Witchcraft concerns Uganda’s Anglican archbishop

From Uganda
- (RNS)

 Ugandan Anglican Archbishop Stanley Ntagali is raising concerns over the practice of witchcraft in his country amid reports of Christian politicians and citizens visiting witch doctors and shrines to their ancestors.

The archbishop first expressed worry in May, after the recently re-elected parliamentary speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, visited her ancestral shrine in eastern Uganda to allegedly thank her ancestors for her good luck.

Since then, several politicians have been sighted at shrines, according to news reports.

More here-

http://religionnews.com/2016/06/24/witchcraft-concerns-ugandas-anglican-archbishop/

‘Do not use witchcraft to pass exams’

From Uganda-

The Anglican bishop for Mityana diocese, Dr. Stephen Kazimba, has asked Primary Seven (P7) candidates not to heed their parents who tell them to use witchcraft to pass exams.

“I know some parents who always call their children and give them ancestors’ blessing. If you hear any parent or guardian calling on the ancestors to guide you in your exams, say ‘no I will not take your blessings in Jesus’ name’.

“Some of those ancestors went as far as Primary One, others did not see any blackboard, so if you take such blessings, be assured of failure,” he said.

More here-

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/661135--do-not-use-witchcraft-to-pass-exams.html

Some Christian leaders are employing witchcraft in their practices – Rev. Adekunle

From Nigeria-

Respected cleric and Bishop of Egba Anglican Diocese, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Adekunle, has warned Christians to stop involving in anything fetish and diabolical.

He urged them to keep to the doctrines of the Bible. The cleric said the Mosaic Law had prohibited fetish and diabolic practices such as “magic, sorcery, divination and other practices like spiritism”.

The cleric gave this warning at the opening session of the 2013 Synod of the Diocese of Egba in Abeokuta, Ogun State over the weekend.

Adekunle lamented that some Christian leaders were employing witchcraft in their practices.

The Bishop said, “Medical treatment in the old biblical world often included the use of magic, sorcery, divination and practices of spiritism. The Mosaic Law prohibited such practices. So, they are not biblical and Christian practices. They are inconsistent with the nature of the all-powerful God.”

More here-

http://dailypost.com.ng/2013/04/29/some-christian-leaders-are-employing-witchcraft-in-their-practices-rev-adekunle/

Witchcraft 'thriving in the Welsh countryside'

From The Telegraph-

Witchcraft is thriving in the Welsh countryside, a church minister has said, as he described stumbling upon an increasing number of effergies, users of the evil eye and exorcisms.

Rev Felix Aubel claims occult practices in rural Wales have been increasing during the two decades he has been working in the area.

The minister spoke out after latest figures in the 2011 census has revealed 83 witches and 93 satanists are living in Wales.

He said there was an "unusual connection" between Christianity and witchcraft in some chapel circles in Wales.

Rev Aubel, who is the minister of five Congregational chapels in rural Carmarthenshire, said he has called out an exorcist after a witch placed a curse on one of his parishioners.

He said: "This is not a joke and I would warn people not to get involved in the occult.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9772379/Witchcraft-thriving-in-the-Welsh-countryside.html

Church bans funeral services for uncommitted Christians

From Uganda-

A  Church in Gulu town has announced that it will no longer conduct funeral services for uncommitted Christians and those who are not known by the churches in their respective areas.
   
The Vicar for Christ Church, Godfrey Luwum, made the announcement during the service on Sunday. He said the decision was arrived at during a meeting of the top management of the Church of Uganda.

“Top leaders of the Church of Uganda have come to a decision that the Church will no longer hold funerals or send-off prayers for unserious Christians. These are people who never attend church services and do not generally participate in church-related activities,” Luwum said.

However, the Archbishop- elect of the Church of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali said: “That is not true, it is not the position of the Church. Maybe, it is a statement from an individual.”

Luwum said the decision follows several disturbing incidences where funeral services have been conducted believing the deceased were followers of Jesus Christ, only to discover they practised witchcraft.

More here-

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/636286-church-bans-funerals-for-uncommitted-christians.html

Church body reacts to ‘witch’ case

From The Church Times-

THE abuse of children accused of being witches will not be solved by regulating churches, or by making it illegal to accuse a child of being a witch, the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) said after the trial of a couple found guilty of the torture and murder of a 15-year-old boy whom they had accused of witchcraft.

Kristy Bamu was murdered on Christmas Day in 2010, in a flat in east London. His sister, Magalie Bamu, and her partner, Eric Bikubi, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, were found guilty on 1 March, and were sentenced to life imprisonment on 5 March.

