Saturday, April 21, 2007

The Death of (Anglican) Canon Rodney Hunter

Ruth Gledhill points to a disturbing incident in Malawi:
On Remembrance Day last year, a 73-year-old English missionary priest died in Malawi. Canon Rodney Hunter merited a short Times obituary and was much mourned by those who knew and loved him here and in Africa. But he was elderly, and had had cancer. There seemed little in his death to arouse suspicion. Now, it turns out, he was poisoned. Mutterings that all was not right with his death began a few weeks back, and police in Africa have this week confirmed the worst.
(snip)
The diocese of Lake Malawi was in the public eye at about this time when Acton vicar Nicholas Henderson was appointed its new bishop, and then his appointment was blocked by the Global South leader Bernard Malango and by the diocese's court of confirmation because of Henderson's links with the liberal theology of the Modern Churchpeople's Union. The court described Henderson as a 'man of unsound faith'. To refresh your memory of this story, see the Thinking Anglicans archive.
In spite of strong support in the diocese, which has long links with Henderson's west London flock, Malango appointed another bishop, Leonard Mwenda, in Henderson's place. Mwenda's enthronement was conducted under police guard, amid scenes of stone-throwing. Mwenda in turn appointed Rodney Hunter as an assistant priest at Lake Malawi's Anglican cathedral.
A few months later, Father Rodney was dead. Poisoned.
Police enquiries are continuing but I have to ask: have the Anglican Communion's gay wars claimed their first victim?
She also has disturbing news from the Philippines:
Meanwhile, JihadWatch is reporting that the severed heads of seven Christians have been delivered to the military in the Philippines.

2 comments:

Jeff said...

I don't get it!

Was the canon gay? Was his bishop-to-be gay and was he a supporter?

Who supposedly killed the canon for what?

Zadok the Roman said...

The impression I get from the article, is that the Canon was seen as being associated with the conservative bishop, and this may be why he had enemies... but it's not totally clear.

In any event, no matter what 'side' violence like that comes from, it shows that there's something profoundly unChristian at work.