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UGANDA: President tells African bishops: 'There should be no room for intolerance'
Museveni was speaking to almost 400 bishops and other guests at the All Africa Bishops Conference in Entebbe when he used the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan to highlight the need to overcome difference and pursue peace and healing, the article said.
Drawing on Ugandan religious history, Museveni explained it took only 10 years after the first converts to Christianity in Uganda before Catholics and Protestants were fighting and killing each other.
"I don't know where they heard God wanted them to fight and kill each other," he said. "A civil war between those calling themselves Catholics and those calling themselves Protestants! Then there was another war between the two of them and Muslims. They were all fighting on behalf of God, they said."
He said that prejudice should not get in the way of peace and helping other human beings.
"I am always looking for the Good Samaritan," he said. "Jesus says you shall know them by their fruits. You shall know them by their actions. Not by their words, not by their addresses, not by their titles, but by their works, by their deeds, by the products of their works."
He concluded his speech by officially opening the conference -- sponsored by the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa -- that is running until Aug. 29 at the Imperial Beach Hotel in Entebbe. Aims for the conference include mobilizing the bishops to tackle the obstacles that continue to keep the continent in conflict, poverty, corruption, poor leadership and disease.
The gathering brings together bishops from the 12 Anglican provinces in Africa -- Burundi, Central Africa, Congo, Indian Ocean, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and West Africa -- as well as the Diocese of Egypt. They are joined by international partners, diplomats and representatives from relief and development organizations.
The conference also welcomes representatives from the U.S.-based Episcopal Church, including the Rev. Canon Petero Sabune, Africa partnerships officer; six staff members from Episcopal Relief & Development who are attending the gathering as observers and to connect with partners in Anglican dioceses and provinces throughout Africa; and staff from Trinity Church, Wall Street, whose grants program supports projects throughout Africa.
Also on Aug. 25, the Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha called on African bishops to take the lead in ensuring the HIV virus never celebrates its 50th birthday in 2031.
Byamugisha, a Ugandan Anglican priest who in 1992 became the first religious leader in Africa to declare that he was HIV-positive, told the bishops they are in a prime position to be leaders in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Speaking as part of a session on the church's role in improving healthcare in Africa, he said, "One of the great things we've had [in the fight against AIDS] is a message to give people: abstain, be faithful, use condoms. But we did not have a message for leaders."
According to an ACNS article, Byamugisha proposed asking two questions of all those in positions of authority: What are you doing to reduce the stigma, shame and denial about AIDS; and what do you have planned regarding promoting safe practices or access to treatment or increase testing or empowerment of children, youth, women, families, communities and nations?
On Aug. 24, Middle East President Bishop Mouneer Anis told the bishops that the conference was a historic moment for Africa's Christian community.
"There is no doubt that history is going to record what happens at this conference for future generations," he said at the opening service, according to ACNS. "This is no ordinary conference because it's happening in an extraordinary context."
He explained that although "Africa groans" under the weight of conflicts, epidemics and poverty, the African church was growing in an extraordinary way. It was predicted, he said, to become a continent of 673 million Christians by 2025.
He said that, as a consequence of this growth, the center of the Christian world was shifting and so was the global role of the church of Africa. He said the conference could be a turning point in the life of the church of Africa.
He concluded that through the power of God, "We can shape the Christian mind in the whole world ... We can take the gospel not just to Africa, but to the rest of the world."
Archbishop of Uganda Henry Orombi of Uganda said now was the time for African Anglicanism to "rise up," and that it was time for representatives of the continent to be able to go to other places in the communion with "fresh wine from new wine skins," the ACNS article reported.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, in his sermon at the opening service Aug. 24, described the conference as "deeply significant ... It has been said that this is going to be the African century of the Christian church in terms of energy and growth and vision. God raises up different countries and cultures in different seasons to bear witness to his purpose in a specially marked way, and it may be that this is indeed his will for Africa in the years ahead.
"And if the churches of Africa are indeed going to be for this time a city set on a hill, how very important it will be for the health and growth of all God's churches throughout the world that this witness continues at its best and highest."
The theme of the conference -- "Securing the Future: Unlocking our Potential," based on the biblical text from Hebrews 12:1-2 -- was also addressed by Archbishop Ian Ernest, primate of the Indian Ocean and CAPA chairman, who after thanking the bishops for making the conference a top priority, celebrated the fact that Africa had "come of age." He spoke passionately about how genuine engagement in the conference could help mobilize the church leadership of the Anglican Communion in Africa to tackle those things that "hinder our ministry as a church" such a poverty, disease and corruption.
He also underscored that the time had passed when Christian mission went from east to west, but that the church was now in a time when mission could go from anywhere to anywhere.
"This conference has been designed to unlock the potential of the Anglican Communion in Africa. If we are able to work together in faith our church has the capacity to bring to the continent transformative energy," Ernest said.
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