Kristy had received 130 internal and external injuries from a variety of implements, before being drowned in a bath full of water.

The charity Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA), renewed its call for the practice of branding children as witches to be criminalised. “The branding of children as witches is in itself a serious form of emotional abuse, which leads to untold anguish and suffering by victims.

“There is nowhere in UK law where the link between witchcraft branding and emotional abuse is explicitly made, despite the level of harm and devastation that can occur. This anomaly needs to be urgently corrected.”

AFRUCA has also expressed concern about the activities of “rogue faith leaders” who are “preying on people’s beliefs to brand children as witches for the sole purpose of extorting money from their parents to perform fake exorcism rites”.

More here-

http://churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=125483

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

Kent: ecumenical funeral held for medieval 'witch'

A joint Anglican and Catholic funeral service was held in a Kent church on Saturday for a young woman possibly killed as a witch several hundred years ago.

Six years ago, archaologists working in an unconsecrated part of the Hoo St Werburgh parish church grounds discovered the remains of a medieval body.The head was found removed from the body and placed next to it - meaning the girl may have been a criminal, a suicide victim or suspected of witchcraft. They named the girl 'Holly' as she was found under a holly bush.

The Vicar of Hoo, the Rev Andy Harding, made the decision to re-bury Holly and give her a funeral that was most probably denied her at the time of her death.

More than 200 people lined the streets as the horse-drawn carriage made its way through the village to the church.

During the committal, the grave and coffin were blessed by Father Victor Darlington, Catholic priest at the Holy Family church in Hoo.

Speaking after the service Rev Harding said: "It was lovely to see so many people here having been moved by her story. "I believe everybody should receive a respectable funeral."

Funeral director Paul Hawden who helped organised the funeral with several other local companies, said: "It brought the community and people together, it showed a lot of love. Yesterday was really lovely, as long as Holly is at rest now that's the main thing."

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/witch324.html

Nigerian children branded as witches in deadly purge

Jeremiah, 10, stares blankly at a window, tears rolling down his burn-scarred cheeks recounting how his father doused him with petrol and set him ablaze accusing him of witchcraft.

He is just one of hundreds of children in southern Nigeria's Niger Delta oil region thrown out of their homes, tortured or even killed after they are branded witches by a new crop of self-styled religious leaders.

Around a dozen phony pastors have been arrested -- one on murder charges after he confessed in a documentary film to having killed 110 child witches. He now says he killed only the witches inside the children, not the children themselves.

At a centre in Eket, Akwa Ibom's oil town, Jeremiah and over 170 other children -- aged between 18 months and 16 years -- have sought or been brought to emergency shelter. Many bear scars of physical torture -- machete cuts, burns or a nail drilled into the head.

It has been more than a year since Jeremiah fled from his home, but he suffered months of abuse at the hands of his parents after he was accused of sorcery.

"We were having a revival at church one night when from nowhere, the pastor's wife stood up to say I was a witch," recounts Jeremiah.

He was immediately locked up at the pastor's house, starved and assaulted with clubs as part of the exorcism exercise.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gylWH14V9Bv6kGBv39p4N06laoNA

Orombi criticises Alur over witchcraft

More on the problem of witchcraft in the African Church - this time in Uganda. The Alur people live an area of Uganda known as Nebbi where Henry was Bishop before he was archbishop.

THE Anglican archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi, has told the Alur to stop witchcraft to fight poverty. “People still share one grass-thatched hut with goats, children, chicken and ducks.

You Alur people should have trust in God and stop witchcraft. Stop giving yourselves names like Kumakech (I am unlucky), Ajaruva and Masedi (disturbance), among others associated with poverty,” he said. “An Alur will not want to see his fellow Alur prospering; they prefer seeing other tribes developing as they bewitch themselves.

An Alur will wake up at night and sprinkle blood on the doorway of his fellow Alur who is developing. We must stop this backward habit.” Orombi’s wife Phoebe advised the Alur in other areas to develop their home area. “As you work in Gulu, Kampala and other places, think of putting up some structure at home where you body will be laid when you are dead,” she said.

Orombi was meeting the Nebbi community living in Gulu and Amuru districts on Tuesday in Bardege division, Gulu. He urged the elders to teach the children and women the Alur culture. Orombi is on a one-week pastoral visit to the diocese of northern Uganda.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/16/661735

Last summer I posted a Christianity Today piece on the problem in Nigeria. Here it is again.


http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/august/8.16.html