Anglican Delegation Will Visit Namibia Before Elections
Episcopal News Service. August 18, 1989 [89137]
NEW YORK (DPS, Aug. 18) -- As the Namibian people prepare to create a new nation through elections in November, representatives of the Anglican Communion will be present on a pastoral visit to participate in monitoring the election process.
The delegation, appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the request of the primates during their spring meeting in Cyprus, will be led by Archbishop Edward Scott, former Primate of the Anglican Church in Canada. The primates said in a statement at Cyprus that they were "distressed by the heavy loss of life that took place in the initial stages" of implementing U.N. resolution 435, the basis of independence for Namibia. They said the "massive presence of the South African Defence Force in northern Namibia has posed a serious obstacle to the peace process."
The Council of Churches in Namibia asked for the pastoral visit as a concrete expression of support and concern at this critical moment in the formation of a new nation from the last remaining colony on the continent of Africa, administered by South Africa since World War I.
Other members of the delegation, which will be in Namibia September 9-22, are: Bishop Charles Albertyn of the Diocese of Cape Town, Province of Southern Africa; Mr. H.K. Allen, lay member of the Episcopal Church in the USA; Bishop Michael Challen of Perth, Australia; Mrs. Justice Mavis Gibson, chancellor of the Anglican Province of Central Africa and a high court judge in Zimbabwe; Ms. Pamela Gruber, moderator of the Commission on Inter-Church Aid Refugee and World Service of the World Council of Churches; and Mrs. Najat Kafity of the Young Women's Christian Association.
An Anglican delegation visited Namibia in 1983 seeking a comprehensive understanding of the witness and mission of the Christian Church in Namibia. The delegation visited the war zone in the north and spoke with a wide range of Lutheran, Roman Catholic and Anglican church people, plus government and community leaders. At the end of the six-day visit the delegation met with church leaders and the ambassadors of Canada, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. The report of their visit was submitted to the Archbishop of Canterbury for consideration by the primates.