Archbishop of Canterbury to Visit Kenya to Discuss Africa Anglican Issues

The Archbishop of Canterbury will arrive in Kenya on Wednesday for a one-day visit during which he will meet with bishops from numerous African countries on several issues facing the African Anglican Church, including vital funding.

The visit by the Archbishop, Dr Rowan Williams, is highly significant not least because it is his first to East Africa, but also because of Kenya’s growing influence in the worldwide affairs of the Anglican Communion.

A number of issues are expected to be debated in the meeting, including the venue of the 2008 Lambeth Conference, the equivalent of a Synod, as well as more controversial issues.

Two such issues include the recent recommendation by the joint Anglican-Catholic Commission, which endorsed the controversial Catholic teaching on Biblical Mary, as well as the World Council of Churches to break economic relations with Israel, a call backed by Kenya.

Other issues on the agenda include poverty, and the escalating HIV/AIDS pandemic and the Church. The recent decision of the Anglican Church in Britain to ordain women as bishops is also expected to be discussed.

According to The Nation newspaper the visit of the Archbishop is to mediate in a funding dispute involving several African provinces, among them Kenya. The young Church in Sudan has also threatened to reject funding, despite its desperate need after two decades of conflict in the region.

The provinces have protested to the American Episcopal Church after it approved the election of gay bishops, as well as same-sex marriages in the Church, by rejecting millions of dollars of funding from them.

Provincial Secretary of the Anglican Church of Kenya Bishop William Waqo refuted reports funding would dominate the meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

"The main agenda of the meeting will be HIV/Aids and the conflicts in the Great Lakes region. We want to see how the church can be more effective in fighting the scourge and bringing warring parties to a truce. Concerning funding, we have already made our stand clear and anyway, we receive very little funding from the Episcopal Church of USA here in Kenya," Bishop Waqo said.

An unnamed source speculated that the issue would undoubtedly arise, as well as the forthcoming Lambeth Conference due to take place in South Africa.

Funding from the Anglican Church in the UK to the most needy African countries is also likely to be discussed.

The visit to meet bishops from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Sudan is the second official visit by the Archbishop, who previously toured West Africa last year.

Archbishop Williams brings with him some notables within the Anglican Church including the Rev Andrew Norman, the head of International, Ecumenical and Anglican Communion Affairs, as well as the Rev David Peck, the secretary for international development.