I've put on the MCU website a briefing paper on the Covenant for tomorrow's General Synod debate.
It assumes readers have GS 1716, the official briefing paper, available here via Thainking Anglicans.
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10/02/2009
Whoops
I've revamped the formatting of 'Centralise power and enforce the rules' to remove the footnote links and also to make it more readable. And A quick primer on power and the Church of England.
As Dave points out I'd made the same error as entertained me when I found it in Archbishop Akionla's sermon. The perils of relying on cut and paste without checking!
Apologies to all, and thanks to Dave.
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As Dave points out I'd made the same error as entertained me when I found it in Archbishop Akionla's sermon. The perils of relying on cut and paste without checking!
Apologies to all, and thanks to Dave.
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Primates' Meeting: the view from Scotland
The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church has also posted his comments here.
They don't say a lot. But he does indicate the influence of the Windsor Continuation Group in setting the agenda for the development of the Communion:
The Primates supported the recommendations made to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the Windsor Continuation Group to take action to bring the Communion to a clearer understanding of how it might, as a whole, focus more on mission in the world as we live in it today.
And this is the gloss on the command and centralisation ecclesiology:
The Communion is moving towards a new appreciation of how our bonds create opportunity for deep sharing and support and which sometimes also call us to order our life with ‘generous restraint’ in order to sustain Communion.
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Akinola on the Primates' Meeting
Archbishop Peter J. Akinola, The Primate of Nigeria
Archbishop Akinola has posted a sermon (I think that's the most accurate term) on the recent Primates' Meeting on the Church of Nigeria website.
It doesn't say much directly but it's tone is of warning, threat and challenge from the certainty of his knowledge of the will of God. He selects biblical motifs and passages which cast him in the role of Old Testament prophet (the only NT passage is from Revalation).
His enemies are syncretism, capitulation to a 'sick and spiritually bankrupt world', the ease of living 'lives with no transforming power', becoming 'withering grass that is simply blown out by the devastating wind of the age.'
We are in danger:
in danger of forgetting what we have received and heard and replacing it with the seemingly attractive gods and goddesses of our age. We are in danger of becoming the ‘living dead’ by giving the outward appearance of life but in reality we are no more than empty and ineffective vessels. In parts of our Communion some have merged the historical gospel message of Jesus the Christ with seductive ancient heresies and revisionist agendas, which have resulted in an adulterated and dangerous distortion of the gospel. The call to obedience and repentance is one that we must declare but we refuse and instead we replace it with a polite invitation to empty tolerance and endless conversation. Sometimes we think that we can replace the need for repentance with activities, programmes, endless meetings, conventions and communiqués --- we are wrong!His answer:
'Obedience' and 'obey' were used 6 times in this faily short passage. Obedience to God, of course - but who shall mediate God's word to us?“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent!”
I found it symbolic that when I clicked a footnote link, expecting to find the bible reference, I was asked to login - username and password required.
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09/02/2009
The perils of legalism
It seems that the Diocese of Toronto has
agreed to allow pastoral services of prayer and blessing for same-sex couples, but will not authorize sacramental rites for the blessing of same-sex unions or gay marriages.
George Conger has the story here (see my earlier post). Ephraim Radner, who lives in Toronto, is not pleased.
“It is hard to escape the fact that the process you have now set in motion — one that involves public proposals, discussions, synodical actions, and all dealing with a way of ordering a particular ‘pastoral response’ that involves episcopal oversight and particular permissions, following directives that involve the nature of prayers – cannot avoid being seen as one of ecclesial ‘authorization’ of liturgical matters surrounding same-sex unions,” he said.
Dr Radner, one of the leaders of the Anglican Communion Institute, and a member of Anglican Covenant Design Group, said the new policy ran contrary to the wider mind of the Communion. While the bishops may have believed they were only giving a structure to a an arrangement for “private prayers”, the “very process you are following” calls for “formal, episcopal, diocesan, public, liturgical prayers of blessing.”
It would not be “very difficult indeed to make the case and persuade others” that what Toronto had now done violated the Lambeth Conference moratorium and [had] was in opposition to the “concerns of many Anglicans around the world.”
(The last paragraph is gobbledegook in the original, of course. Presumed corrections in red.)
If you - or the Covenant, or the common canon law project - take a legalistic approach to matters of conflict and division then hair splitting is precisely what you will get. There are no rules that cannot be sliced up or that need no further interpretation.
If the rule says you may not authorize Rites of Blessing for Same Sex unions you can expect someone to challenge the defintion of each term: this is a political game, not a juridical one. It will eventually work its way out according to majority opinion and not through legal judgements. Thus Bishop Johnson's 'year-long consultation' is not merely cover for his actions but an alternative process to that of the father-knows-best conservatives.
And that immediately hits another core area of dispute: can the church move with the general opinion of its people? Or must the church conform to the specific opinions of its leaders? It is, of course, a false choice. Both leadership and the assent of the led are necessary in the faithful management of change and continuity.
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Bakare to be forced out?
From Anglican Information
The Central African Provincial Synod undertakes Nolbert Kunonga’s work for him?
The synod of the Diocese of Harare, Zimbabwe has petitioned that Bishop Sebastian Bakare be allowed to stay in his caretaker role for a further year. This is to continue his courageous work in standing up to self-proclaimed ‘Archbishop’ Nolbert Kunonga and his Mugabe-backed violent regime.
However, the Provincial Synod has vetoed the request and insisted on new elections for a bishop for Harare in June this year.
This veto has emerged under the oversight of acting Dean of the Province, Albert Chama of Northern Zambia. There is a history stretching back to the now retired former Archbishop Bernard Malango (who was very close to Nolbert Kunonga) of pressure on Bakare due to complicated internal differences associated with the struggles in the wider Anglican Communion. In short it looks like Sebastian Bakare is being pushed out.
Given the nature of the nominating process in Harare there is a now distinct danger that Nolbert Kunonga could promote a candidate of his choice. His own election (overseen by Bernard Malango) was shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Thanks to the Provincial Synod decision, Nolbert Kunonga may yet achieve his avowed ambition to oust his old enemy Sebastian Bakare and replace him with a ‘more suitable’ candidate.
Such a tangled web of interconnected ecclesiastical and political machination is unfortunately characteristic of the Central African Province still under the oversight of Bishop Albert Chama.
Interpersonal episcopal power struggles, that are a mystery to outside observers, continue to defy logic in this troubled Province.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION reports that in Upper Shire Diocese in Malawi, petitions (including one signed by 24 parishioners from his own church) have been lodged against thirty-year-old Brighton Malasa for ‘drunkenness, embezzlement and adultery’.
At the end of last year Malasa was the surprise choice of the Provincial bishops as new bishop of Upper Shire, despite stiff resistance from priests and people and the fact that he is exceptionally young and inexperienced. The recent Anglican Primates Statement covered by us and many other webcasts, which was critical of Kunonga and the Mugabe regime, is already looking a little jaded and pointless.
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The Central African Provincial Synod undertakes Nolbert Kunonga’s work for him?
The synod of the Diocese of Harare, Zimbabwe has petitioned that Bishop Sebastian Bakare be allowed to stay in his caretaker role for a further year. This is to continue his courageous work in standing up to self-proclaimed ‘Archbishop’ Nolbert Kunonga and his Mugabe-backed violent regime.
However, the Provincial Synod has vetoed the request and insisted on new elections for a bishop for Harare in June this year.
This veto has emerged under the oversight of acting Dean of the Province, Albert Chama of Northern Zambia. There is a history stretching back to the now retired former Archbishop Bernard Malango (who was very close to Nolbert Kunonga) of pressure on Bakare due to complicated internal differences associated with the struggles in the wider Anglican Communion. In short it looks like Sebastian Bakare is being pushed out.
Given the nature of the nominating process in Harare there is a now distinct danger that Nolbert Kunonga could promote a candidate of his choice. His own election (overseen by Bernard Malango) was shrouded in mystery and intrigue. Thanks to the Provincial Synod decision, Nolbert Kunonga may yet achieve his avowed ambition to oust his old enemy Sebastian Bakare and replace him with a ‘more suitable’ candidate.
Such a tangled web of interconnected ecclesiastical and political machination is unfortunately characteristic of the Central African Province still under the oversight of Bishop Albert Chama.
Interpersonal episcopal power struggles, that are a mystery to outside observers, continue to defy logic in this troubled Province.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION reports that in Upper Shire Diocese in Malawi, petitions (including one signed by 24 parishioners from his own church) have been lodged against thirty-year-old Brighton Malasa for ‘drunkenness, embezzlement and adultery’.
At the end of last year Malasa was the surprise choice of the Provincial bishops as new bishop of Upper Shire, despite stiff resistance from priests and people and the fact that he is exceptionally young and inexperienced. The recent Anglican Primates Statement covered by us and many other webcasts, which was critical of Kunonga and the Mugabe regime, is already looking a little jaded and pointless.
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08/02/2009
Centralise power and enforce the rules
[Formatting Revised 10/2/09]The agenda for the Anglican Communion: centralise power and enforce the rules.
The Windsor Continuation Group, with the assent of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Primates, is writing the future of the Anglican Covenant.
If the teeth have, possibly, been drawn from the Covenant then it is merely so that they can be fitted in elsewhere.
