Focus on real issues, says Anglican bound for Zimbabwe 'hot seat'
Anglican Media Melbourne, Wednesday, 13 May 2009
By Trevor Grundy
The Rev. Chad Nicholas Gandiya believes he might acquire a "crown of thorns" when he is confirmed as the new Bishop of Harare by the Church of the Province of Central Africa next month.
Yet he believes that if all Anglicans pray for him he can succeed.
As he prepared to leave for his new position, Canon Gandiya made an impassioned plea for Anglicans to concentrate on "the real issues" facing Africa, which he said is dogged by hunger, ignorance, corruption, famine and the spread of diseases such as HIV and AIDS and malaria.
"We have many more problems than the well-publicised problem of rights for gay men and lesbians," Ganiday said in an interview with Ecumenical News International.
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"Because of our colossal social and economic problems, the Archbishop of Canterbury and York [the two best known and most senior leaders of the Church of England] are helping us to establish new feeding programmes throughout Zimbabwe.
"We Anglicans want to be able to help hundreds of thousands of people at the start of the next rainy season [October and November] by providing seeds and by training young farmers. My message is going to be: 'Let's all concentrate on the real issues facing Africa'."
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Just the kind of bland thing you have to say before you arrive in post and find out just how different it is from the advert. He'll do well.
Gandiya is batting well down in the Australian news.
ReplyDeleteHowever, remember he was after all forced out to the candidacy in Harare when Nolbert Kunonga was 'elected' in 2001. The then Archbishop Bernard Malango accused him of being pro homosexual because he had been working with the Episcopal Church in the States. Now Gandiya is saying the right things i.e. that poverty, AIDS etc are his priorities.
The quicker the Africans can shake off the incubus of the schismatic American conservatives and the hubris of sexuality the better and this is the way to do it.
Hopefully Gandiya's election also signals a final end to Malangos influence. Neverthe less, it'll be interesting to see how much and whether he (Gandiya) slips into the Dean's camp - Albert Chama of Zambia - whose track record is what might be termed Malangoite.
It's a tangled web over there in Central Africa. The best thing that USPG can give Gandiya as a farewell present is a well polished rear view mirror.