Williams, Kearon condemn state disruption of Zimbabwe's Anglican church services
Episcopal News Service. January 14, 2008 [011408-02]
Matthew Davies
Two of the Anglican Communion's pivotal leaders have expressed their outrage and concern following reports that church services in Harare, Zimbabwe have been disrupted by state officials.
A January 14 statement from Lambeth Palace said that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams "condemns unequivocally the use of state machinery to intimidate opponents of the deposed bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga."
Williams is appalled by the recent reports of Zimbabwean police "forcibly stopping Sunday services in several churches in Harare where clergy have publicly and bravely refused to acknowledge Kunonga's Episcopal authority."
The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, Anglican Communion secretary general, described the situation January 14 as "a matter of grave concern to all in the Anglican Communion."
Kunonga, one of the small number of bishops Williams had not invited to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, has been a supporter of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe who has been accused of allowing the country to slide into ruin during his 27-year rule.
Although Kunonga was deposed last year, the former Harare bishop has reportedly resorted to forgery in an attempt to discredit and stop the appointment of Sebastian Bakare as the diocese's interim bishop, according to the U.K.-based Church Times newspaper.
Williams, according to the January 14 statement, "stands in solidarity with the Province of Central Africa and the other loyal Zimbabwean bishops" in supporting Bakare.
Kearon assured Bakare of "our prayerful support in this difficult situation, and it is my firm hope that the Province of Central Africa will be enabled to find a way forward at this anxious time."
The Anglican Diocese of Harare is part of the Church of the Province of Central Africa, which includes 15 dioceses in Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Kunonga was replaced as Anglican bishop of Harare in December 2007 after illegally separating from the Province of Central Africa and installing himself as archbishop of Zimbabwe. "Kunonga's position has become increasingly untenable within the Anglican Church over the last year, as he has consistently refused to maintain appropriate levels of independence from the Zimbabwean Government," the Lambeth Palace release said.
Kunonga's close ties with Mugabe, Kearon said, are "of deep concern to many and the resort to violent disruption has been widely deplored."
"His unilateral actions with respect to the Diocese of Harare and his own status within the Province of Central Africa are, to say the least, questionable and have brought embarrassment to many," Kearon added. "Above all, I am concerned for the well-being of faithful Anglicans who seek to practice their faith in peace and free from violence."