SA Primate: “Good education at the heart of our capacity to grow”; Thabo Mbeki Calls on Churches to Raise their Voices and Act; WCC urges Pakistan to protect communities from terrorism; Pope to visit namesake’s Assisi tomb
SA Primate: “Good education at the heart of our capacity to grow”
The Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, said good education is at the heart of the Church’s capacity to grow, and that Godly education can help form, inform and transform Christians and the Church.
The Archbishop said this yesterday during the opening session of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) Provincial Synod taking place in Benoni, a city in the Gauteng province of South Africa.
The Synod, described by some delegates as “one of most well attended and representative”, comprises most bishops from ACSA, many laity, ecumenical and provincial guests, and various officials from the government and civil society.
The Archbishop addressed various issues within and beyond the Province including the need for quality education in the Province, adoption of clean energy, a call to world peace, and unity in diversity within the Anglican Church.
“My hope is that through theological education we will encourage all our people to take risks in faith,” he said. “We need to let ourselves be led beyond our comfort zones into places of unexpected grace and rich encounter.”
“This is why I am asking Synod to look particularly not only at what we hope to achieve in each priority area, but how we aim to educate our Province to what we are doing,” he said.
The Archbishop revealed that ACSA has used “some bright young Anglicans” to help develop an education strategy which will help strengthen what the Province is already doing in education as well as create more excellent church schools for all.
“Within our schools, colleges and universities we aim to form fully rounded individuals capable of analysing critically the world around us, and acting compassionately,” explained the Primate.
Abp Makgoba highlighted the need for Christians not to fear differences or disagreements because “it is through wrestling together – as brothers and sisters who know our unity in Christ is greater than anything that can divide us – that we can be like rough stones polishing each other to become beautiful smooth gems.”
“God calls us instead to wrestle with one another within the body of Christ, and together to wrestle with him, so we may discern his will in the complexities of our relationships in this complex world,” he said. “Better understandings of Canon Law should help resource us to deal with difficult issues in more holy ways.”
He added: “Our world needs the combination of critical analysis and compassionate hearts. We need it in Syria, Egypt, Israel and Palestine, Kenya and Pakistan, Sudan and South Sudan. There are rarely easy answers to finding lasting peace with justice. Any attempts to find solutions through simplistic military engagement are almost certain to lead to greater violence, (but) prayer is the best route to wise action.”
Commenting on the Primate’s Charge, Mr. Sakumzi Macozoma, the recipient of the Order of Simon of Cyrene for distinguished lay service to the Church said, “The text, meaning and interpretation were very appropriate to the serious and challenging times in which we live in.”
“There are so many issues in the world today that require the intervention of the Church (such as) war and violence. When it comes to education, there can be no progress on any issue unless our children are educated better. Education helps them develop their moral compass.”
Pumla Titus is the Provincial President of the Anglican Women’s Fellowship and a delegate at the Synod. She said, “ I am very happy with the Archbishop’s Charge because South Africa needs to put more thought and effort in the area of education. The Archbishop has challenged us to think more broadly and positively about investing in the education of our children and our clergy.”
The Revd Canon Celestino Chishimba from the Diocese of Mpumalanga agreed with the Primate on the need for cleaner sources of energy. “He made an important call to the whole African continent on the need for renewable energy which is cheaper, less harmful and helps preserve the environment.”
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa holds its Provincial Synod once every three years. It is one of the biggest Provinces in Africa comprising dioceses in Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, the island of St. Helena and Swaziland.
Thabo Mbeki Calls on Churches to Raise their Voices and Act
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki today criticised the country’s churches for ‘demobilising’ after the end of apartheid and called on them to become more active in responding to the challenges faced by society.
He was addressing the three-yearly Provincial Synod of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, which is being held in Benoni, South Africa.
Before his address, he lit a candle in memory of a lay representative to the Synod, James Thomas, who was killed in the al-Shabaab attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi on September 21.
