Archbishop of Kenya speaks out against polygamy
THE Primate of the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Most Revd Jackson Ole Sapit, has said that the Church would try and stop to attempt to spread polygamy in the country. He was speaking after a Kenyan MP, Gathoni wa Muchomba, called for men to marry several women so that there would be fewer single-parent families. She said: “If you are a man from the Kikuyu community, and you can sustain five wives, have them; and if you are a man and you are in a position to bring up [many children], do it,” the Anglican Communion News Service reported. In response, Archbishop Sapit said that the Church was “very clear through the teachings of the Bible, especially the New Testament, that one man and one woman make a family. . . a family is one wife and one husband joined together to form a couple and form a family.”
Filipino bishop released from prison
BISHOP Carlo Morales, of the Philippine Independent Church (PIC), was released from prison this week, after being arrested on a charge of “illegal possession of firearms and ammunition”. USPG said that the Bishop, a peace advocate from the city of Ozamiz, had been imprisoned after he had refused to leave the side of a wrongfully arrested human-rights activist. The charity maintained that the charge against the Bishop had been fabricated. The Bishop’s wife and driver were also arrested, but released the next day. Bishop Morales was released on bail last month, but could still face charges (News, 23 March). The Supreme Bishop of the PIC, the Most Revd Rhee M. Timbang, said: “The act of prosecuting a servant of God based on trumped-up charges is a big injustice made to a person and to the Church that expressed solidarity in the struggle of the people.”
US pastor on trial for spying in Turkey
A PASTOR in the United States has denied that he helped terror links, or spied against Turkey, at the beginning of his trial this week, AP has reported. Andrew Craig Brunson, an Evangelical pastor from North Carolina, could spend up to 35 years in prison on charges of “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member”, and “espionage”. Mr Brunson was arrested after the coup attempt, in 2016, for his alleged links to the illegal Kurdistan Workers’ Party. The case has put pressure on links between the US and Turkey. A spokeswoman for the US State Department said: “We have seen no credible evidence that Mr Brunson is guilty of a crime, and are convinced that he is innocent.” Mr Brunson was Pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church, and lived in Turkey for 23 years before his arrest.