Europe's first black archbishop!

international | worker & community struggles and protests | other press Friday June 17, 2005 16:03 by +

the newly appointed archibishop of York (one of the two post-Augustine sees of England) is John Sentamu.

For yeah verily as we doth live in times of black popes, and good old fashioned fascist kathurlicks, the appointment of a Ugandan born former judge on the recommendation of "me missus has a mantilla" Tony "the antichrist" Blair, is newsworthy.

black archbishop to centre of board

And if its not newsworthy I'll make it so.

John Sentamu was born the sixth of thirteen children, near Kampala in Uganda in 1949 he was so small the local bishop was called in to baptise him immediately.

He survived his birth, a sickly childhood and a famine to become, a mere twenty-five years later, a judge in the Uganda High Court under Idi Amin, a brutal dictator who is remembered fondly by some for wearing a kilt and declaring himself the conqueror of the british empire, and with shudders by others who recollect upon his legacy of murder, canibalism and wonder where exactly was it he ended up[?].

Sentamu left Amin's regime for Cambridge to study divinity (the protestant word for theology) in 1974 and when his friend the Ugandan Archbishop Janani Luwum was murdered he vowed ‘You kill my friend, I take his place’ and he was ordained in 1979.

As vicar for the church of the Holy Trinity South London, John Sentamu raised £1.6 million to restore his church and its organ as well as increasing his congregation ten fold.

This was quite an achievement. "ten fold" is protestant for "1000% more bums on the pews".

He has served on several publick inquiries of HMG not leastas an Advisor to the Stephen Lawrence Judicial Inquiry and the Chairman of the Damilola Taylor Review board. He carried his experience on these to lead an anti-gun (and anti-firearm in general) [including imitations] campaign in Birmingham where he has been bishop for the last three years.

From 1985-1996 he was a member of the General Synod, and he was prolocutor of the Province of Canterbury between 1990 and 1996. During this time he also served on the Archbishop’s Commission for Urban Priority Areas from 1986-1992, and as Chairman of the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns between 1990-1999. Within London Diocese he had special responsibility for Evangelism, Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, Police and Community Relations, and Social Justice.

Membership of external bodies has included the Family Welfare Association from 1989; Health Advisory Committee H M Prisons and the CTE Forum; Governor of the University of North London from 1998; Custodian Trustee of the London Diocesan Fund; Trustee of the Tower Hamlets Summer University; Chairman of the Islington Partnership and Patron of a number of local, national and international initiatives. From 1997-1999 he was also an Adviser to the Stephen Lawrence Judicial Inquiry which submitted its report to the Home Office in February 1999. He is Chairman of the Haemoglobinopathy Screening Programme from 2001; Chairman of EC1 New Deal from 2002-2004; Chairman of the Damilola Taylor Review, 2002. Fellow of University College of Christ Church Canterbury; Fellow Queen Mary, University of London; Doctor of the Open University; Doctor of the University of Gloucestershire; Doctor of the University of Birmingham; Freeman of the City of London, 2000; From 2004 to present day: National President of YMCA England, President Youth for Christ, Vice-Chair, Comission of Urban Life and Faith, Board Member, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

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He is like every Engurlish resident, from former punk rocker to richest billionaire all for the "ending poverty" thing.

here is a sermon from him.
compare & constrast the religious style.
Then decide which religion is for you.
There's nothing wrong with being a christian you know, but many people find it difficult to make up their minds on which smells and bells are for them. Being anglikhan is a bit like being kathurlick but there's more room for ethnic minorities and lesbian mothers and a lot less radical street demonstrating or talk about condoms.

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Address by
The Rt Revd Dr John Sentamu, Bishop for Birmingham

Dearly beloved we are all part of something really big. You are part of our global village that seeks to make a difference for millions of people. I say, the UK Government should end export subsidies that damage the livelihood of poor communities around the world.
There is a need to address the issue of economic justice by all in our global village. As we say in Africa: "It takes a whole village to raise a child", similarly, it will take the whole global village to create economic justice.

All students of the phenomenon of economic globalisation: Academic, economists, theologians are in general agreement, however, that contemporary economic globalisation involves the increasing integration of national economies into a global market, made possible by the rise of multinational corporations and financial capital. They also appear to agree that, far from being a neutral phenomenon, it has important moral, even religious dimensions and is shaped not by abstract or invisible economic forces but by the choices and actions of us all. And so I say, vote for Trade Justice.

For Globalisation to be just it has to be inclusive, serving, especially the needs of the poor. Three policies would help this to be achieved: trade justice, the International Finance Facility, and domestic reform in developing countries.

However, material prosperity is not the only thing that matters: spiritual enrichment is also important, particularly through the good news of the Christian message and the strengthening of social institutions.

I happen to believe that there is common ground between theologians and theories of development. That is: an emphasis on the importance of right relationships, rather than on right prices. For me, 'justice' is a necessary though inadequate condition for successful economic development and needs to be supplemented with the biblical theme of 'glory'. There can be little glory where there is poverty, which distorts the image of God in humanity and is both symptom and cause of failed social relationships.