He also joined in lighting two further candles with the Archbishop of Cape Town, Dr Thabo Makgoba, who also offered prayers, for Nelson Mandela’s continuing well-being, and for the continent of Africa in which Mr Mbeki has been involved in various mediation and diplomatic initiatives.
Mr Mbeki said that during apartheid, ‘one of our principal fighters for liberation here was the church.’ But since liberation, ‘one of the things that has happened here is that the church has become demobilised … It has distanced itself in a way from responding as it used to respond to national challenges and has disappeared somewhere over the horizon.
‘My sense is that the voice of the church is not as strong now as it used to be at a time when we need that strong voice.’
He said that not only churches but civil society had tended to say in effect: ‘We have now elected our government… and the government must deliver.’ But, he added, ‘The idea that the government will deliver and we do nothing is wrong.’
Asked for an example of how the churches should act, Mr Mbeki said many crimes of violence against persons in South Africa were committed between Friday and Sunday evenings, were clearly linked with alcohol, and the ‘overwhelming majority’ of victims were people who lived in black townships.
There were churches in all these communities: ‘What intervention does it (the church as a whole) make?’
Saying that ‘The leadership of the church is sorely missed’ he expressed gladness that the Synod had been reflecting on this, and on how to contribute to tackling the particular challenges of the education sector.
Extending his criticism to churches on the rest of the continent, he asked what the continent’s principal ecumenical body, the All Africa Conference of Churches, was doing.
‘I don’t know where it is. It was one of your major African voices which is no longer heard… in a situation in which in reality Africa needs to speak louder about itself and its concerns than ever before.
‘It is clear that because of the reduction of that voice, that African voice on African issues, there are others in the world who have designs on our continent and who will no doubt carry out their programs whatever we think.’
Criticising ‘weak leadership’ in Africa, he added that ‘there used to be a time when the rest of the world had an African agenda, at least they said they tried to address an African agenda, which agenda had been verified by Africans.’
Now, however, forces outside Africa ‘no longer have an African agenda’ but one ‘they have set themselves.’ He cited the United Nations Security Council’s authorisation of the use of force in Libya as an example.
In response to a question, Mr Mbeki confirmed that he was engaged with Swaziland, though doing so ‘without calling press conferences’.
Agreeing with a comment that South Africans, through the media and through other channels, were not well informed about the rest of the continent, he spoke about his own role in Sudan and South Sudan.
He and his fellow panel-members were optimistic that both countries were moving further away from the possibility of renewed conflict, even if there were complex outstanding issues to resolve.
He warned that South Africans must ‘learn the lesson of South Sudan’, and not ‘retreat to tribalism … We should look at South Sudan and see that we must not sacrifice the national cohesion we have built over a long time, just because it might bring something to my pocket.’
He commended the initiative for reconciliation and nation building among South Sudan’s many strong tribal identities that is being spearheaded by the Archbishop of Sudan, a guest at Provincial Synod.
WCC urges Pakistan to protect communities from terrorism
In an open letter to the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary expressed “profound distress” over a series of bomb attacks that have occurred within the last week in Pakistan, killing many people including worshippers at the All Saints Church in Peshawar.
“By expressing our strong condemnation of these acts of terrorism, we express our sincere condolences and sympathy, especially to the families of those who were killed and injured,” said Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the WCC, in a letter issued on 3 October.
“We hold all people of Pakistan in our thoughts and prayers,” he added.
Tveit shared that the WCC has always expressed serious concern about the safety and security of the religious minorities in Pakistan especially amidst the growing threat of religious extremism.
He mentioned his visit to Pakistan in 2011 when, Tveit said, he had the opportunity to hear about the plight of Christians in Pakistan and understand the fear experienced by religious minorities living amidst “insecurity and lack of adequate protection”.
He urged the Pakistani government to take the measures necessary to provide security to vulnerable communities, especially those religious communities faced with constant threats to their lives.
Pope to visit namesake’s Assisi tomb
Pope Francis will visit the shrine of his namesake Francis of Assisi, as he begins work on Church reforms inspired by the 13th Century saint.