Anglican university opens in South Sudan
THE Episcopal University of South Sudan was inaugurated on 13 November, at an event in Juba attended by all of the bishops of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan. The Primate, the Most Revd Justin Badi, led a service of thanksgiving and blessing to mark the inauguration. The university has been accredited by South Sudan’s Minister of Higher Education to offer qualifications in law and theology. The Revd Dr Peter Ensor, a Methodist minister and New Testament scholar, has been appointed as Vice-Chancellor. The new institution is part of the wider vision of a geographically dispersed Episcopal University, of which Archbishop Badi is Chancellor (News, 21 April 2017). He is also the chairman of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which has been critical of provinces in the Anglican Communion which allow same-sex marriage.
Attacks on churches in Myanmar condemned by WCC
THE acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Revd Dr Ioan Sauca, and the general secretary of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), Dr Mathews George Chunakara, have decried attacks on a seminary and churches in Myanmar carried out by the junta. In a joint statement, Dr Sauca and Dr Chunakara described the attacks as “emblematic of the deteriorating humanitarian, human-rights and political situation in Myanmar” since the military coup that took place in February 2021. In the statement, the WCC and CCA called on the international community to “to redouble their advocacy and engagement for justice, peace and the restoration of democracy in Myanmar”. On the one-year anniversary of the coup, church leaders urged the UK Government to do more for the people of Myanmar (News, 4 February).
US research shows backing for same-sex marriage
IN THE United States, 61 per cent of adults polled hold a positive view of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, in new research by the Pew Research Center. More than one third of respondents said that same-sex marriage was “very good for society”; 19 per cent said that it was very bad. The results also indicated a marked difference along denominational lines: 71 per cent of Christians who identify as white Evangelical Protestants view same-sex marriage negatively, and 26 per cent positively. The numbers were almost reversed for those who did not identify as Evangelical, of whom 62 per cent had a favourable view. Respondents who identified as Roman Catholic had similar views to non-Evangelical white Protestants, while 82 per cent of those who defined themselves as unaffiliated felt positively about same-sex marriage.