Archbishop Ndungane - the Saturday Profile in the New York Times

Archbishop Ndungane is the subject of this weeks Saturday Profile in the times and the article is a must read.

see: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/world/africa/10archbishop.html

Here are some of the highlights:

It begins:

"In times of turmoil, Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Anglican archbishop for southern Africa, has a favorite spot: a wooden seat that encircles a massive fruit tree in his garden at the foot of Table Mountain. He calls it his thinking bench.

Perhaps never before has he had so much use for it. The global Anglican Communion, of which his province is the oldest African member, is teetering on the brink of schism over the issue of homosexuality..."

"Archbishop Ndungane (pronounced un-dun-GAN-ee), who succeeded Archbishop Desmond Tutu just over a decade ago as the leader of southern Africa’s four million Anglicans, is pleading for acceptance. In Archbishop Tutu’s mold, he argues for a broad-tented church in which believers of various stripes live in harmony..."

"“The marks of our church are grace, tolerance and living with difference,� Archbishop Ndungane, 65, said at the church’s whitewashed estate here, outside Cape Town. “We need to make a distinction between issues that are fundamental to the faith and second-order issues. This is not a church-dividing issue...�

“I wonder if somebody could calculate how much money is being spent on these meetings, which deal with one issue and one issue only, when we have 48 million orphans?� he asked. “Whose agenda is this? Definitely in my view, this is not God’s agenda.�

the article was written:

By SHARON LaFRANIERE
Published: February 10, 2007

Highly recommended

Bob Lem

the wind and the waves favor the skilled sailor