Goal:
To give decisions and recommendations of the central agencies of the Communion authority and force.
Principles:
1) Change the relationships between Provinces. Instead of a network of autonomous Provinces choosing to share ecclesial life together there will be central decision making bodies, of which the Provinces will be part.
'The need for a shift of focus in the life of the communion from autonomy of provinces with communion added on, to communion as the primary reality with autonomy and accountability understood within that framework.' [The Archbishop of Canterbury, final press briefing after the Primates’ meeting, 5/2/09.]
2) Create a constitution for all the international organs of the Anglican Communion.
A set or [of] recommendations about the instruments of communion and how they should work. All four; the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primates Meeting, The Anglican Consultative Council and the Lambeth Conference need some looking at as to whether their present structures of working are adequate to the situation. [The Archbishop of Canterbury, final press briefing after the Primates’ meeting, 5/2/09.]3) Concentrate decision making in international bodies.
Subsidiarity (in the Windsor report but missing from the Nassau and St Andrews’ drafts) will need to be revisited. [The Windsor Continuation Group Report to the Archbishop of Canterbury, §50.]4) Resolve ambiguity about the nature and expression of episcopacy [The Windsor Continuation Group Report to the Archbishop of Canterbury, §§60, 61.]
Mechanism:
Provinces will be asked to make voluntary submission to the Covenant and thence to constitutional revision.
No Province will be instructed or directed to take any step at all. Therefore there will be few legal problems in any jurisdiction. Each Province will have voluntarily entered into a revised relationship with other Provinces, determined in accordance with their own internal decision making structures.
Each Province will be invited to internalise global jurisdiction over it by progressively adopting common canon law and appointing compliance officers.
These proposals were key aspects of the draft Covenant in the Windsor Report. [The Windsor Report, §113 and Appendix 2 Article 25].
Interim steps:
The Windsor Continuation Group maintains an overview of all developments and, in close liaison with the Archbishop of Canterbury, is the key co-ordinating body
Pastoral arrangements and structures for mediation are needed now to address areas of particular tensions within the Anglican Communion. [The Windsor Continuation Group Report to the Archbishop of Canterbury, §81-91.]
Advisory commissions can continue the constitutional work [The Windsor Continuation Group Report to the Archbishop of Canterbury, §80]. In particular
- A hermeneutics project – The Bible in the Church.
- IASCUFO (The Inter-Anglican Standing Commission for Unity, Faith and Order) is asked to prepare an urgent statement on the Instruments of Communion for consultation, if possible in time for incorporation into subsequent drafts of the Covenant. [The Windsor Continuation Group Report to the Archbishop of Canterbury, §76.]
- The Principles of Canon Law Project to further the creation of a common canon law across the Communion.
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06/02/2009
A quick primer on power and the Church of England
Sculptor Kevin Stone's
image of power and authority. It's for sale.
image of power and authority. It's for sale. Power is a complex term, the Church is a slippery organization, and very few people address the combination directly except, perhaps, to complain.
[Note 1 In the literature on the Church of England there is one book I can bring to mind and a couple of articles which overtly address power – and a vast literature on authority. This is not an accident].
This is prologue to the questions: what is, should be, could be the proper relationships between bishops, clergy and laity in the Church of England? How should the Church of England be constituted?
My working definitions:
· Power – the capacity to effect or prevent change
· Authority – the right to take decisions.
Neither power nor authority are objects or object-like (notwithstanding all the language which treats them as such) [ Note 2: That is, there is a body of literature which conceptualises power in this way. I reject it: it serves those who hold power]. Power and authority are relational (i.e. exercised between people) and, though either may be latent, both exist only insofar as they are exercised.
Both are essential: power is what makes anything happen and stops anything else [Note 3: This is a distributed model of power in which, bar complete extremes, everyone has some power and some people have a lot]. Authority says what’s right. Together they form the organizational foundation which sustains society.
Furthermore:
· Power is always limited
· Authority is always contested
Both power and its limits are visible whenever power is exercised.
Authority is created in the process of overcoming those who would contest it.
Neither can stand still. Each has its own internal logic which is inherently imperial – power, to be recognised, has to be exercised over others; authority, to be sustained, has to defeat those who would contest it. The greater the concentration of power or higher the claim to authority the more the needs for enemies.
Power and authority are inherently unstable: like a pile of sand they must continually be built up or tide and time will simply wash them away.
Power and authority
Power and authority are thus clearly separable. They are also intimately connected. In particular:
· Those who use power crave legitimacy. Thus authority serves those with power.
· The claim to authority is not authority. It is, however, also a claim to the right to power. Thus power is bent to the service of those with authority.
· The claim to authority is also a claim for deference. To fail to defer is to challenge the illusion of authority and to expose its lack of power.
· The claim of moral authority is a demand for deference in the explicit acknowledgement of the lack of power.
· On the other hand, there is no point claiming power you don’t have – threats that are exposed as empty merely render you ridiculous.
· The grounds of the claim to authority, and thus to the legitimacy of action, are never [Note 4: So far as I can conceive today] coterminous with action. There is always discontinuity between authority and power, intention and action, legitimation and result.
Therefore there is always the possibility, and maybe always the probability, that any action will contradict the stated reasons (whether in the manner of those actions or the results) and new post hoc legitimation will always be needed.
Curiously these inbuilt disconnections are also the grounds of hope: power is limited and authority contested and nothing lasts forever. This is politics: what made and maintains one configuration of authority and power can always unmake it and create another.
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction [Note 5: Etymologically, ‘law-speaking’], in the normal course of events, is the codification of authority and power in harness.
A jurisdiction is a declaration of who has authority to make certain decisions within defined bounds. The bounds would frequently include: subject matter, geographic territory, persons subject to the jurisdiction, and due process. It generally (though not inevitably) also specifies the terms on which coercive power may be used to implement decisions properly made within the jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction is generally a nested hierarchy. Lower levels may be constrained along any of the bounds which constrain that jurisdiction (e.g. Magistrates Courts can only hear cases related to their geographic area and can’t hear more serious cases; when they deal with civil matters, e.g. licensing, they do so under different rules). Lower levels are controlled by higher levels which can generally review and, if thought necessary, reverse lower level decisions.
Bishops have jurisdiction (their function as ‘ordinary’) over their diocese, its clergy and lay people, in matters relating to doctrine, worship and the discipline of clergy. They do so in accordance with legislation and in consultation with other bishops. However there is no higher level of hierarchy: there is no body which can review or reverse their decisions (though in some areas it may be possible to challenge the exercise of their jurisdiction in secular courts and tribunals).
Bishops, power and authority
Bishops have no power over the laity (effectively lost in the C18). Their power over clergy is generally more persuasive than directive. Power over appointments is a strong lever.
(I’m not up top date on progress towards common tenure for clergy. Hitherto freehold has nominally left clergy impervious to episcopal power and those with licences wholly dependent on episcopal power, even if the reality was much more blurred.)
Such power that bishops do have is generally reactive and negative – the power to prevent change but not the power to effect change.
Bishops have little power but they claim high authority. They expect deference (some more overtly than others).
The Church is not a democracy. However few people take the next step of then saying how, in political terms, the Church of England should be designated. I suggest that the Church is a constitutional monarchy, like the British State. However in the State the emphasis is on the constitution; in the Church the emphasis is still on the monarchical. Making the Standing Committee of the Diocesan Synod the Bishops Council was a deliberate fudging of centres of power in favour of the Diocesan bishop. The bishop’s council (cf. Privy Council) is a court. Influence in a diocese (a milder but real form of power) stems from the goodwill of the bishop, and is sustained by continued access to the bishop’s ear.
(Incidentally this is organizationally dysfunctional and works counter to any possibility of a ‘learning organization’. Influence comes from telling the prince what he wants to hear. If influence depends on continuing to have the ear of the bishop then it is not in your interests to share your knowledge with anyone else. It is in your interests to exclude other sources of information in your area of knowledge – like using ‘pre-emergence’ weedkiller to keep potential competitors from ever seeing the light of day.)
Bishops, clergy, laity
The creation of synodical structures (in 1919 and 1970) were deliberate attempts to include the laity in the government of the Church. The particular structures of Synod reflect the attempt to incorporate the laity without reducing the power of the bishop.
General Synod was a trade-off with Parliament. In effect it allowed the laity the minimum voice possible which would enable church leaders to persuade Parliament to transfer to it jurisdiction over worship and doctrine (in the Worship and Doctrine Measure 1974), a goal that had been sought since at least the 1840s.
A key element is ‘consultation’. Where those who are consulted must give their assent they have real power to stop change. Where they do not they are, at best, advisors. At worst they merely provide additional legitimation for actions that those with power wish to take on other grounds.
In General Synod it is possible for one House to refuse assent to proposed Measures (or other votes). Both clergy and laity thus have a veto and thus also constructive power in the shaping of Measures. Diocesan Synods were intended to parallel General Synod: the bishop cannot have his views overridden in synodical decision making and every effort is made to ensure that such a possibility is not exposed by avoiding putting bishops in the position where they would be forced to exercise their power of veto.
Since the creation of General Synod, and especially since the mid-1980s, I believe there has been a steady assertion of the authority and power of bishops at the expense of both clergy and laity.
