A meeting took place yesterday between the Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane, Primate of Southern Africa and the Most Revd Peter Akinola, Primate of Nigeria, held at Kwa Malusi, 18 Stanley Road, Irene, Pretoria. In attendance were the Rt Revd Dr Jo Seoka, the Bishop of Pretoria and the Rt Revd Dr Peter Adebiyi, the Bishop of Lagos West.
The meeting started with a Holy Communion Service presided over by the Rt Revd Dr Jo Seoka of the Diocese of Pretoria who also facilitated this meeting as the Liaison Bishop for Southern Africa to CAPA. This meeting was called primarily to discuss the way forward for the Anglican Church in Africa and globally on how to work out issues about what affects the church in general. We agreed that there had been a communication gap between the leadership of the Church and this meeting resolved to remove obstacles that make communication impossible and thereby be able to fight against any forces that seek to divide us. It also agreed to share information about various meetings that will take place in Africa, for example, the All Anglican Bishops’ Conference to be held in Nigeria in October 2004; and the Lambeth Conference to be held in Cape Town in 2008; and to assist African nations to be self-reliant – and thereby reduce disease and poverty among the nations of Africa.
We concluded to work together to strengthen the position of the Church in Africa on the issue of Human Sexuality. We uphold the Lambeth resolution on Human Sexuality as passed at the 1998 Lambeth Conference and subsequent Primates Meetings which categorically say no to same-sex marriages or unions.
We are committed to working together with the African political leaders on conflict prevention and resolution and to facilitate the success of NEPAD.
We are committed to working together to eradicate poverty and diseases – most especially HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane
Primate of Southern Africa
The Most Revd Peter Akinola
Primate of All Nigeria