Namibian Seminary Firebombed June 18
Episcopal News Service. July 9, 1981 [81197]
LONDON -- Leaders of three Church councils have denounced an attack on an Anglican seminary compound in northern Namibia as "an affront not only to the whole Christian community but to all the people of Namibia."
The statement was issued by Bishop John Howe, secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, based here; Philip Potter, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Geneva; and Carl H. Mau, Jr., general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva.
Anglican Bishop James H. Kauluma of Namibia reported explosives and flammable liquid were used to destroy a chapel, classrooms, a student dormitory, the principal's apartment, the library and office of St. Mary's Mission Diocesan Seminary and a building owned by the Mother's Union.
The attack came in the early morning hours of June 18. No one was injured in the attack. The seminary has been inactive because of the war in Namibia.
The three Church leaders' statement said, "We give thanks for the forgiving spirit found in the people and community of St. Mary's parish. They stand firm in faith and love in spite of the violent destruction of church property."
The printing press of the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church in Namibia has been destroyed twice by unknown attackers, in 1973 and again last November.
"It is clear that whoever did the destruction," Kauluma said, "for whatever reasons and motives, belongs to the anti-church forces in our country who can only act against church property and institutions under cover of the night curfew."