International Briefing
Episcopal News Service. November 4, 2005 [110405-3-A]
* ANGLICAN COMMUNION: Canon Philip Groves named 'Listening Process' facilitator
* ANGLICAN COMMUNION: Panel of Reference is focus of Archbishop Carnley interview
* ENGLAND: Archbishop Rowan Williams meets with Bishop Gene Robinson
* ENGLAND: Victims of London bombings remembered at St. Paul's Cathedral service
* KOREA: Francis Park installed as new bishop of Seoul
* MALAWI: Episcopal Relief and Development assists people after prolonged drought
* TANZANIA: African Anglican Women discuss empowerment and survival
* UGANDA: Bishop pleads with agencies to resume operations
ANGLICAN COMMUNION: Canon Philip Groves named 'Listening Process' facilitator
[ENS, Source: Anglican Communion News Service] The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, has appointed the Rev. Canon Philip Groves as the facilitator of the "Listening Process" for the Communion.
The task, as defined by the 1998 Lambeth Conference, is setting up "a means of monitoring the work done on the subject of human sexuality in the Communion."
Groves is currently Team Vicar in Melton Mowbray, a Trustee of the Church Mission Society, a Council Member at St John's College, Nottingham and a Canon of All Saints Cathedral, Mpwapwa, Tanzania.
The Primates Meeting at Dromantine (Ireland) last February requested "the Anglican Consultative Council in June 2005 to take positive steps to initiate the listening and study process which has been the subject of resolutions not only at the Lambeth Conference in 1998, but in earlier Conferences as well" (paragraph 17 - http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/39/00/acns3948.cfm ).
In a letter to the Primates of the Anglican Communion, Kearon said, "I am pleased that this Listening Process, which has been requested on many occasions, can now begin in earnest. Canon Groves has wide experience and excellent gifts to take this process forward. I am sure he will wish to contact each of you shortly."
Groves will begin work shortly and will take up the post full time from January 1, 2006, as part of the Anglican Communion Office in Westbourne Park, London.
ANGLICAN COMMUNION: Panel of Reference is focus of Archbishop Carnley interview
[ENS, Source: Anglican Communion News Service] Earlier this year, the Archbishop of Canterbury appointed Archbishop Peter Carnley of Australia as the chairman of a Panel of Reference, established in response to the request of the Primates at their meeting in Dromantine in February. During an interview with ACNS, Carnley offered an update of the Panel's work.
Full interview: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/40/50/acns4065.cfm
ENGLAND: Archbishop Rowan Williams meets with Bishop Gene Robinson
[ENS, Source: Lambeth Palace] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, held a meeting in London November 3 with Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, Lambeth Palace has reported.
In a news release, Lambeth said: "The private meeting, described as 'friendly but candid,' involved the two discussing the range of problems that have arisen following Robinson's consecration. The meeting ended with prayer." The release made no comment on outcomes of Robinson's election which might be deemed positive.
The encounter came as part of the Archbishop's commitment to listening to the voices of all concerned in the current challenges facing the Anglican Communion, the release said.
ENGLAND: Victims of London bombings remembered at St. Paul's Cathedral service
[ENS, Source: Anglican Communion News Service] A memorial service for the victims of the London bombings was held November 1 at St Paul's Cathedral in London. The service was attended by relatives who lost loved ones, survivors and members of the emergency services, who joined a 2,300 congregation. The July 7 terror attacks killed 52 people, as well as the four suicide bombers, and injured around 700 more. As well as remembering the victims, the service recognized the impact of the bombings on the capital. The Archbishop of Canterbury delivered the sermon.
The full text can be found online at: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/40/50/acns4064.cfm
KOREA: Francis Park installed as new bishop of Seoul
[ENS] The Diocese of Seoul on November 1 installed Bishop-elect Francis Park as its new diocesan. Park's ministry has emphasized Christian formation and education. Seoul is one of three dioceses that comprise the Anglican Church in Korea, which in 1993 became one of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion. Both the diocese and the national church are based at Korea's landmark Anglican Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Nicholas. The cathedral is known for longstanding leadership in the move for democratization and extensive outreach to the needy. The Seoul diocese has a companion relationship with the Tokyo diocese of Japan's Nippon Sei Ko Kai. Both are engaged in initiatives for reconciliation between the people of Korea and Japan.
MALAWI: Episcopal Relief and Development assists people after prolonged drought
[ENS, Source: ERD] Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) is providing emergency food assistance to people in Malawi after an ongoing drought. The country has been at the epicenter of Africa's food crisis over the past five months. Nearly four million people in Malawi are at risk of starvation. An ongoing food crisis is affecting almost 12 million people in southern Africa. Most Malawians rely on farming for their food and income and sporadic rains have resulted in little to no harvests.
