Archbishop hands over this Sunday

From Uganda-

Several religious and political leaders have praised the outgoing Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Dr. Luke Orombi, saying he is a gifted and exemplary leader, who has contributed to fostering unity among Ugandans of different faith.

Orombi will hand over to his successor, the Rt. Rev. Stanley Ntagali, on Sunday at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe.

He will hand over the Provincial Staff, a symbol of the archbishop’s spiritual authority to Ntagali.

All the bishops of the Church Of Uganda will pledge their canonical obedience to the new archbishop.

Over 3,000 guests are expected to attend the colourful ceremony, including President Yoweri Museveni, political leaders, business leaders and bishops of the Church of Uganda.

Eleven archbishops from other provinces in the Anglican Communion will also be present.

Orombi, 62, the seventh archbishop of the Church of Uganda, announced his decision to retire after nine years of service to concentrate on preaching the gospel and other development activities.

Consecrated on January 25, 2004, Orombi was expected to serve up to 2014 for a full 10-year term, but he opted to cut his term short.

More here-

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/638094-archbishop-hands-over-this-sunday.html

Anglican Bishops to elect new Archbishop

From Uganda-

Church of Uganda Bishops are converging at Lweza conference center in Lweza along Entebbe road for a week long retreat to elect a new Archbishop.

The New Archbishop will replace the outgoing Archbishop Church of Uganda the Right Rev. Henry Luke Orombi .

 The Bishops started arriving at Lweza conference center last evening and are expected to start off their retreat today morning.

The retreat will be attended mainly by members of the House of Bishops which include Bishops from different dioceses.

Some of the Bishops expected to attend the retreat include, Dr. Steven Kazimba Mugalu Mbowa (Mitiyana diocese), Rev Stanley Ntagali (Masindi – Kitala diocese), Rev Joel Obetia (Madi and West Nile diocese) and the RT Rev, Henry Luke Orombi Archbishop church of Uganda.

“This is an annual retreat for the Bishops. We expect the elections to take place on Thursday and then the new Archbishop will be announced on Friday,” The Spokesperson  church of  the province  of Uganda Alison Bar foot told New Vision online.

The House of Bishops will elect a new archbishop among the four Bishops from different dioceses with a tentative consecration set for mid-December.

More here-

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/632106-anglican-bishops-to-elect-new-archbishop.html

Ugandan Anglican leader has drawn both praise and criticism

From Ekklesia-

He is described as charismatic, intelligent and humble in Uganda and the Global South, but Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi, who will be leaving office this year, has also been criticised in the Anglican Communion for his hardline stance concerning homosexuality - writes Fredrick Nzwili.

On 7 January 2012 Orombi told the Church of Uganda's house of bishops to prepare to elect his successor in June. His ten-year term was set to expire in January 2014 before he turned 65. His decision to seek early retirement comes after serving for seven years.

The Christians he serves say Orombi has transformed his church, but his hard-line stand concerning issues within the Anglican Communion also earned him criticisms.

"I think he is the best Archbishop the Church of Uganda has ever had. He has been a faithful servant of God. He had charisma and development-oriented spirit. He will terribly be missed," Bishop Edward Muhima of North Kigezi, who retired last June, told ENInews in a telephone interview on 11 January.

Despina Namwembe, regional coordinator of United Religions Initiative, a Ugandan organisation with members from Christianity, Islam, Baha'i and Buddhism, said he was an example for secular politicians. "Most of the political leaders decline leaving power ... but this is a good precedent," she was quoted as saying in the Daily Monitor newspaper on 10 January.

However, Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo, the Anglican cleric whom the church defrocked in 2006 over his ministry to homosexuals, said he hoped the bishops would elect a leader who is more understanding on issues of human sexuality.

More here-

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16077

Uganda's anti-gay bill is far from dead

From The London Guardian-

The infamous Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill, which earlier this week was thought likely to be voted upon on Wednesday as the current session of the Uganda parliament draws to a close, does not now appear on the order paper for the day. The bill, which is technically still at the committee stage, could, however, be carried forward into the next session of parliament.

(snip)

Sadly, local Anglican support for the bill continues, even though on Tuesday of the archbishop of Canterbury issued a statement in which he opposed it, saying: "Overall, the proposed legislation is of shocking severity and I can't see how it could be supported by any Anglican who is committed to what the Communion has said in recent decades. Apart from invoking the death penalty, it makes pastoral care impossible – it seeks to turn pastors into informers."