I also believe that the laity are the heart of the Church. I think the centre of worship should be in the nave, not the chancel. I know that the whole superstructure rests on funds provided by the laity. I suspect that the ratio of paying laity : all clergy : senior staff and bishops has been shifting towards the clergy as a whole and towards the more expensive clergy in particular. I am convinced that a church which excludes the laity from doctrinal debate and engagement is thereby impoverished and (lacking any serious notion of reception) is ecclesiologically deformed.
And the greater the claim that bishops know best the bigger the mess will be made of things.
I suggest a thought experiment: mentally remove each class of laity, clergy, bishops, and see what remains: would there still be a church without any one of these groups?
Paul Bagshaw
6/2/09
Police continue to ignore court rulings
Avondale Shops (sorry, not easy to find more pertinent graphics)
From Avondale Parish
ANGLICANS in the Diocese of Harare in the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) have become disillusioned with the Police Commissioner-General's unwritten decree that the police will not enforce court rulings in favour of the Anglican Church under Acting Bishop Sebastian Bakare.
According to police officials, Chihuri allegedly verbally instructed some senior police officers in Harare to defy any court rulings that favoured the Anglican (CPCA). The CPCA is the controlling body of the Anglican Church in Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
This hindrance to the right to worship of Anglicans under the leadership of Bishop Bakare has revived speculation within the Anglican Communion that the government of President Mugabe does not respect the freedom of worship as enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
The dispute in the Anglican Church in Harare started on 21 September 2007 after then Bishop of the Diocese of Harare Nolbert Kunonga wrote a letter to the then Arcbishop of the CPCA Dr Bernard Malango, advising him of his decision to withdraw from the CPCA citing alleged differences over homosexuality.
Following Kunonga's withdrawal and resignation as Bishop of Harare, the CPCA proceeded to appoint Bakare as Acting Bishop until a new bishop is elected to head the Anglican Diocese of Harare, expected sometime in September this year.
Since then, the Kunonga rebel group and the CPCA have engaged in intense legal battles over ownership of church buildings and other properties, the use of church buildings for Sunday services and the protection of parishioners against police interference in the places of worship.
Judge President, Justice Rita Makarau issued an interim order in Case Number HC 345/08 that provided for the sharing of church premises for Sunday services starting with the Kunonga group's service followed 90 minutes later by the CPCA's services. Despite several appeals by Kunonga against this order other High Court judges, Justice Karwi (Holy Communion 402/08), Justice Hungwe (HC3208/07 and Justice Guvava (HC 2259/08 upheld the Makarau judgment.
"All these orders are pointing to the effect that the Anglican Diocese of Harare (CPCA) has a legal right to access and use of Anglican properties and premises," Bishop Bakare said. "These orders do not give any right to the Police to interfere in the civil disputes in the Church affairs before the Court. "Regrettably all these court orders are being disregarded by some individuals who give 'orders from above'. The issue regarding properties is still pending, awaiting the outcome of the Courts (case Number HC 6544/07)."
This contemptuous behavior by identified police officers has allowed Kunonga's rebel group to enlist the help of known Zanu PF officials under the leadership of former Harare Provincial Chairman Amos Midzi to intimidate Anglicans and drive them out of their church premises.
Most Anglicans under Bishop Bakare now worship in open spaces in the glare of the sun and the rains. Attempts by several individual Anglican parishes in the CPCA to pursue this matter with the police have yielded blanks. There is no written documentation to support the actions of the police except a reference to Chihuri's standing order.
Every Sunday the police bar the CPCA from conducting their services at their places of worship. The police usually come in the company of the Kunonga rebels who give them instructions as to who to arrest and detain. Those subsequently arrested are illegally detained and subsequently released without being charged.
The Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Harare, Dr Sebastian Bakare has constantly demanded the non-interference of the police in religious matters as enshrined in the country's Constitution and also in regional, continental and United Nations conventions and statutes.
Bishop Bakare says: "We are one. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Christ which is about peace, justice and love. We continue to urge those who use abrasive language against us to come and join us in preaching the message of Christ."
The situation is unbearable at St Paul's in Highfield where Dorcas Manyonda, the Zanu PF losing candidate for Highfield West in the 29 March Harmonised Elections has teamed up with the rebel's priest Abraham Gwatidzo and a Major Simeon Makowe in terrorizing parishioners and disrupting church services.
At St Michael's Mbare, the rebels have the backing off. The Anglican cathedral has remained shut to the public after the disgraced Kunonga closed it at the height of the conflict in February 2008. For the record the Cathedral has over the years served Anglicans and other members of the public who wish to have their prayers. It has also acted as a sanctuary to destitute members of society.
However the police continue to shield Kunonga and his hooligans from prosecution for contempt of the Makarau ruling.
According to police officials, Chihuri allegedly verbally instructed some senior police officers in Harare to defy any court rulings that favoured the Anglican (CPCA). The CPCA is the controlling body of the Anglican Church in Malawi, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
This hindrance to the right to worship of Anglicans under the leadership of Bishop Bakare has revived speculation within the Anglican Communion that the government of President Mugabe does not respect the freedom of worship as enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
The dispute in the Anglican Church in Harare started on 21 September 2007 after then Bishop of the Diocese of Harare Nolbert Kunonga wrote a letter to the then Arcbishop of the CPCA Dr Bernard Malango, advising him of his decision to withdraw from the CPCA citing alleged differences over homosexuality.
Following Kunonga's withdrawal and resignation as Bishop of Harare, the CPCA proceeded to appoint Bakare as Acting Bishop until a new bishop is elected to head the Anglican Diocese of Harare, expected sometime in September this year.
Since then, the Kunonga rebel group and the CPCA have engaged in intense legal battles over ownership of church buildings and other properties, the use of church buildings for Sunday services and the protection of parishioners against police interference in the places of worship.
Judge President, Justice Rita Makarau issued an interim order in Case Number HC 345/08 that provided for the sharing of church premises for Sunday services starting with the Kunonga group's service followed 90 minutes later by the CPCA's services. Despite several appeals by Kunonga against this order other High Court judges, Justice Karwi (Holy Communion 402/08), Justice Hungwe (HC3208/07 and Justice Guvava (HC 2259/08 upheld the Makarau judgment.
"All these orders are pointing to the effect that the Anglican Diocese of Harare (CPCA) has a legal right to access and use of Anglican properties and premises," Bishop Bakare said. "These orders do not give any right to the Police to interfere in the civil disputes in the Church affairs before the Court. "Regrettably all these court orders are being disregarded by some individuals who give 'orders from above'. The issue regarding properties is still pending, awaiting the outcome of the Courts (case Number HC 6544/07)."
This contemptuous behavior by identified police officers has allowed Kunonga's rebel group to enlist the help of known Zanu PF officials under the leadership of former Harare Provincial Chairman Amos Midzi to intimidate Anglicans and drive them out of their church premises.
Most Anglicans under Bishop Bakare now worship in open spaces in the glare of the sun and the rains. Attempts by several individual Anglican parishes in the CPCA to pursue this matter with the police have yielded blanks. There is no written documentation to support the actions of the police except a reference to Chihuri's standing order.
Every Sunday the police bar the CPCA from conducting their services at their places of worship. The police usually come in the company of the Kunonga rebels who give them instructions as to who to arrest and detain. Those subsequently arrested are illegally detained and subsequently released without being charged.
The Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Harare, Dr Sebastian Bakare has constantly demanded the non-interference of the police in religious matters as enshrined in the country's Constitution and also in regional, continental and United Nations conventions and statutes.
Bishop Bakare says: "We are one. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Christ which is about peace, justice and love. We continue to urge those who use abrasive language against us to come and join us in preaching the message of Christ."
The situation is unbearable at St Paul's in Highfield where Dorcas Manyonda, the Zanu PF losing candidate for Highfield West in the 29 March Harmonised Elections has teamed up with the rebel's priest Abraham Gwatidzo and a Major Simeon Makowe in terrorizing parishioners and disrupting church services.
At St Michael's Mbare, the rebels have the backing off. The Anglican cathedral has remained shut to the public after the disgraced Kunonga closed it at the height of the conflict in February 2008. For the record the Cathedral has over the years served Anglicans and other members of the public who wish to have their prayers. It has also acted as a sanctuary to destitute members of society.
However the police continue to shield Kunonga and his hooligans from prosecution for contempt of the Makarau ruling.
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05/02/2009
Primates on Zimbabwe: more detail
The Rt Revd Albert Chama, Bishop of Zambia Photo Credit: ACNSFrom Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
The Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Alexandria, held what the Anglican Communion News Service called a "moving discussion on Zimbabwe" on Monday night, February 2, led by Bishop Albert Chama of Central Africa and Archbishop Thabo.
You can hear a recording of the news conference, addressed first by Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of Brisbane, media spokesman for the meeting, and then Archbishop Thabo, at the ACNS website.
You can also read reports referring to Archbishop Thabo's contributions to the meeting by the U.S. Episcopal Church's correspondent at the meeting, and a report in The Guardian, London.
