Archbishop of Canterbury Links Attacks on African Christians to Pro-LGBT Churches

The Most Rev. Justin Welby
Archbishop of Canterbury

PHOTO CREDIT:  Catholic Church
in England & Wales (flickr.com/catholicism)
Used under Creative Commons License

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby,  today claimed on LBC radio in England that he had stood by the grave of more than three hundred Christians in Africa who had been killed as a result of "something that had happened in America." One is likely to conclude, as the interview continues, that "something" referred to the growing acceptance of LGBT people and our relationships by American churches, with the Episcopal Church the largest among them.

This is a very serious claim. Clearly Christians are being killed in religious and ethnic violence in many parts of the world, but this is for many complex reasons. To claim that these people died specifically because of same-gender marriage in America requires significant documentation. Who said that this was the motive? Was it the murderers? Or was this an interpretation offered by the relatives of those who died?

During the Middle Ages, half the population of Europe was wiped out by the Black Death. Jews were accused of poisoning the wells. A moral panic took hold amongst the remaining Christian population and Jews were massacred.

The Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall preaches at
Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd
in Philadelphia in 2013.

PHOTO CREDIT: Christian Paolino
Used with permission

Is it possible that the Archbishop is being caught up in a moral panic? Accusations that Muslim believers will kill Christians who are associated with a "gay church" have been with us for many years, but we have yet to see clear evidence that this is so. To blame deaths in South Sudan, or Nigeria or the Congo solely on our weddings is to ignore the many other reasons that hatred and civil war exists in those places.

By promulgating the view that it’s all "the gays" fault, the Archbishop is actually feeding the wave of homophobia that is sweeping other African nations which have strong Anglican presences – Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya.

Welby said that he was told when he was visiting South Sudan, "Please don’t change what you’re doing [not marrying gay or lesbian couples] because if you did, we couldn’t accept your help and we need your help desperately." Yet, the Church of South Sudan IS accepting help from the Episcopal Church, despite our very public progress on LGBT inclusion, including the blessing of same-gender relationships.


If the Archbishop is as keen on listening to the experience of gay and lesbian people in his own country and throughout the Anglican Communion as he says, then he needs to reconsider the effect of such remarks, both on those who leave the church and turn their backs on God because they are not fully welcome, and on those in Africa and other countries who have no doubt that their sexual orientation or gender identity is the reason they are meeting with violence and death, while the church looks on.

The Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall, President of Integrity, is a native of Great Britain. She serves as Rector of St. Benedict's: Los Osos in the Diocese of El Camino Real and is the author of A Thorn in the Flesh: How Gay Sexuality is Changing the Episcopal Church.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, speaks.

Finally.

From Episcopal News Service:

Archbishop discusses Uganda's proposed anti-homosexuality law in newspaper interview

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, December 14, 2009

[Episcopal News Service] In a Dec. 12 interview with a London newspaper, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said legislation pending in the Ugandan Parliament that would introduce the death penalty for people who violate portions of that country's anti-homosexuality laws "is of shocking severity." 

These were the first public comments Williams has made about the proposed changes to Uganda's existing laws against homosexuality. The bill being advanced by a member of parliament has drawn opposition from leaders and advocates in the Episcopal Church and elsewhere. 

"Overall, the proposed legislation is of shocking severity and I can’t see how it could be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the communion has said in recent decades," Williams told a reporter for The Telegraph. 

Williams has reportedly worked behind the scenes to influence the situation; however his lack of a public statement has drawn criticism from some quarters. That criticism increased when he released a statementwithin 12 hours of the Diocese of Los Angeles electing the Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool, an openly lesbian and partnered woman, to be one of two new bishops suffragan.
Homosexuality in the African nation currently carries a penalty of up to life imprisonment. If passed, the proposed bill would introduce the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," which includes assault against people under the age of 18 and those with disabilities, although recent reports are saying that politicians might be bowing to public pressure and reconsidering the severity of punishments proposed in the legislation. 

Opponents fear that people, including family members and clergy, who support and advise homosexual people could be prosecuted and punished under the proposed law. The law would give Ugandan courts jurisdiction over its citizens who violate the law "partly outside or partly in Uganda."

Williams added in his comments to The Telegraph that "Apart from invoking the death penalty, [the proposed bill] makes pastoral care impossible -- it seeks to turn pastors into informers." He also noted that while the Anglican Church in Uganda opposes the death penalty its archbishop, Henry Orombi, has not taken a position on the proposed changes to the law.
The Anglican Church of Uganda has said that it is studying the bill and does not yet have an official position on the proposed legislation. However, it reiterated the Ugandan church's position that "homosexual behavior is immoral and should not be promoted, supported, or condoned in any way as an 'alternative lifestyle.'"

Read the whole thing here.

So, we know he is aware of it---and are grateful for this---but we hope now that he has started to talk, he will continue the conversation and witness.


Just a reminder---if you have not seen the facebook group "Anglicans who want THIS statement from Canterbury", please join.

Archbishop heralds gay man as greatest Episcopalian theologian

During his Bible study at the morning Eucharist today, the Archbishop of Canterbury referred to William Stringfellow, a gay peace activist and human rights lawyer as ‘the greatest Episcopalian theologian and perhaps the greatest American theologian of the twentieth century… not the least of the gifts which the Episcopal Church has given the rest of us.’ (You can read more about Stringfellow here.)

A last minute resolution at the 2006 General Convention, B033, prevented the Episcopal Church from electing talented gay theologians and priests to the episcopacy in order to maintain relationships with other provinces in the Anglican Communion. Since then the House of Bishops have had several opportunities to consider the implications but the House of Deputies has not met since so an unprecedented special order has allowed time for informal discussion with the whole House. This process started today and will continue tomorrow.

The normal process of committee hearings happened too in a long, so long hearing which in some ways seemed to repeat the afternoon’s hearing at the Prayer Book, Music and Liturgy Committee.

There is no doubt that many people are ready to move the Church to a place where all God’s people can be elected to the positions where God is calling them regardless of sexual orientation.

And our message to the Archbishop is ‘Here we are, send us’.

Anaheim Eight in Private Meeting with Primate

This afternoon eight LGBT deputies had a private meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury. In just thirty minutes there was hardly time for a free and full exchange of views so instead the deputies shared some of their personal stories and the Archbishop listened. What happened next they will not say because it was a ‘private’ meeting. We can certainly respect a need for privacy but why in this situation? Was it was part of the ground rules of the meeting at the Archbishop’s request? Or did the organizers think it was necessary to induce him to meet, as if the Archbishop might be afraid of American LGBT people? That’s puzzling because he knows plenty of English ones and doesn’t seem to mind talking to them.

Or was it necessary to have protected space in order to facilitate a degree of vulnerability? If so, was it facilitated? We may never know the details but the deputies we spoke with were pleased to have had the opportunity to talk to the Archbishop and share their experiences of exclusion and inclusion. We are pleased for them, and for us too. As deputy Michael Spencer commented, the times they are changing. Until September 2007, the Archbishop didn’t seem willing to meet with the Episcopal Church at all, and now he’s back less than two years later and he’s not just meeting bishops.

Thanks to the Anaheim Eight who shared their/our stories, and thanks to deputy Michael Barlowe for setting this up. You can catch an interview with deputies Altagracia Perez, Lisa Gray and Michael Spencer coming up on IntegriTV.

Caroline Hall, Communications Team, IntegrityUSA