Dr. Makgoba: Elder should lead South Africa
SOUTH AFRICA must be ruled by a respected elder, leading a government of national unity until the next election, if President Ramaphosa loses his party’s political support, Archbishop of Cape Town Dr Thabo Makgoba has said. The president is accused of hiding a large sum of foreign currency in a sofa at his game farm and then covering up the theft from him (News, June 17). He denied doing anything wrong. In a statement last week, Archbishop Makgoba said no one should be above the law, “rather than to pass final judgment on a person based on what is in effect a preliminary board of inquiry, which has not made a final determination of the facts, could lead to anarchy”. He continued: “If the president loses the political support of his party before a final decision on his conduct is made, I call for the establishment of a national unity government under the leadership of a respected elder to stabilize the country until upcoming elections.” The African National Congress “seems to be collapsing,” he said, suggesting that South Africans were growing impatient with a ruling party “at war with itself.”
Elected National Indigenous Archbishop of Canada
THE next National Indigenous Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Canada and Presiding Elder of the Sacred Circle will be the Bishop of Saskatoon, Rt Revd Christopher A. Harper, it was announced this week. He succeeds the Rev. Mark MacDonald, who resigned in April over allegations of sexual misconduct (News, April 22).
Florida bishop-elect humiliated, says
Florida’s bishop-elect, the Rev. Charlie Holt, has said he remains committed to the diocese, despite the “humiliation” of a second formal challenge to his election. “I cannot think of anything else in my life that has forced me to my knees to crawl under the altar of Calvary as this process has done,” he wrote in an email to the diocese Monday, referring to his pilgrimage to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. “It’s been a real humiliation in every sense of the word.” His first election was annulled after months of disputes over the process (News, October 28). He was re-elected in November (News, November 25), when a new objection was filed on similar grounds.
KELLY LATIMOREThe portrait of the late Matthew ShepardPortrait of hate crime victim unveiled in Washington
The WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL has unveiled a specially commissioned portrait of Matthew Shepard, the gay college student whose 1998 murder sparked a national outcry against homophobic violence. The portrait of Episcopalian iconographer Kelly Latimore, commissioned by LGBTQ+ members of the cathedral’s staff, was unveiled on Thursday of last week, which would have been Shepard’s 46th birthday. He is exposed in the crypt, where his ashes were buried in 2018, 20 years after his death.
Rishi Sunak urged to act on famine in East Africa
THE Prime Minister must act now to help prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in East Africa, he has been told by three former international development secretaries and the heads of UK aid agencies, including Christian Aid. In a joint letter, they wrote: “East Africa faces a catastrophic famine crisis triggered by one of the worst droughts in living memory.” The region was in “a famine in all but name. Despite the rapidly rising death toll, the international response is sadly underfunded and the UK has not done its part.” The UK has confirmed a £156 million allocation for East Africa in 2022, which the letter says is less than a fifth (18%) of the £861 million provided in 2017 during the region’s latest hunger crisis. . Christian Aid chief executive Patrick Watt said: “East Africa must not be forgotten. It is time for government ministers to live up to their responsibility.”
