Episcopal Press and News
News Briefs
Episcopal News Service. August 9, 2002 [2002-190-1]
Peace agreement offers fragile hope for peace in the Sudan
(ENS) On July 20 the government of the Sudan and the main opposition party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, signed an agreement that offers the first glimpse of peace after several decades of a devastating civil war that has claimed the lives of an estimated two million people and forced another four million to abandon their homes.
"The Machakos Protocol represents a significant step toward peace in Sudan," said the Rev. Harum Ruun of the New Sudan Council of Churches. "We encourage the parties to involve their people in understanding and feeling ownership of the protocol and future agreements."
The protocol tackles such thorny issues as the separation of religion and the state (the north is Islamic and the south is a mixture of Christians and animists) and includes the right to self-determination by the people in the south. But there was no agreement on how to share income from the oil fields, many of them in the south. A second round of talks in Kenya will address continuing issues. A key component in the agreement calls for a referendum within six years.
Since the protocol is not a comprehensive cease-fire, the fighting continues and some reports claimed that the government was still attacking villages in the south. "We are optimistic that, in the long term, can bring a halt to the tragedy of the civil war and make a real difference to the lives of the Sudanese people," said Dan Silvey, senior policy officer for Christian Aid.
Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey said that he was "pleased and encouraged by the recent progress that has been made towards peace in Sudan. Any durable resolution of the conflict will need to deal honestly with such issues as religious freedom for all and self-determination, and I am heartened that this reality has been embraced by those involved in the negotiations." Carey has made several high-profile visits to Sudan to express his support for the suffering Christian community in the south.
Attacks on Christians in Pakistan continue
(ENS) Recent attacks on a Christian school and a missionary hospital in predominantly Muslim Pakistan are being interpreted by some as part of an intentional campaign against Christianity.
Minister of Information Nisar Memon called the latest killings "a sinister attempt to drive a wedge between the Muslim and Christian communities of Pakistan." Some observers said that the attacks stem from the support of President Pervez Musharraf for the international war against terrorism led by the United States.
During one attack five unidentified gunmen stormed the gates of a school for the children of missionaries in the Himalayan foothills north of Islamabad. That attack killed at least six people, most of them on the staff.
Three Pakistani nurses were killed by grenades tossed into a crowd of women leaving a missionary hospital chapel in Taxila. Police were investigating possible connections between the two attacks, only 38 miles apart.
The Taxila Christian Hospital has been affiliated with the Presbyterian churches of Pakistan and the United States, receiving occasional funding from the Americans, Swedes and Germans. Hospital officials said that the hospital was probably regarded as a foreign target, one that is linked to the Christian west. "I think this is a matter of sadness for our country," said administrator Joseph Lall. "It will cause fear--especially among the Christians. We feel trapped."
Anglican bishop of Lahore in the Church of Pakistan, Alexander John Malik, said that security was being reviewed at other Christian sites and institutions as a result of the attacks. He said that if the Islamic militants "think that by targeting us they might change the policies of America and England they are mistaken."
The militants are likely connected with the armed groups fighting the guerilla war against India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Church leaders in Angola call for help in rebuilding after civil war
(ENI) Prominent church leaders in Angola are calling for help in rebuilding the southern African nation after a disastrous 27-year civil war. "The great superpowers acknowledge that our country has been destroyed but they don't want to acknowledge their role in destroying it," said the Rev. Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, a Baptist pastor who serves as executive secretary of the Inter-Church Committee for Peace in Angola.
While the war began among factions fighting for control after independence from Portugal in 1975, it soon became a proxy contest of the Cold War with Cuba and the Soviet Union backing the government and the United States and South Africa backing the rebels. The war stopped abruptly when rebel leader Jonas Savimbi was killed last February and the rebels were integrated into Angolan society after a cease-fire was signed in April.