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03/02/2009
Comment on the Primate's statement on Zimbabwe
Anglican Information's comment on the Primates' statement:
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION observes that the clear statement that the Primates do not recognise the status of Bishops Nolbert Kunonga (Harare) and Elson Jakazi (Manicaland) represents a huge step forward and endorses the heroic work led by Bishop Sebastian Bakare on the part of the Province of Central Africa in attempting to reclaim the dioceses of Harare and Manicaland. We have long chronicled the terrible intimidation and violence on the part of Mugabe backed Nolbert Kunonga and pray that this statement may give heart to those who have been at the receiving end of his atrocities.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION says it is an encouraging sign that the Primates have been able to tear themselves away from arguments about sexuality, at least for a while, and find a unity of Anglican Communion purpose. It is ironic that it has taken so much suffering to achieve this.
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ANGLICAN-INFORMATION observes that the clear statement that the Primates do not recognise the status of Bishops Nolbert Kunonga (Harare) and Elson Jakazi (Manicaland) represents a huge step forward and endorses the heroic work led by Bishop Sebastian Bakare on the part of the Province of Central Africa in attempting to reclaim the dioceses of Harare and Manicaland. We have long chronicled the terrible intimidation and violence on the part of Mugabe backed Nolbert Kunonga and pray that this statement may give heart to those who have been at the receiving end of his atrocities.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION says it is an encouraging sign that the Primates have been able to tear themselves away from arguments about sexuality, at least for a while, and find a unity of Anglican Communion purpose. It is ironic that it has taken so much suffering to achieve this.
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Primates' Statement on Zimbabwe
From the ACNS
The Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Alexandria, Egypt on 3rd February, 2009, heard first hand reports of the situation in Zimbabwe, and note with horror the appalling difficulties of the people of this nation under the current regime.
We give thanks to God for the faithful witness of the Christians of Zimbabwe during this time of pain and suffering, especially those who are being denied access to their churches. We wish to assure them of our love, support and prayers as they face gross violation of human rights, hunger and loss of life as well as the scourge of a cholera epidemic, all due directly to the deteriorating socio-political and economic situation in Zimbabwe.
It is a matter of grave concern that there is an apparent breakdown of the rule of law within the country, and that the democratic process is being undermined, as shown in the flagrant disregard of the outcome of the democratic elections of March 31st 2008, so that Mr Robert Mugabe illegitimately holds on to power. Even the recent political situation of power sharing, brokered by SADC, may not be long lasting and simply further entrench Mr Mugabe’s regime. There appears to be a total disregard for life, consistently demonstrated by Mr Mugabe through systematic kidnap, torture and the killing of Zimbabwean people. The economy of Zimbabwe has collapsed, as evidenced by the use of foreign currencies in an independent state.
We therefore call upon President Robert Mugabe to respect the outcome of the elections of 2008 and to step down. We call for the implementation of the rule of law and the restoration of democratic processes.
We request that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chair of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa, in consultation with the Church of the Province of Central Africa, commission a Representative to go to Zimbabwe to exercise a ministry of presence and to show solidarity with the Zimbabwean people. We also request the President of the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa to facilitate a meeting with the African Union president and other African political leaders (especially those of SADC) to highlight the plight of the Zimbabwean peoples.
We call upon parishes throughout the Anglican Communion to assist the Anglican Communion Office, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Office and the Anglican Observer to the United Nations in addressing the humanitarian crisis by giving aid through such mechanisms as the Archbishop of Canterbury is able to designate, and asking that Lambeth Palace facilitate processes by which food and other material aid for Zimbabwe can be distributed through the dioceses of the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
We urge the Churches of the Anglican Communion to join with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in observing Wednesday 25th February 2009, Ash Wednesday, as a day of prayer and solidarity with the Zimbabwean people.
As representatives of the Anglican Communion, we reiterate that we do not recognise the status of Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and Bishop Elson Jakazi as bishops within the Anglican Communion, and call for the full restoration of Anglican property within Zimbabwe to the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
We affirm the initiative of the Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist (ACSA) in collaboration with Lambeth Palace, the Anglican Communion Office and the Church of the Province of Central Africa in establishing a chaplaincy along the Zimbabwe-South Africa border for the pastoral care of the many refugees, and call upon the Anglican Communion to support this work.
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Archbishop Chama is representing the Province of Central Africa.
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The Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Alexandria, Egypt on 3rd February, 2009, heard first hand reports of the situation in Zimbabwe, and note with horror the appalling difficulties of the people of this nation under the current regime.
We give thanks to God for the faithful witness of the Christians of Zimbabwe during this time of pain and suffering, especially those who are being denied access to their churches. We wish to assure them of our love, support and prayers as they face gross violation of human rights, hunger and loss of life as well as the scourge of a cholera epidemic, all due directly to the deteriorating socio-political and economic situation in Zimbabwe.
It is a matter of grave concern that there is an apparent breakdown of the rule of law within the country, and that the democratic process is being undermined, as shown in the flagrant disregard of the outcome of the democratic elections of March 31st 2008, so that Mr Robert Mugabe illegitimately holds on to power. Even the recent political situation of power sharing, brokered by SADC, may not be long lasting and simply further entrench Mr Mugabe’s regime. There appears to be a total disregard for life, consistently demonstrated by Mr Mugabe through systematic kidnap, torture and the killing of Zimbabwean people. The economy of Zimbabwe has collapsed, as evidenced by the use of foreign currencies in an independent state.
We therefore call upon President Robert Mugabe to respect the outcome of the elections of 2008 and to step down. We call for the implementation of the rule of law and the restoration of democratic processes.
We request that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chair of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa, in consultation with the Church of the Province of Central Africa, commission a Representative to go to Zimbabwe to exercise a ministry of presence and to show solidarity with the Zimbabwean people. We also request the President of the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa to facilitate a meeting with the African Union president and other African political leaders (especially those of SADC) to highlight the plight of the Zimbabwean peoples.
We call upon parishes throughout the Anglican Communion to assist the Anglican Communion Office, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Office and the Anglican Observer to the United Nations in addressing the humanitarian crisis by giving aid through such mechanisms as the Archbishop of Canterbury is able to designate, and asking that Lambeth Palace facilitate processes by which food and other material aid for Zimbabwe can be distributed through the dioceses of the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
We urge the Churches of the Anglican Communion to join with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in observing Wednesday 25th February 2009, Ash Wednesday, as a day of prayer and solidarity with the Zimbabwean people.
As representatives of the Anglican Communion, we reiterate that we do not recognise the status of Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and Bishop Elson Jakazi as bishops within the Anglican Communion, and call for the full restoration of Anglican property within Zimbabwe to the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
We affirm the initiative of the Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist (ACSA) in collaboration with Lambeth Palace, the Anglican Communion Office and the Church of the Province of Central Africa in establishing a chaplaincy along the Zimbabwe-South Africa border for the pastoral care of the many refugees, and call upon the Anglican Communion to support this work.
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Archbishop Chama is representing the Province of Central Africa.
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Toronto tiptoes towards blessing gay couples
Bishop of Toronto Colin Johnson, Anglican JournalThe Canadian Anglican Journal reports that the Diocese of Toronto is proposing to take formal steps which will permit a 'limited number' of parishes to bless gay couples.
The bishops of the diocese of Toronto are proposing that “a limited number of parishes” be given episcopal permission to offer prayers and blessing “but not the nuptial blessing” to same-sex couples “in stable, long-term, committed relationships.”
The bishops, who outlined their proposal at a Jan. 29 meeting of the diocesan council, said they plan to conduct an extensive consultation process and would present the guidelines for implementing the proposal at the diocese’s synods in May and in November. A bishop’s commission will be formed to formulate the guidelines.
This seems to be as close as the Diocese can get without breaching national recommendations. In a different approach the diocesan synods in Ottawa, Montreal, Niagara and Huron have asked their bishops to allow civilly-married gay couples, where either or both are baptised, to receive a church blessing with an appropriate rite.
Like the US the Canadian church is following public opinion and, also like the US, many of the most conservative have left the Church, thus easing the brakes on change.
In 2007 the General Synod agreed that same-sex blessings were “not in conflict” with core church doctrine but denied the authority of dioceses to offer them. Remember the 1970s (1977?) vote of the English General Synod that there were no theological objections to ordaining women, though they didn't want to do anything about it. The time will come.
It may (I say tentatively) be that the schism in the US (with or without GAFCON) has also released the international contraints on action.
I begin to think, perhaps, maybe, that the Communion could have passed the high point of its recent fever and, though still weak and in need of nursing, the patient will not die, nor even lose too many limbs.
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Primates: change of tone?
Episcopal life Online has an account of the Primates' meeting which suggests a significant change in tone about the Covenant, and throws a bit more light on Radnor's letter.
The primate of Australia, Archbishop Philip Aspinall, is the meeting's spokesperson:
Aspinall said there had been a "general warming" to the idea of a covenant, but acknowledged that there was "increasing realism" among the primates about what a covenant can and can't do. "We're probably pulling back from language about sanctions and teeth," he said, noting that there had been lots of discussion about a framework for "koinonia" -- a Greek word that refers to the relationships of communion.
"If there is a failure in communion, then there needs to be more of an investment" in relationships, Aspinall said. "There is a pulling back from stick-over-the-head sanctions and a move towards deeper relationships of what will make a covenant work."
The provinces have until March 9 to respond to the St. Andrew's Draft. The Covenant Design Group will meet again in April to discuss the responses and perhaps produce a third draft that will be presented to the Anglican Consultative Council, the communion's main policy-making body, when it meets in May.
Appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury on behalf of the primates of the Anglican Communion, the Covenant Design Group has been meeting since January 2007.The idea for an Anglican covenant comes from the 2004 Windsor Report (paragraphs 113-120) and has been supported by all the instruments of communion as a way for the Anglican Communion to maintain unity amid differing viewpoints, especially on human sexuality issues and biblical interpretation.
Aspinall described the covenant as a "moral obligation. We have been thinking of the covenant as each participating church giving a gift to other churches though limiting its autonomy in many ways and not proceeding on certain issues without consultation with other churches."
This from Father Kelvin who contributed it to MadPriest's brilliant series of such pictures.
02/02/2009
Zimbabwe: Anglicans' Turf War Rages On
From The Zimbabwe Standard
BISHOP of the Anglican Church’s Harare Diocese, Sebastian Bakare says rogue police officers have frustrated all efforts by his group to seek a resolution of the church’s power struggles through legal means by siding with his rival, Nolbert Kunonga.
Bakare said as a result they were now waiting for “divine intervention” as Kunonga’s well-publicised connections with the ruling Zanu PF emboldened his faction to act with impunity.
“We have exhausted all channels,” he said in a recent interview. “We will only fight through God as he knows what’s best for His church and He is the one who can correctly distinguish between good and evil.”
Bakare’s comments were in response to a recent incident where David Kunyongana, a priest from the Kunonga faction was involved in a nasty encounter with members of the new bishop’s group at St Joseph’s Dzivarasekwa parish over sharing the church building.
After the altercation it is alleged that Kunyongana called another priest, who came and drove his vehicle straight at some youths standing at the gate of the parish apparently in an effort to disperse them.
This provoked the youths and onlookers who started throwing missiles at the car and a police intervention led to the arrest of a number of them, including church wardens.
Members of the Kunonga faction had allegedly called the police.
Police officers are still reportedly preventing Bakare’s group from using church property despite a High Court order granting access to both groups.
The Anglican Church split last year after Kunonga attempted to unilaterally withdraw the Harare Diocese from the church’s Province of South Africa allegedly in protest at the tolerance of homosexuality by the mainstream church.
The two groups have been engaged in unending fights since then.
Bakare said efficient justice delivery on the dispute had been compromised by Kunonga’s attempts to use his political influence and alleged links to Zanu PF to try and gain control of the church.
He said some police officers were “conniving” with Kunonga’s faction to disrupt his group from conducting church services in various parishes around Harare.
“They are conniving with some rogue members of the police force and working in unison to violate the High Court judgement,” Bakare said, “and we are not going to fight them, prayer is the only solution.”
The police officers, according to Bakare, claim to be acting on instructions from the President’s Office in their bid to intimidate his group.
But he dismissed them “as some rogue members of society who wanted to exercise power that they do not have in the name of the president.”
According to Bakare the major problem emanated from “the politicisation of a clearly ecclesiastical issue.”
Police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena denied allegations police officers were interfering in Anglican issues.
“They have got their cases at court and we do not see any reason why they should involve the police,” Bvudzijena said.
“Our position in the dispute is not an issue. “After all, we do not favour anyone.”
Kunonga was not available for comment.
But Kunyongana said: “Those claims are not true, they do not want to follow the High Court ruling that we should revert to our previous status quo.”
30/01/2009
New Anglican Province: utter nonsense
Barry Morgan, Archbishop of WalesIf I was a person who had heroes, and if being a Primate in the Anglican Communion didn't rule a person out ex officio, then Barry Morgan might just be my hero.
From the Living Church
The Primate of the Church in Wales will oppose any attempt to form a parallel Anglican jurisdiction when the primates of the Anglican Communion meet next week in Alexandria, Egypt. Leaders of the GAFCON movement, however, have pledged not to back down from their support of Bishop Robert Duncan and the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), setting up the potential for a clash of views when the primates meet.On Jan. 24, Archbishop Barry Morgan of Wales told delegates attending the annual council meeting of the Diocese of Virginia he would oppose the creation of the ACNA with “every fiber of his body.” Another North American province was “total nonsense,” he said, according to a report by Anglican blogger Mary Ailes, but the archbishop conceded that his views were in the minority among primates.
He may well be in a minority. However by expressing himself publicly before the meeting I think he will encourage those who share his views. I suspect he is speaking out now because of a well-founded anticipation that the ACNA and GAFCON crew will try to pull a stunt in Egypt, whether or not a new North American province is formally debated by the Primates.
From The Times:
On my very brief contact with with him I found Barry Morgan to be gentle, thoughtful, listening and immensely able. Even if plucky little Wales isn't politically strong in the Primates' councils, let's hope the obvious logic of his position is.
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From The Times:
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, said he would oppose a new province “with every fibre of my being.”
He warned that if the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Communion allow traditionalists to set up a new province to exist as a parallel jurisdiction to the US Episcopal Church, no province would be safe and the worldwide Anglican Church would splinter into many fragments.
...
In an interview with The Times, Dr Morgan said the concept of a new province in the US “makes no ecclesiological or theological sense.”
New provinces are usually set up for demographic or missionary reasons.
Dr Morgan said: “It makes no sense for a province to be founded on doctrinal grounds.”
...
Dr Morgan said: “I hope we will see the same spirit of generosity and openness that we had at the Lambeth Conference last summer. There was then an overwhelming desire to stay together, and I hope that will be the same for the Primates’ meeting.”
On my very brief contact with with him I found Barry Morgan to be gentle, thoughtful, listening and immensely able. Even if plucky little Wales isn't politically strong in the Primates' councils, let's hope the obvious logic of his position is.
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Power sharing, again.
Statement from Morgan Tsvangirai
In a curiously half-hearted way we seem to have got back to power sharing in Zimbabwe. Morgan Tsvangirai will become Prime Minister with executive power. Just 3 days ago the MDC was saying it would not accept the SADC-brokered deal. Is Obama's election and the US change of tack coincidental?
SADC's POWER-SHARE TIMELINE5 Feb: Zimbabwe to pass power-sharing constitutional amendment11 Feb: PM-designate Tsvangirai and his deputies to be sworn in13 Feb: Remaining ministers and their deputies to take office
"If he leaves power he will not go to Europe," Wade said in a debate on Africa at the World Economic Forum in Davos, "so I told him: 'Come to Senegal'."
"My friend Mugabe does not want to make concessions, we are at a dead end, he can no longer govern the country alone," added the Senegal leader, current president of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Wade said Mugabe had to be "advised to say clearly what path he will take to leave power" and be guaranteed that "if he leaves his country he will not be chased."
This doesn't fit exactly with the earlier statements about power sharing - who will be President if Tsvangirai is PM?
Botswana doesn't seem happy with the arrangements which will leave considerable power in ZANU hands. The critical details - who controls the security forces, whop gets the poisoned chalice of finance - have still to be announced.
And Western Aid is unlikely to appear if Mugabe still holds power - though I have no idea how far down the ZUNU-PF hierarchy this attitude would persist - so, if anyone, South Africa will have to pick up the initial tab. With cholera ignoring national boundaries, and Zimbabwean refugees generating internal unhappiness, it would be in their self-interest to do so.
Once again I find myself hoping all will be well, but without much confidence.
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26/01/2009
Bibliocracy
From Leadership Nigeria, via All Africa News
==================
Well, the proposal has a certain intellectual consistency.
Apart from that I can't think of anything in its favour. How would it work in practice? In effect it would presumably put the law of Nigeria in relation to both scriptures much as historic British law is in relation to Human Rights principles: should there be a clash then the law must change.
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A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Suleiman Abdurahman Kawu, has posited that the two holy books of the major religions, the Muslims' Qu'ran and Christians' Bible should take precedence over the country's constitution.
Kawu, a deputy minority leader in the House, in a presentation titled "Constitution Amendment. Let the Holy Qu'ran and Bible prevail over the constitution," noted that the section of the constitution which stated that the constitution is supreme be amended, since no law is greater than the creator.
...
Hon. Kawu, a member of the present constitution amendment committee, in a chat with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND stressed the view: "I personally, am of the opinion that we Nigerians should not respect the constitution more than how we respect the Holy Qua'ran or the Holy Bible because these two books are stronger than the constitution itself.
==================
Well, the proposal has a certain intellectual consistency.
Apart from that I can't think of anything in its favour. How would it work in practice? In effect it would presumably put the law of Nigeria in relation to both scriptures much as historic British law is in relation to Human Rights principles: should there be a clash then the law must change.
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24/01/2009
No women need apply
ex-bishop Robinson Cavalcanti
From George Congar
The synod of the Diocese of Recife has voted to leave the shelter of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone and affiliate with the third province movement in North America.
At its Dec 4-6 meeting in Jaboatão dos Guararapes the ex-Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil (IEAB) diocese voted to join with the ex-Episcopal Church dioceses of Pittsburgh, Quincy, Fort Worth and San Joaquin, along with a number of continuing American and Canadian Anglican and African-led jurisdictions, to form the new province.
The move from the Southern Cone to the third province will take place in June at the Anglican Church in North America’s founding convocation in Fort Worth.
