The Archbishop of Canterbury, has written an open letter to Robert Mugabe urging him to stop the persecution of Anglicans in Zimbabwe.
Dr Williams, speaking as head of the Anglican Communion, said he and his fellow church leaders had been “deeply distressed to hear of the continuing bullying, harassment, and persecution” of Anglicans who supported the official church in the diocese of the capital, Harare, and further afield, The Daily Telegraph reported January 31.
He said evidence suggested that a faction of priests led by an excommunicated bishop loyal to President Mugabe were receiving police backing to attack parishioners – many of whom have been shut out of church buildings and forced to worship in the open air.
He appealed to President Mugabe to “put an end to these abuses forthwith”, adding: “We are convinced that the unmerited, unjust, and unlawful persecution of the members of the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe damages further the good name and reputation of the Republic of Zimbabwe and results in untold and unnecessary additional suffering for many thousands of people.”
Zimbabwe’s Anglican church has been divided since 2007 when Nolbert Kunonga, the then Bishop of Harare, split from the Anglican province of Central Africa in 2007 citing opposition to the ordination of homosexual priests and declared himself an “archbishop”.
He was excommunicated the following year but retained control of several church buildings in the Zimbabwean capital including St Mary’s Anglican cathedral, which now stands locked apart from occasional services attended by a handful of stalwarts of Mr Mugabe’s Zanu PF party.