26/08/2008

Change of policy in Zimbabwe?

From Religious Intelligence

The Vice President of Zimbabwe has called upon clergy loyal to the former bishop of Harare, Dr Nolbert Kunonga (pictured) to reconcile with the Anglican Communion.

Speaking at a memorial service for his late son on Aug 6, Joseph Msika chastised two Anglican clergy officiating at the service, members of the faction backing ousted bishop Dr Nolbert Kunonga, for the divisions within the diocese.

“I am a true Anglican and at one time the church came and said we want you to be a deacon but God called me to be a politician,” he said.v "So when they quarrel, I get worried,” Msika said, according to an account printed in the government-backed Harare Sunday Mail.

“They should sit down as priests and solve their differences. I speak on behalf of the people," the vice-president said.

In 2005 Dr Kunonga licenced Msika to officiate as a lay reader in the diocese. Other members of the government and the country’ s secret police, the CIO, have been ordained as clergy by Dr Kunonga for his breakaway Anglican Church of Zimbabwe.

The vice-president’s call for dialogue, analysts note, may signal a lessening of support for Dr Kunonga and presage an opening by moderates within the government towards civil society leaders.

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It's just a straw in the wind, but it's one worth watching. Without government backing Konunga is no more than straw.

1 comment:

  1. This could be a sign of things to come. Today's MDC opposition jeering of Mugabe in parliament is unprecedented.

    If change does come, it'll come quickly and affect the Church too.

    ReplyDelete