Archbishop of Canterbury launches appeal for Christians in the Holy Land

From Rev. Michael W. Ridgway, St. Thomas, via Anglican Communion News Service:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, today launched an Appeal at General Synod's July 2011 Group of Sessions, for funds to help sustain Christian communities in the Holy Land.

“I returned from a visit to the Holy Land last year with a very, very strong sense that we had to do more to express our solidarity with the Christian communities there...We know our brothers and sisters there are suffering; and we don’t always ask ourselves often enough what our response needs to be.”

He hoped that Anglicans and others would give generously to help build a fund from which community projects could be supported – projects which would contribute to the sustainability of the most vulnerable Christian communities, especially on the West Bank.

“I want to appeal today to you, for your support in creating in the near future, a fund with which we might assist projects of community development and work creation, especially among Palestinian Christians.”

The Archbishop’s appeal comes ahead of a conference on Christians in the Holy land which he and the Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols are jointly hosting at Lambeth Palace on 18/19 July. They explained the purpose behind holding the conference in a short video which was screened as part of the Archbishop’s appeal to Synod.

To view the video click here: http://bit.ly/ndFcC2 and to view a transcript click here: http://bit.ly/oo7wyc

Read it all here.

Sudanese Bishops Plead for their People

From Rev. Michael W. Ridgway, St. Thomas – Sunnyvale via The Living Church:

People of the Nuba Mountains region in Sudan are under armed assault from government forces, said the region’s Anglican bishop June 17 during an annual meeting of the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan.

“As many people have heard, it is really a genocide,” said the Rt. Rev. Andudu Elnail, Bishop of Kadugli and the Nuba Mountains for the Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. “There is no food for the people of Kadugli. There is no water.”

President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, a Sunni Muslim who came to power in 1989, wants Christians in the border region to migrate to the southern half of Sudan, which is more hospitable to Christianity and which will establish an independent government July 9.

Read it all here.

Christians in the Middle East - Archbishop on World at One

From Rev. Michael W. Ridgway, St. Thomas via The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Website:

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has expressed his deep anxiety for Christians in the Middle East, but also cautious optimism about possible outcomes of the Arab Spring.

Speaking during an interview with Martha Kearney on BBC Radio 4's "World at One" programme, the Archbishop expressed his continuing concerns about the fragile situation of Christian minority populations across the Middle East  where in places life for Christians was "becoming unsustainable".  The situation had been, and remained, most serious in Iraq.  He also spoke of "the haemorrhaging of Christians" from parts of the Holy Land.

He also said he was "cautiously hopeful" about the possibility of an emerging "pluralist democratic future" in the wake of the Arab Spring.  "Hopes were too vivid" for repressive regimes to revert to type: "change will have to come"

Read it all here.

Praying with and for the people of Sudan

From Rev. Michael W. Ridgway, St. Thomas via The Anglican Communion News Service:

The thoughts and prayers of many in the Anglican Communion are focused on Sudan at this time, as the people of Southern Sudan prepare  for a referendum to decide their future. The referendum will take place on 9 January next, and all are invited to pray and to focus their concerns on that war-torn country at this time.

Read it all here