On the day that US Episcopalians published a guide on liturgical and ceremonial resources for clergy and same-sex couples, half way around the world, the archbishop of Uganda rallied hundreds of African bishops to "shake off their fears, shame and superficial dependency and re-evangelise the 'ailing' churches of the west," reported The Guardian of the UK.
"The potentials represented today in this conference must be free to go to Europe and America with 'fresh wine' from 'new wine skins' to the mother church desperate for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I say 'the Church in Africa' must rise up. Shake off your fears, shame and superficial dependency," conference host and Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi told the audience.
Archbishop of Uganda Henry Orombi (left) and
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
Andrew Brown of the The Guardian noted the archbishop's call to be a straightforward defiance of the policy of Anglican Communion against "border crossing": the practice of African churches setting up branches in North America to try and claim the churches, the congregations, and a share of the money of the liberal Anglicans there. Brown wrote: "But it's worth noting that he now wants to move into Europe as well. To say this to the face of the Archbishop of Canterbury is not parking a tank on Rowan's lawn; it is parking one on his foot."
Meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, from 23 to 29 August 2010, conservative bishops in Africa issued a statement on Sunday denouncing homosexuality and criticising Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, for failing to punish Anglican churches and priests that welcome gays and lesbians.
Reverend Ian Ernest of Mauritius, the head of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa, told the Daily Nation: "It is for us (Africans) to redress the situation," adding that he has severed all ties to the Episcopalian churches in Canada and the US that have allowed gays to enter the clergy.
"Homosexuality is incompatible with the word of God," Orombi was quoted as saying in a AFP report.
"It is good Archbishop Rowan is here. We are going to express to him where we stand," he added.
"We have told him and he understood us, that (there's) no more diplomacy on that matter, homosexuality. We made our minds very clear and he is going back knowing there is no gray area on our part," Orombi was quoted by CNN’s Belief blog.
Head of the Anglican church worldwide, Williams is struggling to keep the communion together amid disagreements over the ordination of female bishops in Britain, and of openly gay bishops in the United States.
“Homosexuality is evil, abnormal and unnatural as per the Bible. It is a culturally unacceptable practice. Although there is a lot of pressure, we cannot turn our hands to support it,” Orombi was quoted as saying in The Daily Monitor.
The report further added that the anti-gay comments from the bishops would likely provide a “boost to proponents of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (2009), before the Ugandan Parliament which proposes life imprisonment for acts of homosexuality and introduces ‘aggravated homosexuality’ as a serious crime” in which offenders must face the death penalty.
The conference which was jointly organised by the Church of Uganda and the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) had reportedly attracted some 400 bishops from across the African continent as well as the Indian Ocean and the Diocese of Egypt. Other attendees included Archbishop John Chew of Singapore and Southeast Asia (Kuching, Sabah and West Malaysia) who is also the Chairman of the Global South, and Bishop Robert Duncan who leads the Anglican Church in North America, a group that opposes the ordination of gay priests. The group also does not recognise Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori – the first woman to be elected to head the US Episcopal Church, the US branch of the Anglican church.
Meanwhile, gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has called on the Archbishop of Canterbury to put gay and lesbian human rights before the unity of the world-wide Anglican Church at the annual Christian Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham last weekend.
“Archbishop Rowan Williams and the Anglican Church have a lot to answer for, because they have put church unity before human rights,” Tatchell told the crowd.
While he chided other religious leaders who were effectively condoning homophobia by being silent on the African issue, he praised two senior African clerics for their supportive and outspoken stand – former Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and retired Ugandan Bishop Christoper Senjyonjo. As a result of his gay-affirmative stance and support for LGBT rights in Uganda, Senyonjo, 78, was stripped of his retirement pension by the Church of Uganda.
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This is not religion. It’s mental illness.
Uganda has more pressing needs and its people are suffering. Yet these bunch of clowns have time to focus on killing gay people in baboon land?
Religion, no matter what shape or colour is all about control ( and money) wrapped up in the cotton wool of salvation ( from what??)
Its also a red herring to take your mind of the real issues... just look at the Malays
Whatever has happened to common sense??
Well, if the good bishop takes everything in the Bible literally, then africans will still be slaves, menstruating women are filthy in the sight of God, lepers and the blind are being punished for their 'sins'... and the fossils of dinosaurs are actually just bones of dead cows designed to look like dinosaurs and planted in depths of the earth by conspiring Darwinians determined to disprove Creation.
These so called bishops are no better off than those who call for Jihad so as to enter heaven to screw awaiting virgins....
