“As bishops, we have been called to question leadership. Williams had earlier urged the bishops to question the leadership in their countries to weed out corruption and bad governance. However, he called on the church to engage those who practice homosexuality rather than running away from them.
Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi said homosexuality should not be left to the church alone to fight because it is “an issue of humanity”. “We need exemplary leaders and followers who are not sycophantic to deal with these problems.” But African bishops have been exemplary in not accepting homosexuality,” Nsibambi said. “Africa is grappling with many intriguing problems: terrorism, homosexuality, corruption and absence of national unity. He asked them to be steadfast in the campaign against homosexuality. Apolo Nsibambi praised the bishops for their stand against homosexuality, calling it the “right move”. Opening the ceremony, Prime Minister Prof. “We cannot sit down and keep quiet as leaders continue to take away what belongs to the masses,” he said. Orombi also condemned corruption in Africa and noted that although the church was not pure, its leaders must preach against the vice. We will explain to him our stand on homosexuality and engage him.” “We are happy that Archbishop Rowan Williams (of Canterbury) is here. “In Uganda, homosexuality is against our culture,” Orombi said. He said in order to maintain the integrity of the church, African bishops should never “innovate the truth”.Īddressing journalists, Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi said the Church of Uganda and the Anglican Church in Africa believes in the traditional way of marriage. “So Christianity did not begin in Britain we should counteract false ideologies that creep into the church and blur the truth,” he argued. We should make choices which strengthen, not weaken, the church’s credibility,” he said.īefore Christianity went to Britain, he added, there was a church in North Africa. “The time is right to address issues from an African perspective without alien impositions. The chairman of the Conference of African Prelates Association, Archbishop Ian Ernest, challenged the clergy to ensure that African values are not diluted with “misleading alien beliefs”. In a sermon earlier, Williams did not talk about homosexuality, an issue which has put the African church on a collision path with their Western counterparts, who have ordained gay priests. Prayers and Bible study will be held every morning in the conference hall. Canon Grace Kaiso, said the conference is expected to design strategies to curb poverty, conflict and disease on the continent. Participants were excited by the attendance of bishops from the Muslim countries of Sudan and Egypt.Īs most clergy stood to clap at speeches critical of homosexuality, Archbishop Williams and two aides, who sat in the front row, were the only ones who remained seated. The seven-day conference, at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, attracted over 400 bishops, a quarter of whom are from Nigeria. Nsibambi bids farewell to Orombi and Rowan Williams, the head of the Anglican Church, in Entebbe yesterday
Present was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, whose open support of the practice has made him the centre of attraction for the media at the conference. In speeches, most of which received standing ovations, the prelates said the practice was alien and an “innovation of the truth”. ANGLICAN bishops attending the All Africa Bishops Conference in Entebbe have reiterated their firm stand against homosexuality.
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