"This is a very dire situation that we are currently facing here in Malawi," said Bishop Christopher Boyle of Northern Malawi.
In the Diocese of Northern Malawi, the worst affected area is in a remote part of southern Mzimba District in the villages of Mfula, Mgoza, and Kanjuchi where more than 800 families have been affected by the crisis. Other affected areas include Lupembe, South Karonga, Rumphi and Bolero, Usisya, Chitipa, and Likoma and Chizumulu.
ERD is supplying emergency assistance to the Diocese of Northern Malawi for food such as maize and seeds for the next planting season. The diocese expects to reach at least 1,600 of the 3,000 families in affected areas. ERD's partnership with the diocese will also train 25 farmers in eight communities on soil and water conservation and improving soil fertility.
In the Diocese of Southern Malawi, ERD is helping people in Lower Shire (Chikawawa and Nsanje), Mulanje, Phalombe, and Chiradzulu. distribute seeds, maize, and fertilizer so that planting can begin in the next three weeks."
Full story: http://www.er-d.org/newsroom_69191_ENG_HTM.htm
TANZANIA: African Anglican Women discuss empowerment and survival
[ENS, Source: Anglican Communion News Service] Women leaders from the 12 Anglican provinces in Africa gathered in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to discuss issues relating to their empowerment and survival. Topics concerning women's role in the church, in elected offices, in curbing violence, adequate health care, education, HIV/AIDS, marital rape, poverty, leadership, new ways of studying Biblical texts and others were discussed.
Held at the Belinda Resort Hotel, the consultation took place from October 24-28. With the joyful singing of a local youth choir, a Eucharist heralded the opening of the historic event. The speaker was the Rt. Rev. Dr. Philip Baji, dean of the Anglican Church of Tanzania. He brought greetings on behalf of the Most Rev. Donald Mtetemela, who was attending the primate's gathering in Egypt. Baji noted that "Women if empowered, can make a difference in the lives of those in need."
This was a meeting of the African region the of the International Anglican Women's Network (IAWN). Priscilla Julie is the region's link coordinator, as well as a key organizer of the meeting. The Empowering African Anglican Women consultation was the brainchild of Jolly Babirukamu, a teacher and counselor from Uganda, and the IAWN representative to the Anglican Consultative Council. IAWN is a network of the Anglican Communion which enables women's concerns to be voiced in the councils of the church.
Full report by Yvonne O'Neal: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/40/50/acns4062.cfm
UGANDA: Bishop pleads with agencies to resume operations
By Fredrick Nzwili
[ENS, Source: Ecumenical News International] Northern Uganda Anglican Bishop Nelson Onono-Onweng has appealed to aid agencies to resume the services they suspended after the killing of two humanitarian workers by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), a brutal rebel movement.
"We understand the position of the agencies," Onono-Onweng told Ecumenical News International from Gulu following the killing of the two workers on October 27. "To lose a person is a painful experience, but we want to appeal to them to resume their operations," he said, citing the severe impact on local people that the departure of the aid agencies would have.
Onono-Onweng said he would be talking to the agencies to try to persuade them to resume their services and he would also try to encourage the authorities to step-up security. "I also urge the people to be more careful and obey the warnings of the security teams," he said.
Agencies such as Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Netherlands) and Christian Children's Fund (CCF) suspended their operations in northern Uganda after workers from the Roman Catholic NGO, Caritas, and the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development were killed in two different towns in northern Uganda.
On October 26, two workers from the Christian Children's Fund had been wounded in another attack in Lira, while providing health assistance to local residents.
"It is tragic when aid workers, who give of themselves to help others in need, are injured, kidnapped or even killed. We hope governments around the world will take action to stop these kinds of tragedies," noted CCF President John F. Schultz on the agency's Web site.
Jan Egeland, the U.N. emergency relief coordinator, condemned the attacks saying: "The people of northern Uganda are heavily dependent on humanitarian aid and access to them is already precarious. These attacks threaten the provision of life-saving assistance to nearly 1.7 million people."
The attacks follow the issuing by the International Criminal Court of arrest warrants on five LRA leaders during October. News reports have also quoted Oxfam's Uganda country director, Emma Naylor, saying the issuing of the warrants had triggered some fear among residents of northern Uganda about the consequences.
[The Lord's Resistance Army is a paramilitary group operating mainly in northern Uganda, engaged in armed rebellion against the Ugandan government since 1987.]