The United Nations considers Angola the worst humanitarian crisis in the world with serious food shortages and four million people displaced, almost a third of the total population. Many donor nations have been slow to respond to appeals for emergency assistance because of lingering concerns about corruption. The government has refused to release information on its oil income to the International Monetary Fund while it continues to request loans from the IMF.
"If we don't manage this humanitarian crisis well, we'll just be planting seeds for the next conflict," Ntoni-Nzinga said. "We need the world's help." He said that foreign companies contributing to the corruption "should be punished both in Angola and in their own country."
Survey finds many Church of England clergy doubt Resurrection and Virgin Birth
(Telegraph) A new survey reveals that a third of clergy in the Church of England express doubts about the Resurrection and only about half believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus. The poll of 2,000 of the church's 10,000 clergy also found that about half believe that faith in Christ is the only route to salvation.
The survey, conducted by Christian Research, did reveal more orthodox beliefs on some of the other core doctrines of the church. More than 75 percent, for example, accept the doctrine of the Trinity and a similar percentage believe that Christ died to take away the sins of the world. More than 80 percent subscribed to the belief that God the Father created the world.
Cost of Conscience, the conservative organization that commissioned the survey, was quick to interpret the results. "There are clearly two churches operating in the Church of England--the believing church and the disbelieving church, and that is a scandal," said the Rev. Robbie Low. "Increasingly, positions of authority are being placed in the hands of people who believe less and less. It is an intolerable situation where the faithful are increasingly being led by the unfaithful."
In other findings, the survey showed that a quarter of the clergy still described themselves as "implacably opposed" to women bishops.
The Rev. Nicholas Henderson, general secretary of the liberal Modern Churchpeople's Union, said that he was not surprised by the results. He said that clergy, faced with intelligent and educated congregations, increasingly had to think "very carefully" about how to present complex doctrine in a credible way.
Bishop of Pennsylvania suspends conservative rector
(ENS) Bishop Charles Bennison, Jr. of Pennsylvania has "inhibited" or suspended the Rev. David Moyer, rector of Church of the Good Shepherd in suburban Philadelphia and a prominent "traditionalist" leader at the national level.
In a five-page letter the bishop asked to be read in the congregations, Bennison said that some have erroneously depicted the suspension "as prejudicial with regard to those of a conservative theology. Nothing could be further from the truth." The letter explained that Moyer would be defrocked September 4 unless he submits to the authority of the bishop and allows him to visit the parish. Moyer expressed anger and defiance and said that he expects to be defrocked and predicted that the diocese would pursue legal efforts to seize the property.
Moyer is president of Forward in Faith and his name has been proposed as a possible candidate for election to the episcopate by that organization which is opposed to what it perceives as liberal trends in the church, including the ordination of women and homosexuals.
"Our goal is to keep the conversation within the community," said Meg Cave, speaking for the diocese, "The bishop's job is to build bridges within the community."
Liberia's Cuttington University College appoints new president
(ENS) The board of trustees for Cutting University College in Liberia has appointed Dr. Henrique F. Topka as president, succeeding Dr. Melvin Mason who has retired. Topka is the former vice president for administration. The appointment was announced by Bishop Edward Neufville, bishop of the Episcopal Church of Liberia and president of the board, at ceremonies in the capital city of Monrovia marking the 41st commencement convocation.
The college was forced to abandon its campus last May in the face of renewed fighting in the country's civil war. Although no one was killed or injured, the rebel forces looted the campus and heavily damaged many of the buildings. The college set up temporary facilities in Monrovia and finished the academic year with graduation ceremonies for about 86 students on July 28. It was the first graduating class since the campus reopened in October 1998.
The college was forced to close in 1990 when it had 900 students on campus. The rebels stripped the campus clean and the school was just beginning to recover when the latest round of fighting forced the students and faculty to flee for their lives.
Mason served as fifth president of Cuttington, beginning in February of 1988 until his retirement at the end of July. The college is the second oldest institution of higher learning in the nation and its graduates have assumed positions of high leadership during a turbulent era. Because of its location near the center of the country, it has been deeply affected by the civil war.