Zimbabwe Anglicans Struggle to Worship in Church

"Anglicans in Zimbabwe who have been shut out of church buildings held a prayer meeting Sunday in protest of police harassment.

It was an open air prayer session for some 4,000 which was nothing new to them. For the past two years, the worshippers have been forced to hold services outside as they have been denied entry into churches. They have also suffered disruptions during church services from the police.

,This is not normal,' Bishop of Harare Chad Gandiya said Sunday in Africa Unity Square in Harare, according to Agence France-Presse. 'We are gathered in the open not because there is no room in the building where we are supposed to be but because we are being denied access.'

The police have been utilized by Nolbert Kunonga, who was excommunicated from the Anglican Church in 2007 after he tried to withdraw the Diocese of Harare from the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa. Kunonga, a supporter of President Robert Mugabe’s regime, set up his own Anglican province, appointed himself archbishop and has laid claim to church properties.

Despite a High Court ruling ordering the two feuding groups to share the church buildings, Kunonga and his followers, along with police, have continued to block access to churches, and use intimidation tactics, preventing the officially recognized Anglicans from holding services inside."

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