This was not, in fact, a new statement, but rather a quotation from the interview in the Telegraph that he gave in December 2009 to George Pitcher, who has since become his secretary for public affairs. Pitcher also wrote: "He adds that the Anglican Church in Uganda opposes the death penalty but, tellingly, he notes that its archbishop, Henry Orombi, who boycotted the Lambeth Conference last year, "has not taken a position on this bill."

That lacuna was remedied in February 2010, when the Anglican church of Uganda issued a detailed statement offering strong support for the bill. It has not made any further public statements on the bill since that time. Archbishop Orombi has continued his boycott of Anglican Communion events, including the latest primates meeting in Dublin, and to support the rival church body Gafcon, which has announced plans for expansion. There can be little chance of a change of heart on homosexuality by Orombi.

More here-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/may/11/uganda-anti-gay-bill

Ugandan Sex workers attack religious leaders

From Uganda-

Sex workers in Uganda have lashed out at religious leaders who have condemned their trade but failed to encourage programs and projects to help fight unemployment and poverty in the country.

Sex workers expressed their anger after, Henry Luke Orombi, Anglican archbishop of Uganda, asked police to arrest men who pay for sex with prostitutes.

While addressing youth at St Peters Cathedral in the western Uganda district of Bushenyi recently, Orombi said that "Police should not only arrest the women but also the buyers" arguing that "If there were no men demanding for sex from girls, majority of who are university students, there wouldn’t be prostitution.

But prostitutes have condemned the primate and accused him of interfering in their affairs.

Says Macklean Kyomya, who also heads an organization called Women’s Organization Network for Human Rights advocacy (WONETHA): "As a Human Rights advocacy network we agree with Archbishop Orombi that people get into sex work for survival.

More here-

http://www.afrik-news.com/article19179.html

Museveni courts cult, witch doctors and religious heads

From Uganda-

He removes his grey hat, closes his eyes and bows his head, humbling himself before Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi of the Anglican Church of Uganda, who asks God for the President’s protection ahead of tomorrow’s election and its aftermath.

President Yoweri Museveni is deeply immersed in the prayer and if the Holy Spirit came at that point, he would be the first to be thrown off balance. Yet a few hours earlier, Museveni had sat in Mandela National Stadium Namboole where he prayed with traditional healers who predicted a landslide victory for him.

“The spirits have told us you will win by 87%,” Patrick Mudungu, vice president of the Traditional Healers Association, told him.

Sitting in the pavilion surrounded by his security detail, Museveni smiled at the traditional healer who looked like he was about to be possessed by demons. His display of undying love for Museveni was resounded in the stadium as another traditional healer thanked the President for his support to their work.

Two days before that meet, Museveni had sat at Nakivubo Blue in the heart of Kampala, with the faction of the Muslim community headed by Sheikh Zubair Kayongo, seeking their prayers, blessing and support.

Such has been the President’s schedule in the last two weeks, as he winds up his campaigns for a fourth term. He has been meeting religious leaders, firmly aware of the command they have over their flock.

More here-

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12201:museveni-courts-cult-witch-doctors-and-religious-heads&catid=34:news&Itemid=59

Africa Report: Kenya, Conflicts at Uganda Anglican Conference

From Life Site News-

The same day, 27th, was the closing day of a one-week conference in Entebbe, Uganda's old capital on the shoes of Lake Victoria, attended by 400 bishops of the Anglican Church throughout Africa, the Indian Ocean, Singapore and south-east Asia.

The Anglican primate, Rowan Williams, was present, which brought the issues of homosexuals, and women prelates, to the fore, ahead of a host of social problems ailing Africa. Archbishop Williams was under courteous and brotherly but persistent attack from the other delegates for his "gay" stand.

Uganda's Anglican head, Archbishop Luke Orombi, compared Williams's situation to the father of a house with stubborn kids (gays) who would not allow him to sit down peacefully and eat. "Homosexuality is evil, abnormal and unnatural, as per the Bible," he said, "It is a culturally unacceptable practice, and although there is a lot of pressure, we cannot turn our hands to support it."

The Nigerian Anglican archbishop said it was a matter which takes precedence - an alien culture or biblical teachings? The provincial head of the church in the Indian Ocean said they could not afford to keep lurching from one crisis to the next; action has been taken to irrevocably shatter the Anglican Communion -which will have financial implications for the church in developing countries; and its existing structures have been unable to address the need for discipline.

