Anglicans call for action to promote peace in Korea; Prayer urged after Syria massacre and kidnapping; More Zimbabwean Anglicans back from exile
Anglicans call for action to promote peace in Korea
The threat of military escalation in Korea and Japan was one of many topics discussed by the Second Worldwide Anglican Peace Conference, held in Okinawa, Japan 16-22 April
A total of 80 delegates – from Anglican/Episcopal Churches in Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, the United States, the UK and Ireland – discussed how they could respond amid signs that governments were moving towards a war-footing.
As an example that peace is possible, the conference commended an initiative of the Anglican Church of Korea – titled Towards Peace in Korea (TOPIK) – which is promoting peace dialogue in the region and providing humanitarian assistance to North Koreans.
An official statement issued by delegates at the peace conference reads: “We commend the Anglican Church of Korea and its ministry for the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula and humanitarian assistance to North Koreans in need.”
Rachel Parry, United Society (Us) Programme Manager for Asia, said the fact the conference was jointly hosted by the Anglican Churches of Korea and Japan was itself another powerful demonstration of the regional Anglican commitment to reconciliation, trust-building and hope.
She explained: “The joint hosting of this peace conference by these two churches puts into perspective how far these churches have come in terms of trust and relationship building, and in terms of their desire to share their learning and aims for peace with other countries in Asia, and indeed the world. The witness of this reconciling ministry and its implications and consequences beyond these borders is important for the Anglican Communion to understand.”
Hosting the conference in Okinawa was similarly significant, she said given the trials the island has faced over the last decades – first colonisation by Japan in the nineteenth century, then the traumas of the Pacific War, and the occupation of land by the United States’ military bases.
“The situation in Okinawa presents us with a critical example of the power dynamics and realities in the north-east Asia region. Getting at the heart of why there continues to be United States’ military bases on Asian islands has been a fundamental part of the conference.”
Prayer urged after Syria massacre and kidnapping
Members of the Anglican Communion are being asked urgently to pray for an end to the violence in Syria.
This week saw the massacre of many women and children in a besieged town near Damascus and on Monday, two bishops of Aleppo were reported kidnapped.
The Greek Orthodox Metropolitan, Mgr Boulos Yazigi, and the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, were captured while returning from doing humanitarian work. More information on the kidnapping is available at: http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2013/04/metropolitans-boulos-yazigi-and-mor-youhanna-ibrahim-kidnapped-outside-aleppo/
Readers of CNI are invited to pray for their safe release, for protection for the vulnerable, and for a peaceful solution to this conflict.
More Zimbabwean Anglicans back from exile
On the April 6, 2013, all roads in the Zimbabwean city of Mutare led to the cathedral of St John the Baptist in the center of the city, as over 3,000 Christians marched to witness the cleansing and rededication of the cathedral after years of defilement and abuse by the excommunicated bishop Mr Elson Madhodha Jakazi.
Anglicans from all over the diocese came to witness this memorable event. Some came from as far as Nyamaropa, a town which is over two hundred kilometers north of Mutare. Others came from churches dotted around the city. It was a marvel to watch the sea of blue, white and black which is the trademark Mothers’ Union uniform walking up Mutare’s main thoroughfare Herbert Chitepo street.
The rededication service started with an early morning procession at 6am, from the Meikles Park up Herbert Chitepo Street to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist. There was however a lighter moment to the procession as the police tried to stop the procession forgetting that they had granted the church permission to undertake the procession.
The procession was accompanied by lively singing from our diocesan choir made up of choristers from the different congregations in the diocese who had practiced for a month. It was an electric atmosphere as people celebrated the end of a long struggle that had drained the diocese of its resources and spirituality.
When the precession reached the cathedral, the Vicar General, Canon Kingston Nyazika, ably assisted by the two churchwardens, presented the Bishop’s Cathedra chair which had been kept in exile. After the bishop accepted the chair, it was time for a brief history of the Anglican Diocese of Manicaland. It was presented by the diocesan registrar Mr. Ashel Mutungura who touched on how the whole sad episode started with Mr. Jakazi withdrawal from the province of Central Africa in September 2007. Among many other areas, he also touched on the election of the Dr. Julius Makoni as the Bishop, his consecration as well and the challenges that he faced.