anglican church rejects gay cash

By Sam Muwanguzi (Sunday Vision)

June 19, 2006: Retired Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyooyo has disclosed that the Church of Uganda has rejected about $1m from the US since the eruption of a row in the Anglican Communion over the ordination of gays as bishops.

Nkoyooyo was speaking shortly before launching a fundraising drive for the construction of a classroom block and a multi-purpose hall to serve as a chapel, dining hall, and auditorium at the Besania Orphanage campus at Namubiru near Mukono town.

�The Church of Uganda is cash-strapped and desperately needs the money, but it resolved to reject the financial assistance in principle to uphold the Christian doctrine and African culture. We rejected the dollars because they were tainted with homosexuality.

Accepting the money would have meant that we either support the ordination of gay priests or the practice of homosexuality in the Church,� the retired prelate said.

However, he clarified that not all Episcopal churches in the US support the ordination of gay priests. �We still co-operate and receive financial assistance from other Episcopal churches in the US which do not endorse or ordain gay priests,� he clarified.

Nkoyooyo announced that the orphanage, currently home to 106 children, will soon be phased out and the facility transformed into a model home and school for blind children by 2008.

Visiting the US recently, Nkoyooyo addressed two separate meetings attended by a cross-section of invited guests and members of the Ugandan community and their friends living in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

Article published on June 17, 2006 in the Sunday Vision