shipments are likely to be used for internal repression.

On Wednesday the new Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, called on the United Nations Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe.

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

The careers of two of Africa's most prominent politicians -- Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela -- have striking similarities. Both were born in an era when white power prevailed throughout Africa, Mandela in 1918, Mugabe in 1924. Both were products of the Christian mission school system. Both attended the same university, Fort Hare in South Africa. Both emerged as members of the small African professional elite, Mandela a lawyer, Mugabe a teacher. Both were drawn into the struggle against white minority rule, Mandela in South Africa, Mugabe in neighboring Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Both advocated violence to bring down white-run regimes. Both endured long terms of imprisonment, Mandela, 27 years, Mugabe, 11. Both suffered the anguish of losing a son while in prison, and both were refused permission to attend the funeral.

But whereas Mandela used his prison years to open a dialogue with South Africa's white rulers in order to defeat apartheid, Mugabe emerged from prison bent on revolution, determined to overthrow white society by force. Military victory, he said, would be the "ultimate joy."

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