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MINNEAPOLIS – Bridging the gap between rich and poor was the central message of a panel of four African Anglicans who spoke Thursday about issues the church is facing on that continent. Speaking before the evening’s Forum on Global Reconciliation, hosted by presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of South Africa outlined common global concerns as being shelter, food, education and clean, running water. “The fundamental point… is how in our global village we reconcile between rich and poor when the rich are getting very much richer and the poor are getting poorer,” he said. Poverty is one of the main problems in war-torn Liberia, said Bishop Edward Neufville, of Liberia, who described his country as being in a state of complete disaster. “Right now, as I speak, there are hundreds of people dying daily of hunger, dying daily of disease,” he said. “Many of our doctors have fled the country.” Neufville called on the Episcopal Church USA to “urgently help to provide food, to provide medicine for our people.” He also asked the church to use its influence to prevail on Washington to intervene and help end the conflict in Liberia. While war and poverty are killing numbers of people in Africa, the AIDS pandemic is also taking its toll, Archbishop Ndungane said. “In Africa, twice as many people die daily from AIDS as died on Sept. 11,” he said. His concern was echoed by Nema Aluku, of the CAPA AIDS initiative. Aluku spoke of the growing number of orphans who have lost parents to AIDS and talked about a new AIDS initiative in Kenya. Panel members were quizzed on their views on the proposed election of the Rev. Canon Gene Robinson as bishop in the wake of well-publicized statements against homosexuality by a coalition of 26 African bishops earlier in the week. “Africa is a big country and it’s not homogenous,” Archbishop Ndungane said. “People share different views on different issues.” He insisted that he respected the integrity of the processes of the Episcopal Church. Neufville said his country’s preoccupation was clearly elsewhere. “We are just listening and praying,” he said. “But the major issue that confronts us right now is life and death, disease and poverty.” ###
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