Recife also agreed to amend its canons to bring it in line with the new province passing an ordinance forbidding the consecration of women priests to the episcopate, and also created an archdeaconry based in Rio de Janiero to oversee Anglican churches in Southeast Brazil that have seceded from the IEAB.Although Recife ordains women to the diaconate and priesthood, the decision to conform its canons to the new province and forbid the consecration of women priests to the episcopate passed overwhelmingly. A spokesman noted the vote was taken the same day as Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti ordained the Rev. Pamela Schmaling to the priesthood.
....
A considerable kick in the teeth for Rev Schmaling, I'd have thought.
More generally it reiterates the patriarchal nature of religious conservatism and shows that negative attitudes to sexuality remain central to the conservative tune.
I should think so too!
Religious leaders praise Obama torture ban
Compiled by the Boston Globe.
It's always seemed to me that this was one matter Christians, and members of other faiths, could agree on whole heartedly.
Why then has there not been a much more high profile religious campaign against torture? Could it be that Christians, and members of other faiths, also agree on deferring to the policy of their nation states, even when they disagree with it?
Compiled by the Boston Globe.
It's always seemed to me that this was one matter Christians, and members of other faiths, could agree on whole heartedly.
Why then has there not been a much more high profile religious campaign against torture? Could it be that Christians, and members of other faiths, also agree on deferring to the policy of their nation states, even when they disagree with it?
22/01/2009
Some criticisms of Covenant
The Papers for the forthcoming Church of England General Synod are available online - conveniently displayed by Thinking Anglicans.
They include GS 1716 Anglican Covenant. On first reading the Annex is a surprisingly critical document - and more critical the closer it gets to the heart of the Covenant where it calls for clearer definition of key terms [paras. 38, 40].
Most critically [paras 42-46] it raises constitutional questions.
This is based on the premise that the constitution of the Communion needs to be addressed and sorted out separate from the Covenant. I had seen the Covenanteers as effectively writing a new constitution, and had criticised them on that count, but this report sees the constitutional process as separate and that I would be inclined to welcome.
The report makes criticism of the penal processes proposed in the St Andrew's draft but this adds little to criticisms made elsewhere and the Covenant Design Group will be producing an alternative.
Please don't get too excited. The criticisms in this report are not sufficient to sink the idea of a Covenant and the whole report is based on the premise that not only is the Covenant a Good Thing but that the CofE has already committed itself to support this course of action.
The debate at Synod is specificially about the St Andrew's draft. The latest draft of the Covenant will probably have arrived a week or two earlier. I wouldn't be at all suprised if someone weighty in the councils of the church stands up to say how welcome it is that the latest version (on which animadversions will not be allowed) has met many of the criticisms voiced in GS1716.
The report almost says that ratification will include submission to Dioceses. This will be cumbersome, take up to a year, but is ulikely to produce anything other than a bigger endorsement of the Covenant.
More detailed comments will follow with time - and I've not yet read all of GSmisc 910, Colin Podmore's paper on the Governance of the CofE and the Anglican Communion. This deals explicitly with constitutional aspects of the church.
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They include GS 1716 Anglican Covenant. On first reading the Annex is a surprisingly critical document - and more critical the closer it gets to the heart of the Covenant where it calls for clearer definition of key terms [paras. 38, 40].
Most critically [paras 42-46] it raises constitutional questions.
[42] While it is not the task of the Covenant Design Group to write a constitution for the Anglican Communion, the lack of any articulated understanding of, and reflection on, the inter-relationship of the Instruments is a very serious lacuna and will effect both confidence in and the effectiveness of an Anglican Covenant.
This is based on the premise that the constitution of the Communion needs to be addressed and sorted out separate from the Covenant. I had seen the Covenanteers as effectively writing a new constitution, and had criticised them on that count, but this report sees the constitutional process as separate and that I would be inclined to welcome.
The report makes criticism of the penal processes proposed in the St Andrew's draft but this adds little to criticisms made elsewhere and the Covenant Design Group will be producing an alternative.
Please don't get too excited. The criticisms in this report are not sufficient to sink the idea of a Covenant and the whole report is based on the premise that not only is the Covenant a Good Thing but that the CofE has already committed itself to support this course of action.
The debate at Synod is specificially about the St Andrew's draft. The latest draft of the Covenant will probably have arrived a week or two earlier. I wouldn't be at all suprised if someone weighty in the councils of the church stands up to say how welcome it is that the latest version (on which animadversions will not be allowed) has met many of the criticisms voiced in GS1716.
The report almost says that ratification will include submission to Dioceses. This will be cumbersome, take up to a year, but is ulikely to produce anything other than a bigger endorsement of the Covenant.
More detailed comments will follow with time - and I've not yet read all of GSmisc 910, Colin Podmore's paper on the Governance of the CofE and the Anglican Communion. This deals explicitly with constitutional aspects of the church.
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20/01/2009
Lay or episcopal power in Lake Malawi?
Canoeing on Lake MalawiFrom Anglican Information
The Diocese of Lake Malawi:
Readers will recall that in July 2005 the electoral body of the Diocese of Lake Malawi and Central African Province voted by overwhelming majority to elect the Rev’d Nicholas Henderson of London, England as Bishop of Lake Malawi. Henderson has had a long and creditable history of involvement in the Diocese and his integrity or faith have never been questioned.
However, due to outside interference the then Archbishop of the Province, Bernard Malango, contrived to ensure that the subsequent but delayed Court of Confirmation was finally held in November 2005. This Court, which is now understood to have been uncanonically conducted, declared that the bishop-elect was of ‘demonstrable unsound faith’, without any evidence, any opportunity of redress or defence, or any indication of what actually constituted ‘unsound faith’. It is salutary to note that, apart from the now discredited Malango, two of those accusing Henderson of ‘unsound faith’ are now excommunicated and fighting a violent battle against the province in Zimbabwe.
Since this shameful episode priests and people have courageously stood up to the provincial bishops and insisted that justice be done and the whole case revisited. A three-year-long struggle between authoritarian bishops (reluctant to admit their fault and angry with what they see as a usurping by the laity) and the people has ensued.
At one point a resolution of this problem was almost achieved by the Rt Rev’d Trevor Mwamba of Botswana, as Dean of the Province, before he was summarily sacked by the then outgoing Archbishop Bernard Malango. Mwamba had agreed with the people to an independent Provincial Court. Bernard Malango replaced Trevor Mwamba with the current acting Dean Albert Chama of Northern Zambia who, as a Malango appointee, is resolutely opposed to dialogue or a Provincial Court. In these circumstances and as a last resort the people have charged the bishops with civil action in the judicial Court of Malawi. The whole saga is catalogued in full on our website.
We have been asked to issue the resolutions of the latest meeting of the House of Laity which are reproduced below:
Extract from the Minutes of a Meeting of the House of Laity,
Diocese of Lake Malawi Diocese held in St Peter’s Anglican Hall, Lilongwe, on Saturday 17th January 2009.
The purpose of the meeting was to update each other of what is going on in the diocese and to consider a way forward with the case which is still in court.
Resolutions:
1.
The Meeting agreed to wait for the court judgment on Thursday, 22nd January 2009 at 8.30 am. In this case the House of Laity is asking the Leadership of the Church for an inter-party hearing.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION observes that this is a perfectly reasonable request and it is ridiculous that the bishops have resisted it and allowed a case to go to court.
2.
The House of Laity welcomes the news of confirmation of the children who have been waiting for the rite for along time. On condition that is done by the Bishop Biggers or any other bishop who is in good standing with the Laity.
The Laity feel this could be the beginning of civilized dialogue between leadership and Laity. This is a better way of handling spiritual issues.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION has previously reported that the bishops had placed the diocese under an undeclared interdict, with a deliberate policy of deprivation of sacramental services. Bishop Jackson Biggers is formerly of Northern Malawi, now in retirement in Malawi. It should be noted that not all the serving provincial bishops are mistrusted by the people.
3.
On issue of keys laity is willing to surrender the keys if the Vicar General and the Dean engage with them in dialogue.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION has previously reported the confiscation of keys for the diocesan vehicle, which was being misused, and the willingness of the people to engage in discussion about their return.
4.
The Laity also question why the leadership does not send communication regarding the outcome of the meetings held at provincial level which affect Lake Malawi diocese in good time. Instead we hear only these issues from the grapevine. The Laity believe that the Vicar-General is accountable to them, therefore he is under an obligation to inform the Laity of what is going on in the diocese. The Church lacks transparency in its dealing.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION notes that the Diocese of Lake Malawi is emerging as a significant case (now being observed with interest in the wider Anglican Communion) where an old style authoritarian episcopal leadership is slowly being forced into the modern world. The bishops will have, at some point, to give way to a more authentic Anglican episcopal oversight of the ‘Bishop in Synod’ leading by consensus, not diktat.
If the last three remarkable years prove anything it is that no longer can the people be kept in the dark, no longer can bishops simply impose their will. Modern communications provide information and with information comes power and responsibility. In the long-run, once the bishops have grasped this fact, the much-troubled Central African Province will emerge the better.
Jean Msosa
Information
House of Laity Lake Malawi Diocese
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Malawi Christians face up to the government
Rev Lazarus Chakwela
From The Zimbabwean
The Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), an umbrella body of all Christian Churches in the country has reaffirmed their commitment to guide and monitor the true observance of democracy and human rights.
