Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Ugndan fury at Lambeth Conference session

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=2388

[Religious Intelligence] 29 Jul 2008--The Archbishop of Canterbury had no hand in inviting a deposed Ugandan bishop to address a scheduled session of the Lambeth Conference.

Dr Rowan Williams said he “wasn’t aware of this” invitation to the Rt Rev Christopher Ssenyonjo to participate in a self-select group scheduled for July 22 entitled “Disciplined Listening: Building Relationships and Fostering Communion.”

The invitation to Bishop Ssenyonjo, the second Bishop of West Buganda, is a matter of grave concern, the Church of Uganda tells ReligiousIntelligence.com. Its bishops have boycotted the conference due to the presence of the American and Canadian bishops who consecrated Gene Robinson.

A supporter the pressure group Integrity --- which seeks to change the church’s stance on homosexual conduct, Bishop Ssenyonjo retired in 1999. The Church of Uganda deposed him on Jan 17, 2007 for consecrating as bishop a Church of Uganda priest for a independent denomination called the Charismatic Church of Uganda.

Bishop Ssenyonjo was deposed because of his consecration of a Ugandan priest “under discipline,” a Ugandan spokesman said. “One of the co-consecrators was another deposed Uganda Bishop, the former bishop of North Mbale. He had been deposed because he took a second wife. So, Ssenyonjo was not deposed because of his association with Integrity.”

On July 11 the Church of Uganda released a statement saying it had been assured by Lambeth Palace that Bishop Ssenyonjo “will not be seated with Bishops at the Lambeth Conference and will not participate in the deliberations during the Conference.”

The statement was released after a Kampala newspaper New Vision reported on July 7 that Ssenyonjo, the second bishop of West Buganda, would be the sole Ugandan bishop attending the Lambeth Conference.

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