They say they do not want that,simple,if we care about the gay and lesbian there,then let go take them away, one cannot for one to do or take what he or she does not want.so fridae stop this issue on africa.
Have the white not cause africa enough, the white sold them curruption, drugs and HIV and aids, now they suffer of the effect of all there, do we still want them to suffer more.
Why is britain telling urganda that is they pass their law on gay britain will stop aids to them,come on what is the meaning of that, is the human right, these people of africa say they do not want gay and lesbian, simple then please leave them alone, they are suffering from the AIDS that the white man developed to the drugs from the white man civilization and curruption already.please. Leave africa alone if africa does not want homosexuality.
I want a new Anti-Homosexuality Act to include stoning to death for the following and many more like what it says in the Bible!!:...
Disobedience to Parents...
Witchcraft...( a live issue in Uganda)...
Advocating another religion (or atheism)...
Worshiping other gods...
Having sex with a woman during her period...
Working, cooking or lighting a fire on a Saturday...
A woman losing her virginity...Adultery...
Blasphemy...
and of course Abominations, which include:
" tarot readings, glancing at your horoscope, trimming one's beard, and getting a tattoo, even if it says, "Mom" (Lev 19:26-28). Haughty eyes (Prov 6:17) and telling lies (Prov 6:17, 12:22) are big abominations. Being untruthful also includes false weights and measures (Prov 11:1), or any other dishonesty in business. "Everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God" (Prov 11:16).
What do abominators have for dinner? Rare steaks off the grill (Lev 17:10), Lobster Newburg at the Krebs and crab cakes in Baltimore (Lev 11:10), a rack of ribs at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (Lev 11:7).
"But abominations are not just about bodily functions. Charging or paying interest are abominations. Bankers and anyone with a mortgage, car loan or credit card debt will be unavailable to throw the first stone, regardless of the interest rate (Psalm 15:1-5, Jeremiah 15:10).
Graven images of other gods are an abomination (Deut 7:25). ..My personal favorite abomination is wearing blended fabrics. Deuteronomy 22:11 forbids wearing a material made of wool and linen, but Leviticus 19:19 says it's an abomination to wear any blended material, period. Hence a woman in a man's buttondown can be doubly abominable if it's a no-iron, easy care blend of cotton and polyester.
Of course, when confronted with such information, there are people who will tell you that the blended fabrics abomination is really just a symbolic warning that Jews should not mix with other cultures, and that the dietary laws were set aside for Gentiles at the Council of Jerusalem, and that these "other abominations" were about self-preservation, hygiene and just for Orthodox Jews anyway. In short, when something they do is shown to be an abomination, many abominators become instant anthropologists, Biblical scholars and historians as well.
So why do active abominators continue to refer to the Bible when condemning homosexuals? Are such men and women unaware of their own abominations detailed in the same scriptures? Or are they simply counting on their audience being unaware?" (http://home.earthlink.net/~ggghostie/abominations.html)...
So Honorable Bahati and Orombi..add all these to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill also and give us a truly Godly Uganda and World!!
And ......if it doesn't exist in Africa, why is this hate filled Bishop making such a song and dance about something that isn't there?
All the whites are effectively asking is that your bishop and those like him, begin to learn something of the teachings of Christ and adopt his compassion and love....is that really so bad??? They have no right to make judgements and condemn something they don't understand and know nothing about!
As for whites "selling Africa HIV and AIDS", you'd better get your facts right before making such accusations.....I suggest you look up the history of the disease ...see http://fohn.net/history-of-aids/!!! You will find it originated in ...yes Africa!!!
Africa already summer from what we took their,let's leave them.and we should stop forcing them.
those people on this site with faceless or false profiles especially those who chastise or attempt to insult others for their opinions or view points make no note worthy contribution, they have no contributing or insightful value their opinions are null and voided by their dishonesty or lack of honest visibility, whether they be a linguistically impoverished homophobe pretending to be an Englishman or the socially redundant one dimensional oh so last century swimming in victim hood queering lobbyist, you know who you are...your such a genius..lol
Ugandan Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi and many thousands of 'righteous' Christians speak with the same energy of the Pharisees that illustrate many gospel narratives...
The example of Christ - is so very different.... an openness and an embrace of ALL. Homosexuality, is as much a part of the created order as Hetrosexuality... and both can provide wonderful expressions of love - BOTH can demonstrate the Divine activity...
Forgive those who cannot see beyond their own self-righteousness.
Rev'd Peter H
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