The organization's General Secretary, Rev. Canaan Phiri told President Bingu Wa Mutharika and his cabinet ministers during the DPP National Convention in Blantyre that it would be a “huge mistake” for Churches in the country to keep silent, during situations, where democratic tenets, were not followed and respected.
“We have a God-given responsibility to guide this country for the good of the common man and women and future of democracy.
“We will praise, where praise is due and at the same time, we will criticize when something has gone wrong. We have a prophetic role to fulfill and we will maintain that at all cost to serve Malawi from doom,” said Rev Phiri. “It is our responsibility to correct any wrongs and tell the truth and we will not compromise this task,” said the cleric bluntly, while looking at Mutharika in the face.
Rev Phiri noted that for the past few years, political developments which have unfolded in the country have been very disturbing.
“Lately, we have witnessed some disturbing developments in the country, which have been embarrassing to mother Malawi. We would make sure that this trend does not continue,” said Phiri, amid a deafening silence.
The courageous cleric then told Mutharika that church leaders would be boycotting political rallies, if politicians would continue with “politics of insults”.
“It has been very disturbing to note that when we are asked to pray during political rallies, what follows next are insults. When we start boycotting some of these rallies, don't be surprised,” he said.
The cleric then asked all political leaders in the country to cultivate a good working relationship with the Church in order to “build a tolerant nation.”===========
All credit to The Malawi Council of Churches, but this does sound ominous.
Covenant: not dead yet
Members of the Joint Standing Committee planning for the 2009 ACC meeting. Penwatch said (in a comment on an earlier post) that
The Covenant is in the long grass where it has been kicked. Now that the North American schism is more or less complete it (the Covenant) is less and less necessary.She may be right. I hope he is right. But I am not so sanguine.
The way of Primates’ Meetings means that it is highly improbable that its communiqué, or equivalent, will simply state, ‘We tried the Covenant and it didn’t work, so we’re not going any further with it.’
Which leaves the question of just how we will know whether the Covenant has been fatally holed beneath the water line even though the ship appears to continue sailing forwards.
1) Timetable
My guess is that the most obvious clue will be if the timetable slips.
So far the Covenant process under Drexel Gomez has stayed tightly within the time table set out in Towards an Anglican Covenant (March 2006) abbreviated in the Report of the Covenant Design Group (January 2007). (This in itself is a notable achievement. It has been possible by resolutely refusing to engage with any group other than tiny coteries who speak for each Province – see my paper Bouncing change through the Anglican Communion (June 2007) available here.)
The timetable requires Provinces to respond to the draft Covenant by March 2009. The Design Group is due to meet in London in April to agree a final draft which in turn should be agreed by the ACC meeting in Kingston, Jamaica (Gomez’ backyard) in May. The ACC is expected to remit the final draft to Provinces who will be asked to sign up by 2010.
It is possible that Provinces will object to this deadline if they wish to respond to the draft coming out of February’s Primates’ Meeting. Equally, as only section 3 of the St Andrews draft is likely to change substantially, this timetable may be acceptable to most.
It is possible that the ACC will reject the draft Covenant, but highly improbable.
The fact that Jefferts Schori has said she would "strongly discourage" any effort to endorse the Covenant at TEC’s General Convention in July will not hold up this timetable. TEC could simply sign up later if they so decided.
2) Budget
One huge hole in the Covenant process has been the absence of any public assessment of the costs of the proposal.
Signing up will cost nothing, financially. But the lodging of a complaint under the St Andrew’s draft would clearly entail some considerable cost in time, travel and office space. I very much doubt the ACO would simply absorb the work and, if it did, it wouldn’t be at nil cost.
To pre-empt formal complaints a permanent Covenant office would probably be necessary. Its job would, presumably, be to monitor the implementation of the Covenant, to act as mediator in minor matters – i.e. heading off formal complaints, and to maintain a list of globally approved ecclesiastical lawyers who could respond (presumably for a globally approved fee) when a formal complaint was laid. It would need staff, an office, and a generous travel budget.
I wonder if those still paying for Lambeth 08 will welcome this additional cost?
The continued absence of a budget and identified funding will also put a question mark against the Covenant, though not yet a fatal one.
3) Last chance?
The St Andrew's draft was most severely criticised for its complex means of adjudicating international disputes between Covenanting members. The Communion’s official ‘Responses’ page still shows none of the Provinces' responses to the St Andrew's draft.
If the Design Group can come up with a scheme acceptable to most Provinces then the Covenant will, I predict, be signed. If it's next proposal is also unwelcome then I think the whole project will be sunk.
In which case a magnum of virtual champagne goes to Penwatch and to each of my correspondents who have told me for so long that the Covenant has as much life as a Norwegian Blue parrot.
.
19/01/2009
Out of school in Zimbabwe
Photo: Jeffrey Barbee / For LA TimesSee the 2008 article tracing the collapse of the school system back to 2005.
From Anglican Information
Education in Zimbabwe, an ‘on the ground’ report:
Jan 17th 2009
The start of the new term has been delayed for a fortnight by the government, and the rumour is it will be delayed again. The reason given is that the 2008 end of year exams have not yet been marked. (End of Primary Grade 7, Local O and A levels). This may or may not be true.
But without doubt there is an enormous shortage of teachers, who have left the country in droves. Last term ended in a strike as salaries were no longer adequate to pay any needed bus fares. By the end of last term most government schools were closed or running almost as a playground. Science and Maths teachers were non existent.
Private schools were running normally, and from the middle of the term some schools in middle class areas re-opened. This was due to the parents getting together and raising funds to pay the teachers some sort of salary. At the school where I teach in Mabelreign, some of the parents did not, or could not, pay the extra 'top-up', but their kids came back to school with the rest. The parents also resuscitated the bore hole so that the school had water, which it had only had very intermittently. At other schools the parents worked class by class providing the essentials for the teacher of their children as well as her salary. Some new private schools opened up.
The situation this term is different because in the meantime there has been a de facto 'US dollarisation' in many if not most fields in the country. Inflation is now said to be in the billions so the Zim$ is virtually useless. The heads are therefore asking permission to charge school fees in US dollars, only apparently US$2 - 4 per TERM. So far the government has not responded. What can they do? If they allow school fees in US dollars they must offer the teachers, whom they pay directly a US $ salary too. But they have no money, and though they can print ever higher denominations of Zim $, they can not print US$.
Interestingly because the government could not open its schools they ordered the private schools not to open either, threatening to arrest the heads if they disobeyed. I heard this morning that the academically prestigious St George's College opened on time regardless. The headmaster, a Jesuit priest, is so far still in his office. I do not know what is happening in other private schools. Even Zanu.PF 'chiefs' want their children educated, so one wonders if this may not be a break point for the government.
The human cost of all this is above calculation. Yesterday I took some books, which I had been given by a friend leaving the country, to a Township secondary school near me. The head, a lovely grey haired man, was in his office. I sat down for a chat. The school probably has 1000 pupils, and should perhaps have 30 teachers. I asked how many teachers he expected to be short next term. 'I think about 20' he said sadly. 'The problem is that until the school is allowed to open I cannot plan'. I asked where he lived. He came from Glen Norah, so must need two bus fares to pay morning and evening. The cholera is bad there, and people are dying in big numbers. They often can not boil the water as there is no electricity. I promised I would take him round some water sterilising tablets I have been sent.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION comments that this is a report from relatively ‘well-off’ areas. The situation in the countryside is dire. Sadly, for the moment Zimbabwe seems to have been forgotten – but not by us.
.
17/01/2009
Earn your own money
Soldiers on the streets of Harare
From Sokwanele
The police in Zimbabwe are not being paid well, if they are being paid at all. A couple of weeks ago I was told by a colleague that the police hadn’t been paid since September 2008 - he’d heard this from two different policemen. His comment to me was “Zimbabwean policeman have all become beggars”.
It was put to me differently a couple of days ago when another friend said she had been told by someone in the police that they had been told to “earn their own money”. What on earth does this mean? Are they being told to go out and find second jobs, or are they being told to “do what you need to do to survive”? Zimbabweans would probably assume that latter.
From the Zimbabwe Independent
The cash-strapped government this week failed to pay soldiers their January salaries on time amid reports that it has also ruled out paying them in foreign currency in the near future - a move that has resulted in morale in the army hitting rock bottom.
Reliable sources told the Zimbabwe Independent that soldiers were due to be paid yesterday, but were advised by officers at army barracks throughout the country that government was unable to pay them this week. The sources said a senior army officer, Colonel Mbonisi Gatsheni, former defence forces spokesperson, on Wednesday told soldiers at KGVI barracks that they would not receive their salaries on time, but did not disclose the reasons for the delay. "We were initially supposed to get our salaries on Tuesday, but the payday was moved to Thursday. During the course of this week we were informed that the salaries were not deposited in our accounts," a source said. "Gatsheni told us that our salaries will be in local currency and this incensed us."
========
Both are recipes for disaster. They are an invitation to those capable of setting up gangs to do so. Soldiers who are not paid are worth something if they take their weapons with them into the 'private' sector. Police who are accustomed to setting up roadblocks to fleece travellers quickly become small groups capable of taking whatever they want. Those with access to forex will be able to buy whoever they want.
