(Vatican Radio) The new director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Vatican will be the former head of the Anglican Church in Burundi, Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi.A statement from Lambeth Palace on Friday said Archbishop Bernard will take up his new post in September, succeeding the outgoing director, Archbishop David Moxon.Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report: Born in 1948, Archbishop Ntahoturi grew up in a small village in southern Burundi, the son of a poor farming family. After training at theological College in Uganda, he was ordained in 1973 and then continued his studies in England at Cambridge and Oxford universities.After his training, he returned to Burundi where he joined the civil service, becoming chief of staff to President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza. When the government was overthrown in a military coup in 1987 he spent four years in jail.In 1992 Ntahoturi became Provincial Secretary of the Anglican Church ...
(Vatican Radio) The new director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Vatican will be the former head of the Anglican Church in Burundi, Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi.
A statement from Lambeth Palace on Friday said Archbishop Bernard will take up his new post in September, succeeding the outgoing director, Archbishop David Moxon.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
Born in 1948, Archbishop Ntahoturi grew up in a small village in southern Burundi, the son of a poor farming family. After training at theological College in Uganda, he was ordained in 1973 and then continued his studies in England at Cambridge and Oxford universities.
After his training, he returned to Burundi where he joined the civil service, becoming chief of staff to President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza. When the government was overthrown in a military coup in 1987 he spent four years in jail.
In 1992 Ntahoturi became Provincial Secretary of the Anglican Church of Burundi and five years later he was consecrated Bishop of Matana Diocese.
In 2005 he became Archbishop Primate of the Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi.
Archbishop Ntahoturi has served as chair of the Council of Anglican provinces in Africa from 2011-2016, and as a member of the Anglican Consultative Council Standing Committee from 1993-2012.
Extensive ecumenical experience
He has extensive ecumenical experience having served as a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of churches since 1998, and co-moderator of the Permanent Committee on Collaboration and Consensus which brings together representatives of the Orthodox, Anglicans and Reformed Churches. He has also served on the Executive Committee of ACT (Action of Churches Together) International and participated in the creation of the new ACT Alliance which is the ecumenical branch of the WCC for Relief and Development.
Peace and reconciliation work
Archbishop Ntahoturi has been active in promoting peace in war-torn Burundi and the great Lakes region of Africa, representing the Protestant Churches of his country during negotiations in Tanzania, which were instrumental in bringing peace to Burundi. He is Vice Chair of the Burundi Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Chair of the Inter-Anglican Standing Committee on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO).
So that the world may believe
Following the announcement of his appointment, Archbishop Ntahoturi said he looked forward to building on the work of his predecessors and to strengthening “those areas, especially in peace building, where the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church can work together for a common witness, so that the world may believe and God [be] glorified’.
Pope Francis meets with members of the Syro-Malabar Church on May 13, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 13, 2024 / 16:53 pm (CNA).In a meeting with Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil and members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church at the Vatican on Monday, Pope Francis urged unity and obedience amid a long-simmering liturgical conflict that continues to rock the Eastern church.As some fear an imminent schism in the ancient Eastern-rite church, the pope stressed the importance of unity, saying: "Apart from Peter, apart from the major archbishop, there is no Church." He urged the faithful present at the Vatican's Consistory Hall to "press forward" in obedience to the Church, saying: "You are obedient, and where obedience is present, there is the Church. Where there is disobedience, there is schism."What is going on in the Syro-Malabar Church?The Syro-Malabar Church is an Eastern Catholic rite in full communion with the Roman Cath...
Father Timothy Furlow speaks from the ambo at St. Patrick's Church in Portland, Oregon. / Credit: St. Patrick's Church in Portland, OregonCNA Staff, May 13, 2024 / 11:16 am (CNA).A pastor in Portland, Oregon, recently urged his parish to pray for a vandal who defaced the church building with vulgar graffiti, arguing that the controversy gets to the "core message" of the Gospel itself. A vandal tagged St. Patrick's Church in Portland with several graffiti in April that read "[expletive] you, my body my choice," a popular slogan for the pro-abortion movement. In his homily the morning the graffiti was discovered, the parish's pastor, Father Timothy Furlow, told parishioners that he deliberately left the vulgar message visible for the faithful to see on their way to Mass. "I wanted you to see it," he said. "Somebody said, 'Oh, we got to cover this up.' And then I'm like, nope. I want them to see that." "And the reason is because it fits kind of perfectly with w...
The new rule authorizes border agents to screen asylum seekers for "national security, criminal, or other public safety concern[s]" at the "earliest stage possible." Those flagged as potential threats to the U.S. and its citizens can be denied entry into the U.S. immediately. / Credit: Wikimedia CommonsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 13, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).As communities on the U.S. southern border continue to face a record surge of migrants, the Biden administration has proposed a new rule meant to stop people who pose national security threats from remaining in the country.The Biden administration said the rule, which is set to be entered into the Federal Register today, will "enhance operational flexibility" and help the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) "more swiftly remove certain noncitizens who are barred from asylum.""The proposed rule we have published today is yet another step in our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of the American public by more quickly ide...