THE ANGLICAN Church in Tanzania will no longer knowingly accept money from dioceses, parishes, bishops, and individuals that “condone homosexual practice or bless same-sex unions”, a statement from its House of Bishops said last week.
It declares its communion with the Episcopal Church in the US to be “severely impaired” in the light of the General Convention’s response to the Windsor report. The bishops describe ECUSA’s response as “a failure to register repentance for their actions”.
In 2003, after the election of the Rt Revd Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire, the Tanzanian Church declared itself out of communion with bishops who consecrated or ordained homosexuals, those who permitted the blessing of same-sex unions, and gay priests and deacons.
It took this latest decision at a House of Bishops meeting in Dar es Salaam on 7 December, where it mandated the Primate of the Church of Tanzania to forward the statement to the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and all the Primates in the Anglican Communion.
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, heavily dependent on agriculture, and with life expectancy currently standing at about 46 years.