The provincial heads said they were under attack by an imposed interpretation of Scripture and a foreign culture that has hindered the growth of an authentic church which could respond to the people.


More here-

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10083108.html

African bishops conference: an apology from CAPA

From Thinking Anglicans-

In a 27th August letter to Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Rev. Ian Earnest, Chairman of CAPA (Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa), apologized for “embarrassing” the Church of Uganda when CAPA received a $25,000 grant from Trinity Grants (USA) for the All Africa Bishops Conference taking place in Uganda. (Letter is attached.)

In 2003, the Church of Uganda broke communion with the Episcopal Church (TEC) over their unbiblical theology and immoral actions that violated historic and Biblical Anglicanism and tore the fabric of the Communion at its deepest level. At the same time, the Church of Uganda resolved to not receive any funds from TEC.

The 2nd All Africa Bishops Conference was hosted by the Church of Uganda, but the programme and speakers were chosen by CAPA. The Church of Uganda received no outside funding for its role in hosting the 400 Bishops and other participants in the week-long conference. All funds were raised locally within Uganda.

Archbishop Henry thanked Archbishop Ian for acknowledging the awkward position CAPA had put the Church of Uganda in and appreciated his humility and generous spirit in writing.

More here-

http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/004592.html

Anglican Church is broken, says Orombi

From The Daily Monitor-

The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, yesterday said the Anglican Church today faces many challenges which have made it dysfunctional.

“What I can tell you is that the Anglican Church is very broken,” Bishop Orombi said.

“It (church) has been torn at its deepest level, and it is a very dysfunctional family of the provincial churches. It is very sad for me to see how far down the church has gone.”
Speaking at the opening of a three-day provincial Assembly in Mukono, the head of the Church of Uganda noted that the church has lost credibility.

He proposed that the Church of Uganda engages church structures at a very minimal level until godly faith and order have been restored. “I can assure you that we have tried as a church to participate in the processes, but they are dominated by western elites, whose main interest is advancing a vision of Anglicanism that we do not know or recognise. We are a voice crying in the wilderness,” he said at the Church’s top assembly that convenes every two years.

More here-

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/993372/-/x4gu4w/-/

Christian churchgoers in Uganda issued identity cards

From "The Underground"

Christian churchgoers in Uganda will be issued identity cards even as overnight prayer meetings are being suspended in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in a restaurant and a rugby club where people had gathered to watch the World Cup finals.

For the safety of churchgoers, identification cards will be issued for all church members, and every church will have its own checkpoint.

The Uganda National Fellowship of Born-again Churches has also put on hold all overnight prayer meetings and crusades nationwide, The Monitor said.

In a security meeting set by the Kampala City Council, UNFBAC vice chairman David Kiganda said, “No stranger will be allowed to attend any prayer sessions,” The Monitor said.
Kiganda said approved churches must also install soundproof facilities and can only operate until midnight. Mayor Nasser Sebaggala said the changes are intended to protect churches from possible terrorist attacks, The Monitor said.

Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi denounced the July 11 terrorist bombings, but also urged the people to resist vengeance and suspicion.

He noted that Christians (84 percent) and Muslims (12 percent) had always lived peacefully together in Uganda adding, “Peaceful society is the right of every one regardless of their age, race, gender or religious inclination,” Ekklesia said.

More here-

http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/07/christian-churchgoers-in-uganda-issued-identity-cards-13033

Ugandan Anglican Urges Citizens to Fight Terrorism, Condemns Blast

From Beliefnet-

A top church leader in Uganda, Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, has appealed for calm after the "hideous crime" of a terrorist bombing at a World Cup watch party in Kampala that left more than 70 dead.

"I call upon each one of us to desist from anger and revenge. This will only perpetuate the pain we already feel," Orombi said in a statement on Tuesday (July 13). "Let us instead now focus our energies on being part of the fight against terrorism in our country."

The twin blasts at a rugby club and a restaurant on Sunday left more than 70 people dead, including one American aid worker. Several people on a missions trip from a Pennsylvania church suffered minor injuries.

The archbishop warned against unnecessary suspicion in a country where Christians (84 percent of the population) and Muslims (12 percent) have lived peacefully side by side.

"Instead, seek for the common goal of a peaceful and just society," Orombi said. "Peaceful society is the right of every one regardless of their age, race, gender or religious inclination."

