An editorial in Uganda’s biggest daily newspaper that ought to be unremarkable stands out because it calls for protecting the rights of LGBT people in a nation whose leadership refuses to recognize that gay people are humans beings. An unpublished op-ed by David Kato shows that he was a person with a voice and a story.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is currently in Dublin for the Primates’ meeting, has made the following statement regarding the murder of the gay human rights activist David Kato Kisulle in Uganda:
How many times to we go to the ecclesiastical grocery store to buy our quick-rise “yeast” program off the shelf – packaged and guaranteed to deliver? And how often are we disappointed that our efforts produce a ho-hum spiritual bread devoid of the joy of labor well done, of prayerful work committed over a long period?
Godhead here in hiding Whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God Thou art.
Senior bishops from Anglican churches worldwide are in Dublin and “needed to assume their responsibilities in tackling homophobia and the churches collusion in it”. Henry Orombi of the Church of the Province of Uganda is among the primates of the Anglican Communion who have boycotted the meeting because punishment of the gay-friendly Episcopal Church is not on the agenda.
If you stop being an Episcopalian, you can be a PC or a Mac. By the same token, if you’re a PC you can be an Episcopalian. We are you.
The length of primatial service varies across the Communion between two years renewable, and serving until retirement. Whereas in some Provinces the Primate can veto a synodical decision (after consultation with the Council/House of Bishops), in other Provinces the Primate needs permission from the bishop before even travelling to that bishop’s diocese.
This crime is a reminder of the heroic generosity of the people who advocate for and defend human rights on behalf of the rest of us — and the sacrifices they make. And as we reflect on his life, it is also an occasion to reaffirm that human rights apply to everyone, no exceptions, and that the human rights of LGBT individuals cannot be separated from the human rights of all persons.
The gender equality policies aimed at the formal structure of the Episcopal Church have, it seems, largely succeeded, but the informal mechanisms that perpetuate inequality, those that occur in everyday interactions outside the arena of formal policy making, remain in place. It became clear that the world of the parish and the internal workings of the family still present barriers to the advancement of women clergy.
We generally hesitate to call attention to misinformation from those waving their arms for attention, particularly a journalist, but sometimes it’s necessary to call BS.