Southern Africa archbishop tells Mugabe to end church persecution

From ENS-

The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town has called on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to put an end to persecution of the Anglican Church after state police on Jan. 3 broke up the annual prayer retreat of clergy from the Diocese of Harare.

About 80 diocesan priests were meeting at Peterhouse School in Marondera, capital of Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland East province, when police intervened and halted the gathering, reportedly on the grounds that it had not received official legal clearance.

Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, called the police action shocking and deplorable.

“I call on President Mugabe to ensure that the religious freedom of all Zimbabweans, and especially persecuted Anglicans, is respected, and to instruct the police to allow the churches freedom of assembly and worship,” Makgoba said in a Jan. 4 statement.

A statement released by the Harare diocese said: “We deplore this action and call upon higher authorities to intervene. So much for freedom of religion.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/01/04/southern-africa-archbishop-tells-mugabe-to-end-church-persecution/