Al-Shabab, a Somali Islamist organization that the U.S. lists as a "terrorist group," is reported to have taken responsibility for the attack.

Read more:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2010/07/ugandan-anglican-urges-citizen.php#ixzz0tkrKBM5u

Two Archbishops Express Dismay

From The Living Church-

Two archbishops have written to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the eve of the fourth Global South Encounter, expressing their dismay about the Anglican Communion.

The publicly issued letters are from the Most Rev. Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, and the Most Rev. Ian Ernest, Bishop of Mauritius and Archbishop of the Province of the Indian Ocean.

Both leaders ask Archbishop Rowan Williams to call an emergency meeting of Anglican primates, with the exception of the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church and the Most Rev. Frederick James Hiltz of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Both primates object to the Episcopal Church’s plan to consecrate the Rev. Canon Mary Douglas Glasspool, who is in a long-term same-sex relationship, as a bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles.

Both archbishops express their support of the Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis, President Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East and Bishop in Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa, who wrote Archbishop Williams about similar concerns on Jan. 30.

“Your Grace, I have urged you in the past, and I will urge you again,” Archbishop Orombi wrote on April 9. “There is an urgent need for a meeting of the Primates to continue sorting out the crisis that is before us, especially given the upcoming consecration of a lesbian as bishop in America.”

“I feel that I should express the heartfelt feelings of the people of God who are extremely distressed at the disrespectful and high-handed manner in which the TEC continues to dismiss the concerns of the rest of the Communion and to undermine the decisions taken by the Primates,” Archbishop Ernest wrote on April 12.

Both primates expressed their sense that leaders from the Global South receive different treatment than their counterparts.

More here-

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/4/13/two-archbishops-express-dismay

Orombi resignation: Anglican Communion crumbles anew

From The London Times-

Ugandan Archbishop Henry Orombi has resigned from the standing committee of the Anglican Communion, in solidarity with Middle East primate Mouneer Anis. His eloquent letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams needs no further comment. It is reproduced below.

9th April 2010
The Most Rev. Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace
London

Your Grace,

Easter greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In February I read with great interest Bishop Mouneer Anis’ letter of resignation from the Joint Standing Committee. I am grateful for his clarity and honesty. He has verbalized very well what many of us have thought and felt, and inspired me to write, as well.

As you know from our private conversations, I have absented myself for principled reasons from all meetings of the Joint Standing Committee since our Primates meeting in Dar es Salaam in 2007.

The first meeting of the Joint Standing Committee was later that year in New Orleans. At our Primates meeting in February 2007, we made certain requests of the Episcopal Church. In our Dar es Salaam communiqué we did not envision interference in the American House of Bishops while they were considering our requests.

For me to participate in a meeting in New Orleans before the 30th September deadline would have violated our hard-won agreement in Dar es Salaam and would have been another case of undermining our instruments of communion. My desire to uphold our Dar es Salaam communiqué was intended to strengthen our instruments of communion so we would be able to mature into an even more effective global communion of the Church of Jesus Christ than in the past.

Subsequent meetings of the Joint Standing Committee have included the Primate of the Episcopal Church (TEC) and other members of TEC, who are the very ones who have pushed the Anglican Communion into this sustained crisis. How can we expect the gross violators of Biblical Truth to sanction their own discipline when they believe they have done nothing wrong and further insist that their revisionist theology is actually the substance of Anglicanism? We have only to note the recent election and confirmation of an active Lesbian as a Suffragan Bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles to realize that TEC has no interest in “gracious restraint,” let alone a moratorium on the things that have brought us to this point of collapse.

More here-

http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2010/04/orombi-resignation-anglican-communion-crumbles-anew.html

Anglican Bishops mourn Kyaligonza

From Uganda-

THE Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, his predecessor Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo and other bishops have mourned the Rwenzori Diocese Bishop, Patrick Kyaligonza, who perished in a motor accident last week.

Orombi said it was unfortunate that Kyaligonza died less than a year after his consecration as bishop of the diocese.

“We thank God that we have a person to pray for and remember. In life people come and go. We shall always remember the legacy left behind,” he said.

Orombi asked God to strengthen the deceased’s family during this challenging period and to provide for them.

He then led a short prayer for Kyaligonza’s soul to rest in eternal peace and asked God to receive his spirit with open hands.

The archbishop was at Uganda Christian University in Mukono where he had gone to attend a ground-breaking ceremony for the university’s library.

