Zim church attacks 'concerning'
15/01/2008 19:18  - (SA)  

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Harare - The Anglican Church has expressed "grave concern" over reports of violent disruptions to church services in the Zimbabwean capital by supporters of an axed pro-government bishop.

In a statement from the Anglican Communion Office in London received by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Tuesday, Secretary General Reverend Kenneth Kearon said Bishop Nolbert Kunonga's ties to President Robert Mugabe were "of deep concern to many".

"The resort to violent disruption has been widely deplored," Kearon said.

Anglican churches in Zimbabwe have been plunged into disarray following Kunonga's controversial decision in September to withdraw the Harare diocese from the regional mother body, the Province of Central Africa.

Church authorities declared Kunonga was no longer a member of the Anglican Church and appointed new bishop Sebastian Bakare to replace him.

Kunonga and his supporters were ordered to hand back Anglican Church property and relinquish control of church accounts. But the axed bishop refused.

Parishioners attacked

Instead, he and his supporters have refused to allow Bakare and his parishioners into churches around the capital. Bakare says some of his parishioners have been attacked.

Police on Sunday meanwhile arrested at least three priests and a number of pro-Bakare parishioners during church services and declared that only those loyal to Kunonga could hold services in the buildings, a spokesperson for Bakare has claimed.

Kearon said: "(Kunongas) unilateral actions with respect to the diocese of Harare and his own status within the Province of Central Africa are, to say the least, questionable and have brought embarrassment to many

"Above all, I am concerned for the well-being of faithful Anglicans who seek to practise their faith in peace and free from violence."

Kunonga, who was granted a farm under Mugabe's programme of white land seizures, claimed he withdrew from the Province of Central Africa because some bishops in the province allegedly encouraged homosexuality.

Many within the church believe there are other reasons linked to the clergyman's support for the longtime Zimbabwean leader.

Sapa-dpa

- SAPA

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