I thought I would highlight the case of Bishop Nolbert Kunonga of Harare (in Zimbabwe). The good bishop last year faced multiple charges in ecclesiastical court, the worst of which was incitement to murder. The judge assigned to the trial withdrew with little explanation, and Archbishop Amos Malingo, Primate of Central Africa, dismissed the charges. He is reported to be a flunkey of President Mugabe, having used his pulpit to decry critics of Mugabe's regime, and to defend Mugabe after he won the rigged 2002 election. He has accepted two farms that Mugabe had siezed from their original (White) owners. Any priest who tries to speak out against him is intimidated - several have had to flee the country. And just to put icing on the cake, he has the gall to hide behind accusations of colonialism: "Throughout history the Anglican church has been an extension of British colonialism and imperialism. Now, England has no jurisdiction over me."

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, effectively called for him to be suspended from his duties. “In other jurisdictions, a priest or bishop facing such serious charges would be suspended without prejudice until the case had been closed,” the statement said. “It is therefore very difficult for Bishop Kunonga to be regarded as capable of functioning as a bishop elsewhere in the communion.” Unfortunately, Most Rev Williams has no authority over this scumbag. Archbishop Malingo, who does have authority, has done squat, as previously indicated.

Contrast Kunonga to Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador (Romero was Roman Catholic). Romero started off as a flunkey but ended up using his pulpit to castigate his government, call for an end to the civil war, name those who had been killed by death squads, and to ask then-President Carter to stop sending military aid to the government that used it to kill its own people. Romero was murdered by a death squad. I wonder what will happen to Kunonga.


http://www.swradioafrica.com/news120606/kunonga120606.htm
http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/nolbertkunonga_05jan2006.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2220135,00.html