2000 Greet the Archbishop of Canterbury in Angola

ACNS 4264 | ACO | 13 MARCH 2007

Clergy from this war-torn nation plead for "concrete ways" todefend the poor

Special Report Luanda, Angola, 12 March 2007

Photographs for this article can be found here: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/42/50/acns4264.cfm

A weekend of emotion, praise, prayer and promises, marked the visit to
Angola of the Most Revd Rowan Williams and his delegation. A sports stadium
in the capital city of Luanda was overflowing with people coming to join in
a special Eucharist to mark the first ever visit of an Archbishop of
Canterbury to Angola, on Sunday, 11 March, 2007. However, the praise was
mixed with sadness for the "reality" of the situation, while local
Christians cheered and applauded as their
guest made his way into the stadium styled "cathedral".

In his sermon, which was translated into Portuguese, Archbishop Williams
said, "my prayer for this country and for the churches here is this; may the
Christians of this land hear day by day the word of God that is the word of
hope. May they hear the word of the God 'I am what I choose to be', I do
what I have decided to do. The word of the God who has said 'I have decided
to be with you and nothing will change that'. And because of that may the
Christians of this country be courageous day by day. May they have the
courage to do what is in front of them, even if it seems small, it will be
great in God's eyes. And as Christians grow in that confidence, that honesty
and that courage, they will build a community and a nation that is confident
and honest, a nation which will give glory to God. May God give us all in
this country and across the world, that courage and that faith so that we
may work together to do away with the violence and the terror the disease
and poverty that make us less than human."

He said, "An ancient Christian writer once said that the glory of God is a
human being full of life, so may the glory of God be seen in this country,
as human beings become full of life, free from fear and poverty."

Bands, drummers and dancers, young and old, ecumenical clergy and choirs,
and the many Anglican congregations in the Diocese of Angola joined in to
nearly three hour service and heard the Most Revd Rowan Williams, robed in
his "African" cope and mitre given by the church in Ghana, praise the people
of Angola for "faithfulness to the gospel" in the aftermath of terror, ruin
and war. The banners around the arena read "Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord" while others named parishes St John Baptist, Christ the
King, St Mary, St Stephen and a host of others, all with greetings to the
archbishop.

The young and growing diocese is under the pastoral care of its first
bishop, the Rt Revd Andre Soares and his small but lively staff. The
archbishop was greeted officially with speeches from the youth of the
diocese, the Mothers' Union and from the bishop. The diocese here has a
strong link with the Diocese of London (England).

Sunday afternoon the Archbishop and Bishop Soares met with local ecumenical
Protestant leaders in the Council of Christian Churches in Angola (CICA), a
group that includes 16 denominations, from the United Methodists to the
Evangelical Baptist Church, as well as the Church of the Twelve Apostles to
the Evangelical Mennonite Brothers. The church leaders shared their ministry
priorities with Archbishop Williams with the fight against malaria as a
number one item. With the archbishop is the Revd David Peck who heads the
Anglican Communion development programme at Lambeth Palace whose task is to
follow through on identified ministries and projects of the local Anglican
diocese.

The Roman Catholic Papal Nuncio and the Archbishop of Angola joined the
Archbishop and his delegation for dinner on Saturday as guest of HE Mrs
Cynthia Efird, USA Ambassador and a worshipper at the local church of Christ
the King. She and her husband are active Anglicans from St Paul's Episcopal
Church, K Street, Washington, DC. Sunday evening the delegation met with
John Yale of World Vision and Rosario Advirta of Christian Aid. Many NGO
official and clergy attended the Sunday worship in Luanda.

On Saturday a small turbo prop flight was the mode of travel for the
itinerary of the delegation as they visited Uige (pronounced weeje), where
the main Anglican work and mission has been the strongest. A Eucharist
attended by over 1000 included 40 candidates for the sacrament of
confirmation administered by the Archbishop. Archbishop Williams also
travelled over rural roads to reach a site for a proposed school where he
joined in laying the foundation stone, a task he would later enjoy again
later back in Luanda at St Stephen's Church and school, near the airport.

A dramatic and moving visit to the church of All Martyrs in Uige found the
Archbishop remembering the life and witness the church's pastor who was
killed in 1961.

Bishop Soares, in his official welcome speech on Sunday, praised the
Archbishop for "your determination, courage and pastoral care in making sure
you visited this little flock". The bishop also thanked Archbishop Williams
for his willingness to "struggle to hold the Anglican Communion together as
a visible sign of God's love to his people." The bishop noted that the
Archbishop's visit comes just as Angola begins its celebration of 5 years of
peace "after a long and bitter time of war". The bishop reminded the
assembly that Angolans had suffered for 41 years including the War of
Independence and the Civil War. The bishop said, "As a result of this, the
country has lost its best sons, thousands were left without limbs, millions
driven from their homes.we are left with a a nation disfigured by poverty
and misery."

Bishop Soares pleaded for the Anglican Communion to be an advocate for the
people and for "solidarity" so the church can be "prophetic in its witness
to society defending the cause of the poor in concrete ways".

The pastoral visits continues through Tuesday.

Jim Rosenthal is the director of communications for the Anglican Communion
and is with the Archbishop and Marie Papworth from the Lambeth Press and
Fiona Millican, Anglican Communion Liaison Officer at Lambeth Palace.

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