The retired archbishop, Nkoyoyo, described Kyaligonza’s death as a tragic experience that was hard to explain.

“But we thank God for his life. He was a committed bishop gifted with preaching,” Nkoyoyo said, adding that the church had lost a great leader.

The vice-chancellor of Uganda Christian University, Prof, Stephen Noll, described Kyaligonza as a brilliant student who was inspirational to others. The late bishop studied theology at the university.

The accident in which the bishop died occurred on Fort Portal road opposite St. Simeon Catholic Church Miranga at Kayihura near Kyenjojo town.

The bishop was travelling with his wife Rose Kabahita Mujungu, the chaplain, Moses Tembo and their driver, Patrick Isingoma.

Mujungu and Tembo sustained serious injuries and were admitted at Kyenjojo Health Centre IV.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/18/710134

Unholy Alliances The limits of Anglican soulmating.

From Newsweek-

In 2004 the members of St. James Church in tony Newport Beach, Calif., voted to secede from the Episcopal Church of the United States. Like dozens of other conservative Episcopal churches at the time, St. James found the theology of its denomination insufficiently orthodox (and the consecration of a gay Episcopal prelate unbiblical). So it, and others, sought—and found—protection among the conservative Anglican bishops of Africa. For administrative and theological purposes, St. James became an African church. It submitted to the authority of an African bishop and paid dues to an African diocese.

Church members were thrilled about their new connection. The church of the global South "is growing and exploding because we took the Bible to those countries, and they believed it," explained a St. James lay leader to a PBS news reporter in 2005. "They have seen the power of the Bible … and we wanted to be part of that."

The prelate who took St. James under his wing was Henry Luke Orombi, the archbishop of Uganda, a man who campaigns relentlessly against homosexuality. And though the spiritual head of the Anglican church, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has condemned the anti-homosexuality bill now before Parliament in Uganda—which proposes the death penalty for gays in some cases—Orombi has not. In a statement, the rector of St. James, Richard Crocker, reminds us that his church now belongs to the recently established, L.A.-based Diocese of Western Anglicans, though it continues "to engage" with the Ugandan churches. "We do not condone the excessive sanctions in the legislation being considered by Ugandan politicians," he says. "Criminalizing homosexuality is unjust. God's love and compassion for humanity is not reflected in this bill."

American culture wars are kindergarten play compared with those in places like Uganda, where democracy is a sham and tolerance rare. And American conservatives who insist on romanticizing Africans for the purity of their Christian belief must guard against escalating those wars and endangering lives—intentionally or not—by giving support and money to Christian leaders with insufficient regard for human rights. "The culture war which has been fought in the U.S. has been exported to Africa," says Ochoro Otunnu, a Ugandan human-rights lawyer based in New York. But, he adds, there's a big difference. "In America you can have an open debate about homosexuality knowing full well you have an array of legal and constitutional protections. Those protections don't exist in some of the African countries—Uganda being a case in point. When this debate is conducted in public you can actually endanger an entire minority community."

More here-

http://www.newsweek.com/id/230736

Orombi angry over new lesbian bishop

From Uganda-

The Church of Uganda has expressed dismay over news that a lesbian in the diocese of Los Angeles in the United States has been elected an assistant bishop.

Rev. Canon Mary Glasspool, 55, married to a female companion for 21 years, won 153 and 203 votes from clergy and the lay, respectively to beat two other candidates.

However, the National Episcopal Church will have to approve her pick before an expected enthronement that would make her the second homosexual bishop in history after New Hampshire’s Gene Robinson, consecrated in 2003.

Disaster recipe
On Monday, Archbishop Luke Orombi’s assistant for International Relations, Ms Alison Barfoot, described as “funny and unbiblical” the choice of Ms Glasspool.

“We believe the Bible condemns homosexual behaviour as immoral. So how can a homosexual be a bishop?” she said. “This decision of the Episcopal Church in America [the equivalent Anglican Church there] will only bring more problems and divisions.”

Canon Glasspool appeared unfazed by the criticisms, telling The Times newspaper of London in comments published on Monday: “Any group of people who have been oppressed because of any one isolated aspect of their persons yearns for justice and equal rights.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, spoke out on Sunday, expressing unease over the latest developments in the Episcopal Church in the US, already reeling with adverse effects of the consecration of Robinson.

