The pinnacle of the worldwide Anglican Communion Justin Welby on Friday stated he had expressed his “grief and dismay” to the Ugandan Church over its help for the nation’s anti-gay legislation.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni final month signed into legislation the controversial anti-gay invoice, introducing draconian measures in opposition to homosexuality which were described as among the many world’s harshest.
Below the legislation, figuring out as homosexual wouldn’t be criminalised, however “participating in acts of homosexuality” can be an offence punishable with life imprisonment.
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“I’ve lately written to my brother in Christ, the Primate of Uganda, Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, to specific my grief and dismay on the Church of Uganda’s help for the Anti-Homosexuality Act,” Archbishop of Canterbury Welby stated in an announcement.
“I make this public assertion with sorrow, and with persevering with prayers for reconciliation between our church buildings and throughout the Anglican Communion,” he added.
Kaziimba expressed help for the invoice, saying that “homosexuality is at the moment a problem in Uganda as a result of it’s being pressured on us by outdoors, overseas actors in opposition to our will, in opposition to our tradition, and in opposition to our spiritual beliefs”.
‘The African manner’
“The African manner” is a “lifelong, heterosexual, monogamous marriage”, he added.
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Welby rejected Kaziimba’s feedback, saying “this isn’t about imposing Western values on our Ugandan Anglican sisters and brothers.
“I’ve reminded Archbishop Kaziimba that Anglicans world wide have lengthy been united in our opposition to the criminalisation of homosexuality and LGBTQ individuals.
Preventing in opposition to individuals’s freedom and dignity
“Supporting such laws is a elementary departure from our dedication to uphold the liberty and dignity of all individuals,” he added.
The Ugandan Church was considered one of 10 that in February stated it now not recognised the Church of England and Welby as leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion attributable to its determination to permit blessings of identical intercourse unions.
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The difficulty appears set to additional deepen the divide between the seat of the Anglican Church in Canterbury and its worldwide members, which make up the majority of its 85 million worshippers.
© Agence France-Presse
