Nigeria leads anti-gay protest

2003-10-14 09:27

Lagos, Nigeria - Members of Nigeria's Anglican Church - the world's second-largest Anglican congregation - fasted and prayed to protest against the confirmation of homosexual priests and bishops in the United States and Britain ahead of an emergency meeting of the world's Anglican leaders.

"We are not happy that the Archbishop of Canterbury is being soft on this issue of homosexuals in the church," Reverend Obi Ulonna, a cleric at St. Stephens parish in Lagos said on Monday.

"We are praying that God will guide and protect our Bishop and all who are against the gay movement," added Ulonna.

The protest in Nigeria, where the 17 million-member congregation is second in size only to Britain's, comes ahead of an emergency meeting of the 38 primates, or leaders, of the world's Anglican churches.

The gathering, to be held on Wednesday and Thursday in London, has been called by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who is looking for a way to bridge differences that many regard as irreconcilable.

"We are praying for our primates, particularly those from Africa and Asia, to speak up" against homosexual ordination at the meeting, said Ulonna.

Many African Christian churches have retained the moral conservatism favoured by the European missionaries who introduced the religion to the African continent in the 19th century.

First in failures

"The problem with the West is that it wants to be the first in success, and it also wants to be the first in failures - the first to elect a homosexual bishop," Ernest Ezenwe, 43, a parishioner at St. Stephens, said.

The primate of Nigeria, the Most Reverend Peter Akinola, has described the appointment of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex marriage as "a Satanic attack" on the church.

In May, the Anglican Church of Nigeria severed all relations with the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada for sanctioning the blessing of same-sex unions. Akinola has issued a written warning to Nigerians to be prepared for a potential split, no matter the financial cost to churches in the impoverished West African nation.

Crisis in the church

The US Episcopal Church's decision in August to confirm the Reverend Gene Robinson - who has a long-time male partner - as bishop of New Hampshire provoked a crisis within Anglicanism and focused attention on homosexual clerics.

Conservative opponents of Robinson in the United States warned at a rally last week that a break with the Episcopal Church is a strong possibility, and their protests were emphatically backed by the leaders of other Anglican national churches, particularly in Africa. celibate.

- AP