More here-

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Orombi_angry_over_new_lesbian_bishop_95705.shtml

Uganda: Homosexuals Meet at Entebbe Hotel

From "AllAfrica"-

HOMOSEXUALS have held a three-day workshop on human rights at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe.

The workshop attracted over 20 homosexuals. It was also attended by pro-gay retired Anglican Bishop Dr. Christopher Ssenyonjo.

Ssenyonjo, who is a counsellor on marriage and HIV/AIDS, said many people misunderstood human sexuality.

He added that he counsels all people, including the sex minority, but was often attacked because he did not discriminate.

"I try to do as Jesus told us, to welcome everybody. I want to listen to the homosexuals to know who they are," he said.

A man, who declined to mention his name, told journalists that he was a facilitator from Kenya.

In 2002, the then Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Mpalanyi Nkoyooyo, suspended Ssenyonjo because of his support for homosexuality.

In 2004, Archbishop Luke Orombi wrote to Ssenyonjo informing him that he was "no longer entitled to wear the robes of a deacon, priest, or bishop in the Church of Uganda".

He was later excommunicated.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200906190098.html

Orombi: End child sacrifice

Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi yesterday asked all parents to tell their children to write a petition to President Museveni to hammer home the urgency needed in checking child sacrifice.

At the Anglican service to celebrate Martyrs Day, Bishop Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu of Mityana, who was the main celebrant, asked that all activities of traditional herbalists and witches be stopped and challenged parliamentarians to take the lead in the fight against the vice.

“Those children who are sacrificed daily; remember their eyes are looking at you because they are crying,” he said.
“Let us ask Parliament to help have these witchdoctors chased away instead of debating laws that will protect them,” the bishop told the congregation.

Deputy Speaker Rebecca Kadaga was in the congregation, while Minister without Portfolio Dorothy Hyuha represented the government.

Archbishop Orombi said because very many children have lost their lives in suspected cases of ritual sacrifice, all parents had been asked to tell their children to write a petition to the President and him (Orombi).

“The trend of ungodliness has come to our country. We believe it is a social evil that must be stopped. Children should write their concerns and forward them to me and I will deliver their voices to the President,” he said.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Orombi_End_child_sacrifice_85944.shtml

Namirembe Bishop Luwalira consecrated

From Uganda. Interesting that the issue of "child sacrifice" makes the fifth paragraph.

BISHOP Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira was consecrated yesterday as the fifth bishop of Namirembe diocese in a colourful ceremony attended by President Yoweri Museveni and his wife, Janet.

The President congratulated the new bishop and told the congregation that the NRM is a strong up-holder of the Christian tenets of no vengeance.

He, however, expressed dismay at the failure to embrace the commandment of “loving your neighbour like you love yourself” by Christians.

Museveni also criticised the habit of bad-mouthing, abuses and hatred in religious institutions which, he said, are primarily supposed to be peaceful institutions.

Regarding the issue of child sacrifice, the President said some culprits had been apprehended but “what is needed is to amend the law so that such offenders do not get discretion bail.”

Museveni also asked the public to support a proposal denying bail to suspects of defilement, murder and armed robbery.

The consecration at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Namirembe, the oldest Anglican diocese in Uganda, was led by the Archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi and assisted by several Anglican bishops, including Bishop James Stanton from the diocese of Dallas in the US.

More here-

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/683217

Orombi protests over Jamaican meet

Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi has written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, over the blocking of a Church of Uganda delegate from attending a meeting in Jamaica.

Uganda is entitled to three delegates; a bishop, a priest and lay person to the Anglican Consultative Council meeting.

The Rev. Philip Ashey was rejected by the organisers who said nominating an American reverend to represent Uganda was against the constitution of the consultative council.

“If Ashey’s appointment is unacceptable, then we will be forced to bring this unbiblical, unjust and unconstitutional precedent to the attention of the rest of the communion,” read the May 2 letter to Dr. Rowan Williams.

Ashey, who had earlier registered for the conference as a journalist, was also rejected because he joined the Rwenzori Diocese in 2005 after he opposed a decision by the US bishops to consecrate a self-confessed homosexual as a bishop.

Although a reverend of the Rwenzori Diocese, Ashey resides in Atlanta in the US.

“We are content for him to resume his press accreditation, if he so wishes,” said the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary of the Anglican Communion.

Orombi warned that the committee was playing double standards, adding that the appointment of delegates was not subject to a review by any institution.

More here-

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/681009