It won't take many either. As soon as some gangs start to appear other people will want to protect themselves from their depradations - which will mean more, bigger, better armed gangs. Who else will they turn to for protection? The police?
The civil and military structures in Zimbabwe have always seemed strong to me but there is only so much strain that they can bear. At some point the long, slow decline into anarchy becomes a collapse: metal fatigue may be invisible till the whole structure collapses.
.
16/01/2009
Less gay sex in seminary
From Pantagraph.com
================
So how do they know? How did they establish a baseline of homosexual activity in order to make the comparison? For that matter, how do they define homosexual activity in the first place? Do they keep stats by differing categories?
I just ask.
.
A Vatican office that evaluated U.S. Roman Catholic
seminaries says the schools have made improvements in halting what they call
"homosexual behavior" among students.
The Vatican also says seminaries are doing well in teaching about
celibacy and are generally effective in screening candidates for the
priesthood.
The Vatican ordered the seminary review in response to the clergy sex abuse
crisis to see whether the schools had contributed to the problem.
The Vatican also directed evaluators to look for "evidence of
homosexuality" in the schools.
================
So how do they know? How did they establish a baseline of homosexual activity in order to make the comparison? For that matter, how do they define homosexual activity in the first place? Do they keep stats by differing categories?
I just ask.
.
The coming Covenant III
Rev Dr Ephraim Radner
The first harbinger bird of the next draft of the Covenant has been sighted.
Ephraim Radner has published an open letter to his colleagues on the Covenant Design Group. This is somewhat intriguing. It's hearing one statement, from one speaker, with no idea of the rest of the conversation, nor the speakers, that give it context.
Radner is an honourable man whose comments are always carefully considered and are worth taking seriously.
So, of course, we speculate.
Radner is one of the most prominent conservatives who remains committed to TEC. He cites the ordination of Mary Volland by Bishop Robert O'Neill in Colorado (here). Till now O'Neill had refused to conduct such ordinations. What's changed, Radner asks, giving the answer: nothing, except the departure of the most vocal conservatives in the Diocese. That being so, the balance of opinion amongst those who remain tipped towards accepting gay people as priests without requiring celibacy of them. Thus, he deduces, politics, not principles determine ecclesial action.
He reiterates Lambeth 1.10, 1998 and its subsequent repeated endorsement by the leaders of the Communion, concluding
None of this represents “law”. But the “moral authority” of these consistent claims is undeniable, not least because it has continued to elicit response and adjustments by TEC. Furthermore, not all of us on the CDG share the same views about the Christian imperatives with regard to sexual behavior; I am aware of that. But we have nonetheless come to a common understanding of the needs of the Communion with respect to the imperatives of common life in Christ.
'Imperatives' is an interesting term in this context. It conveys the imperious tone of the Covenant which I find wholly unacceptable. It looks to the containment and control of the church and is antipathetic to the diversity of spiritual experience, interpretation of scripture and ecclesial expression.
He addresses one paragraph directly to the members of the Covenant Design Group:
And who should offer a different testimony, if not you and us together, at least
serving groups ostensibly committed to and charged with forging a better way for
our Communion? We cannot control events and the decisions of others. But we can
certainly engage honestly and squarely what is at stake and avoid equivocating
(yes, we do too much of that); we can speak clearly and not secretly or in code;
we can offer concrete and effective proposals, and not diplomatic blurs; and we
can prosecute them with all the energy God has granted us rather than being
sidelined by the doubtless real but nonetheless surmountable bureaucratic
obstacles with which common life across the globe presents us.
From this I guess that the Covenant holds precisely what Radner would deny: equivocation, obscure and coded speech, diplomatic ambiguity. I guess it lacks the capacity to 'prosecute' effectively and that 'bureaucratic obstacles' (or, maybe, legal obstacles) mean that whatever sanctions it now contains are so watery as to be wholly toothless.
We shall find out soon. I expect the next draft of the Covenant to be published just before or just after the Primates' Meeting (at which, it is said, almost every Primate worthy of the mitre will be present) February 1 - 5.
Indeed, the timing of Radnor's open letter suggests his primary audience is the Primates, or their advisors, perhaps in the optimistic hope that they will not accept the Covenant.
I shall continue to oppose the Covenant. I think it's unnecessary and unAnglican and more liable to be marked by the language of 'imperatives' and 'prosecution' than by the language of mutual respect and celebration. I think there are alternatives and the focus on the Covenant (for and against) has blocked different, more creative possibilities. I think the Communion has huge problems hanging together but I am convinced such a treaty is not the way to go.
But I continue to predict some sort of Covenat will be agreed.
.
Kunonga has not gone away yet
ex-bishop Nolbert KunongaFrom the Zimbabwe Times
15/1/09
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) still provides fallen former
Anglican clergyman and ardent supporter of President Robert Mugabe, Nolbert
Kunonga, with tactical support long after he was ousted following a split in the
church early last year.
...
A member of the Anglican Church in Harare told The Zimbabwe Times this week
that police officers were still harassing worshippers who chose to remain loyal
to the larger Bakare group.“The Anglican church members are always harassed by the police who prevent us from using church premises, despite a High Court order allowing us equal access to church facilities until the matter is finalised,” said Elizabeth Chimwe of the Greendale Parish.
“Our group has the support of three quarters of people who were part of
the united Anglican Church but now we have to leave a church with a seating
capacity of about 200 to a group of 38 people just because we have no political
muscle.”
The High Court ruled last year that both the mainstream Bakare group
and the much smaller rebel Kunonga faction should both have access to the church
facilities. For example it was agreed that the Kunonga faction would use the
church facilities for its services from 8 am to 10 am. The Bakare group would
then use the same facilities between 11 am and 1 pm.
Instead, the police have intervened at the time of the change-over and
prevented the Bakare group from using the facilities, it is alleged.
The Bakare group is said to have written to Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri to appeal to him to intervene but without success.
There is speculation now that the group is being victimised because
Bakare is profiled by Kunonga as a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
activist.
Other sources within the Anglican Church said at one time Bakare was
invited to officiate at St Michaels Anglican Church in Mbare. A truck-load of
riot policemen arrived to disrupt the service. It is alleged the police had been
informed that Bakare was hosting an MDC rally at the church.
Because of the presence of the police at Anglican Church facilities,
the Bakare group is now forced to rent houses or buildings close to church
buildings to hold Sunday service.
The Central Anglican Cathedral in the Harare city centre has become a
no-go area for the Bakare group. Worshippers now congregate in the Les Brown
Swimming Pool complex in the Harare Gardens, behind Crown Plaza Monomatapa
Hotel, for their services.
When Bakare was installed as the new Bishop of Harare the ceremony was
staged at the City Sports Centre because access to the cathedral was blocked.
The police have constantly refused to act on a High Court order granting Bakare
access to the church.
“The same method used to invade the farms is the method used by Kunonga
to invade our cathedral,” said Bakare on the occasion.
“It’s very much politically driven. Political involvement is clear in the way that Kunonga promised to deliver the diocese to Zanu-PF,” said a worshipper aligned to Bakare. “His protection from arrest is telling, even though he is defying High Court orders left and right.” Even a High Court’s deputy sheriff was harassed when he tried to open the doors to the church armed with a High Court order.High Court judge, Rita Makarau, had ordered Kunonga to give Bakare and
the majority of Anglicans who support him access to all churches in Harare.
In her ruling she said, “The legal fight gives the impression that the
church has lost its focus, and instead of fighting the good fight and seeking
the Kingdom of God first, church members are fighting each other and are seeking
earthly power and control of church assets.”
But Harare’s chief police officer, Fortune Zengeni, sent a letter at
the time to Anglican churches ordering that only priests aligned with Kunonga be
permitted to hold services.
The Anglican Church arguably the second biggest religious denomination
in Zimbabwe after the Roman Catholic Church was split in January last year after
the Bishop of Harare, Kunonga, declared the diocese independent.
Previously the church was part of the Church of the Province of Central
Africa which dismissed Kunonga as bishop following his cessation. But after his
sensational sacking Kunonga refused to relinquish power and control of the
Anglican Church in Zimbabwe before setting up his own structures even though the
majority of the members of the church were against him.
Kunonga was appointed Bishop of Harare in 2001. He went on to use his new position to sing the praises of President Robert Mugabe and purge the church of more than half its trained priests. Kunonga made history when be became one of, if not the only, Anglican priest ever to be hauled before a special ecclesiastical court to answer to charges of inciting violence against Mugabe’s opponents, intimidating critics and misusing church funds.For his loyalty to Zanu-PF Kunonga was rewarded with a sprawling
commercial farm near Harare which was seized from a white farmer. Kunonga
promptly evicted 40 workers and their families from the property.
Kunonga is a close friend of Didymus Mutasa, the Minister of State for
National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement. Mutasa also serves as
the Secretary for Administration of Zanu-PF. Also an Anglican, Mutasa was the
rebel clergyman’s classmate in primary school at Faiths Mission outside Rusape.
It was one of the earliest Anglican missions established in Southern Rhodesia.
Mutasa (74) remains the only member of Mugabe’s original inner-circle
still active both in Zanu-PF politics and in government. Observers believe he is
the power behind the fallen Kunonga.
All here.
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