Anglicans struggle to aid Zimbabwe
On February 25th, Ash Wednesday, Anglicans across Canada and around the world prayed for and fasted in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, a famine stricken southern African country plagued by disease, oppressed by an authoritarian government and intimidated by a fallen religious leader.
Despite losing last year's national election and recently forming a coalition government with the reformist Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) continues to use violence to intimidate political opponents.
The elderly strongman's contempt for democracy prompted Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, to confront "the tyranny of the [Zimbabwe] Government" in a column published by The Times on Ash Wednesday. The role of the Anglican Church, along with other denominations, wrote the Archbishops, is "to remind a battered and violated population that their dignity still matters and that change is possible."
That mission has been complicated by the activities of renegade Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who was ex-communicated by the Anglican Church for his links to the brutal Mugabe regime and for his illicit activities in the Anglican Diocese of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.
In September of 2007, Kunonga attempted to unlawfully separate the diocese from the Anglican Province of Central Africa—which encompasses Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe—citing the synod's supposedly liberal stance on homosexuality. Even though the regional body promptly ousted him as Bishop of Harare, the iconoclastic Kunonga has refused to recognize the authority of his replacement and continues to rule the diocese with an iron fist.
"Bishop Kunonga began to look at the Church's buildings as his possessions," states Archdeacon Paul Feheley, principal secretary to Archbishop Fred Hiltz, the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. With the backing of police, government security forces and state-trained youth militias, the renegade bishop seized control of all Anglican church properties in Harare last year.
And despite a ruling from the High Court of Zimbabwe that grants traditional Anglicans access to church buildings, Kunonga and his thugs continue to permit only his tiny pro-government sect to worship at Harare's Anglican churches.
A strong step
By ex-communicating Kunonga last year, explains the archdeacon, "the church took a remarkably strong step in trying to deal with him—something, quite frankly, we rarely do anymore."
However, expelling Kunonga along with another discredited bishop hasn't resolved the crisis. During a recent gathering of the leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion at Alexandria, Egypt, the primates issued a strong statement on Zimbabwe, calling "for the full restoration of Anglican property within Zimbabwe to the Church of the Province of Central Africa."
Yet, Zimbabwean authorities continue to rough up clergy, arrest worshippers and bar Anglicans from their own churches.
For the Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the crisis in Harare is of particular concern. In 2004 Sebastian Bakare, then the Bishop of Manicaland, Zimbabwe, visited his companion diocese in Canada and developed a strong bond with the Maritimes.
"Sebastian is now the bishop of Harare since Kungonga was deposed," explains Susan Moxley, the bishop of Nova Scotia and PEI. "We are supporting him and the current bishop of Manicaland, Peter Hatendi (appointed after Elson Jakazi was deposed) through prayer and humanitarian aid."
How to help
Canadian Christians who want to help Zimbabwe "can speak to their members of parliament and ask why the Canadian government is doing nothing to put pressure on the president of Zimbabwe to leave," says Moxley. They can also "send financial help through recognized organizations that can actually get help into Zimbabwe."
But she warns donors: "Beware of any requests for money that come from someone claiming to be the bishop in Harare."
Moxley's diocese donates money to Zimbabwe through the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF), which is one of 15 member agencies that make up the Canada Foodgrains Bank. The Canada Foodgrains Bank recently sent 9,109 metric tons of food aid to Zimbabwe, enough to feed approximately 120,000 people.
The Anglican Church, like other Christian organizations, also supports orphans, school feeding programs and health clinics in Zimbabwe. And the recently launched Archbishops' Appeal for Zimbabwe aims to feed the starving, curb the spread of disease and make anti-retro-viral drugs available to those infected with HIV/AIDS.
The Anglican Church's call for prayers and fasting for Zimbabwe on Ash Wednesday wasn't intended to be just "a one day things," explains Feheley. "We hope that Canadians, not just Anglicans, but Canadian Christians from every denomination, will take the time to learn about Zimbabwe and respond appropriately."
Dear Readers:
ChristianWeek relies on your generous support. please take a minute and donate to help give voice to stories that inform, encourage and inspire.
Donations of $20 or more will receive a charitable receipt.Thank you, from Christianweek.
