Zimbabwe
What began in 2001 as government interference in Anglican affairs has developed into religious liberty abuse so severe and violent that “dissident” Anglicans – that is, most Anglicans – in the capital, Harare, now risk death to meet together. And there is no reason to believe that President Mugabe’s religious repression and persecution will end with the Anglicans of Harare.
With Mugabe’s win in the recent June 27 election, he will doubtless move to control all churches of all denominations nationwide. There is currently a huge amount of anxiety.
With religious liberty already being so seriously violated, what does the future hold? In Harare, thousands of Anglicans have been locked out of dozens of church properties because the Anglican Church had the audacity to stand up to Mugabe’s corrupt puppet-bishop Rev Dr Nolbert Kunonga.
In 2001, Zimbabwean secret police secured the election of Kunonga to the post of Anglican Bishop of Harare. Kunonga had been in the USA, teaching Liberation Theology in the Rev Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Seminary in Barrytown, New York.
But by Oct 2007, as courageous organised opposition was rising, Kunonga knew his power was waning. So, in a politically-motivated stunt he moved to separate the diocese of Harare from the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa – a grouping of dioceses in Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – on the false claim that it was full of homosexuals. Subsequently in Nov 2007 the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa removed Kunonga from his post as bishop of Harare on the grounds of schism.
European-educated Rev Dr Sebastian Bakare, the former bishop of Manicaland (the region bordering Mozambique) was brought out of retirement to stand in for Kunonga. Kunonga challenged the Church’s decision in Harare’s High Court.
In Jan 2008 Harare’s High Court upheld the Anglican Church’s right to govern its own affairs, but ruled that Harare’s Cathedral be shared between Kunonga and Bishop Bakare. On Feb 10, Kunonga, in defiance of the court order, barricaded himself inside the Cathedral along with some 40 members of the ZANU-PF youth militia. In early May the Supreme Court dismissed Kunonga’s appeal. Furthermore, Kunonga has now been formerly excommunicated by the dean of the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
State-orchestrated violence against Harare’s Anglicans has since exploded. Mugabe’s police have seized all the Anglican property in Harare and marked “dissident” Anglicans as traitors.
Today the Anglican churches in Harare are locked to all but those who support Mugabe and his puppetbishop, Kungona. The situation for “dissident” Anglicans is further complicated by the fact that in mid-May, police invoked security laws and broadened the ban of public rallies to included public prayer meetings.
In early June, the Bishops of the Province of Central Africa issued a “Pastoral Message” in which they express their deep concern and dismay at the marked escalation in violence and called upon the perpetrators of violence to respect the law.
Please pray for the nation at this time of trial. PRAY: for many innocent who are suffering – for our brethren to experience God’s miraculous providence, patience and comfort; for God to avenge the injustice and violence against innocent people in His own time; for courage to speak out against the oppression and injustice; for the cry of liberty to grow stronger; and for the Church to remain strong (full report).
ALGERIA
The Algerian government has been appeasing Islamists since early 2008 by implementing its 2006 ‘Presidential Order Concerning Religion’ and repressing Christian worship and practice.
Habiba Kouider, 35, was charged with ‘practising non-Muslim religious rites without a licence’ after police found Bibles in her handbag on March 29. Her case is so controversial that on May 27, the court postponed its verdict. On June 3, four Algerian Christians got jail sentences and fines for ‘attempting to shake the faith of Muslims’.
The government asserts that religious liberty is part of a foreign conspiracy to colonise Algeria. But many Algerians are crying out for liberty and justice.
PRAY: for people like Habiba Kouider and all other Algerian believers at risk of persecution – for grace, faith, strength and courage to run the race; raise up more courageous voices for liberty within Algeria to urge Algerians to have a hunger and hope for a more open, honest, progressive and equitable future; continue to bless the Algerian Church with growth in numbers as well as in grace, love, knowledge and wisdom; for God to provide for all the various Arabic language ministries that are so impacting this hungry nation.
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