In the letter to the Ephesians, Chapter 6:12, the writer has some pertinent things to say about "rulers", "authorities" and "powers". This understanding may give us a theological framework for responding to contemporary global economic structures and the spirituality and worldview that undergird them. It seems to me that Globalisation is a form of imperialism: It embodies a contemptible account of what it means to be human; it destroys our sense of being at home in the world; and it poses a serious threat to the environment. All spiritual structures are, however, created, fallen, and can be redeemed. From the perspective of redemption, ethics always has to take priority over economics. The 'laws of the market' should be subordinate to the needs of the human and non-human creation.

Tragically, we humans have treated the oceans as sewers. You and I have a duty to protect the very womb of life itself - the seas, rivers and oceans of our world. Power and energy are central to our modern, industrial society. How do we generate this power in a safe and non-polluting way? We all live Downwind from Hiroshima and Chernobyl.

In the end there is a need for the strengthening of both faith-based initiatives and the prophetic witness of the Church in the face of global economic inequalities. The aim of both should be to 'change the wind', rather than to secure incremental changes or to exchange one set of political leaders for another. For faith is the spiritual engine of change.

This movement for social and economic justice which has hope rather than anger, at its core, will bring trade justice to many. Our aim is to bring an end to the moral gap. A gap that seems to ignore what Kant most eloquently said, that we are "unavoidably side by side". The recent Asian Tsunami is a salutary reminder that not one of us is an island. We are part of the Whole.

This moral gap has been defined by:
(a) The fact that over 1.2 billion people live on less than a day; 46% of the world's population live on less than a day; and 20% of the world's population enjoy 80% of its income.
(b) commitments and values of, at best, 'passive indifference' to this, marked by UN expenditure per annum of .25 billion (plus the cost of peace-keeping); US per annum confectionery expenditure of billion; US per annum expenditure on cars that is through the roof (over 0 billion).

This is not an anti-American statement, of course. Equivalent EU figures could have been highlighted.

Seemingly obvious questions arise: Would anyone freely choose such a state of affairs? Would anyone freely choose a distributional pattern of scarce goods and services which causes hundreds of millions of people to suffer serious harm and disadvantage independent of their will and consent (and 50,000 dying everyday of malnutrition and poverty-related causes), unless they had a privileged stake in the existing social hierarch? Would anyone freely endorse a situation in which the annual cost of supplying basic education to all children is billion, water and sanitation billion, and basic health to all £13 billion, while annually billion is spend in the US on cosmetics, nearly billion on jewellery and billion (in the US and Europe) on pet food? I am committed to caring for animals as part of God’s creation. But this is absurd!

So all of us must expose the scandal of poverty so that no one in Britain can say “We didn’t know!” We must tackle the scandal of poverty and be pro-active in challenging unjust structures.

I am glad that a large number of British civil society, churches and existing networks have united under the overarching slogan ‘Make Poverty History’, with three clear demands for

· Trade justice, not free trade

· More and better aid

· Drop the debt



In our campaign to ‘Make Poverty History’ our campaign message must surely be:

·Stop forcing free trade on poor countries. We must all call for ‘Trade justice – not free trade’

·To give poor countries the right to intervene in the ir economies in order to protect and support infant industries

We all must face the main challenge for 2005. Of the three issues of trade, debt and aid, trade is where I have the most disagreement with the Labour ‘government’! I welcome the Prime Minister and the Chancellor’s commitment to making 2005 a year when the Labour ‘government’ focuses on global poverty; and I look forward to the Commission on Africa report. I am glad too that Africa is on the agenda. I am in critical solidarity with its objective to eradicate poverty. It’s in the area of trade where I feel my, your, our campaign can be at its most effective. 2005 is a unique opportunity to challenge their commitment to free trade and liberalisation. This has the potential to deliver real progress in the fight against global poverty. So you and I must take part in the Global week of action: 10-16 April 2005.

Our reading from Isaiah 65:17-end gave us a pictorial description of the new heaven and the new earth. They are eternal, and in them safety, peace, love and justice have pervaded the environment, and plenty is available to all. “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; they shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.” What a picture.

On our own we can’t get it together but together we can get it. We must become a team: T= Together, E = Each, A = Achieves, M = More. T.E.A.M.

The late Mother Theresa of Calcutta visited Cambridge University to deliver a lecture on Poverty in August 1976.

The frail body of this Albanian nun climbed up the platform to rapturous applause. When the clapping had died down she said,

“In the West, one of the greatest problems is loneliness. People die alone. You have the greatest evidence of poverty. Poverty of the spirit. It can only be fed by the bread of heaven: Jesus Christ.

In India our greatest problem is togetherness. Diseases are easily shared but hardly any dies alone. We have the greatest evidence of poverty. Physical poverty. It can only be fed by the bread of heaven: Jesus Christ”

Out of a cloth satchel she took out a loaf of bread, broke it in half, passed it on and said, “Share it, and go and do likewise” and descended from the platform. That was her entire lecture on making poverty history. Following in her footsteps, let me also break this loaf in half, pass it on, share it, and go and do likewise. May I encourage you to do the same.

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here endeth the lesson
pass the plate.

*you will note, that the black bishop made reference to Ephesians, that same scripture which causes so many kathurlicks to go smoting their neighbours (always someone elses') kids.
Of course that was before St Paul caught a ride in the Castor and Pollux and sailed for Rome and he was still very icky on the greek island scene.
** you will further note there are no European black Kathurlick bishops.