Ruth Gledhill reports in Akinola ‘barred’ from Jordan that Archbishop Akinola was err, barred from entering Jordan.
Sources at the conference tell me that the Nigerian delegation landed in Tel Aviv and went to the northern crossing point. Archbishop Akinola was travelling on his diplomatic passport. After being questioned for four hours, he was turned back, although the rest of the Nigerian delegation was allowed in. He got his passport back, and apparently was told that they needed a particular clearance on a diplomatic passport which he did not possess.
See also ‘Alternative Lambeth’ conference forced to move to Jerusalem.
The other main Global South leader, Archbishop Gregory Venables, is also not in Jordan because his wife is in hospital after complications following a hip operation. He is hoping to join Gafcon in Jerusalem.
US evangelical blogger David Virtue, who is in Jordan, said the Gafcon leaders were thrown into “dismay” because of Dr Akinola’s role as a key player in the conservative bid to reform the Anglican church from within.
The official GAFCON explanation of this event is here.
The pre-GAFCON preparatory consultation in Jordan wound up early, and the participants moved to Jerusalem on Thursday, 19th June. Hotel and meeting rooms previously unavailable in Jerusalem became available at the same time GAFCON leaders learned that previously granted permission for the Jordan consultation was deemed insufficient.
The time in Jordan was very valuable for prayer, fellowship, and networking. The group made pilgrimages to Mt. Nebo and the Baptism Site of Jesus. GAFCON Chairman Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, and Archbishop Greg Venables of Southern Cone, were for different reasons unable to be in Jordan. Both are, however, expected to play significant roles at GAFCON in Jerusalem.
Dave Walker reminds us of why they went to Jordan in the first place: GAFCON moves to Jordan after row.
Jim Naughton reminds us of one reason why this might have happened.
Those attending GAFCON will have this additional opportunity while in Jerusalem 🙂
Why is +Akinola travelling on a diplomatic passport, which are for diplomats, consuls and their dependents? Does he possess a governmental, diplomatic or consular position in Nigeria? The requirements for a Nigerian diplomatic passport are a:
“Letter of introduction from applicant’s Ministry, Parastatal or Extra – Ministerial department”
http://www.immigration.gov.ng/passportypes.htm
On the issue of diplomatic passports, an ironic piece from the Leadership Nigeria website:
“According to the permanent secretary, the misuse of the Nigerian diplomatic passport by unscrupulous persons has made nonsense of the document necessitating disrespect and humiliation from immigration and security officials of foreign nations.
Baba Ahmed disclosed that Nigeria has the highest number of people with diplomatic passports worldwide explaining that this development did not augur well for the image of the country. He explained that the federal government was putting modalities in place to enforce strict adherence to the use of passports.”
http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/product_info.php?products_id=9151&osCsid=f5ebaea217f23c15ea62860ee
Ah-hahaha!
And the GAFfes CONtinue….?
(I’ll get my coat…)
So that little “no comment” comment came back to bite him! See what happens when the locals (and their wishes and feelings) are ignored in all the planning?
They may be unwashed heathen infidels predestined for damnation, but it’s their country.
(Re Akinola’s denial-of-entry)
Must.Not.Give.In.To.Schadenfreude.
Must.Not.Give.In.To.Schadenfreude.
Must.Not.Give.In.To.Schadenfreude.
;-/
“The official Gafcon explanation” wasn’t much of an explanation in my mind.
So much spin, rather.
The story about +Abuja’s diplomatic passport reminds us that the Archbishop is a major political player in Nigeria, not primarily a man of God.
Church and State, anyone?
Presumably +Akinola held a diplomatic passport when, as president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, he held a seat on the Nigerian National Security Council. Since he is no longer CAN president, and so no longer holds a seat on the Council, he has presumably simply forgotten to hand it back? Or does he hold another post that entitles him to one? Or was he awarded won for life by the government at some point?
Or is this simply common practice? How many Anglican bishops travel the world on diplomatic passports?
Sorry to harp on about the passport issue, but it is quite curious. A piece on the Leadership Nigeria website tells of the attempt to remove eligibility for diplomatic passports from Nigeria’s lower house. They are, it seems, the prerogative of the Nigerian President, drawing from a list of those eligible prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/product_info.php?products_id=25849 In the comments below this piece there is an interesting one by a Nigerian who appears to know what he’s talking about: “Diplomatic passports are given for diplomatc duties only.Even within the diplomatic service not all the staff are given diplomatic… Read more »
Pot calling Kettle black regarding other souls Nigerian credentials spring to mind.
Bickering souls who plan their schism before they go on a pilgrimage are no longer planners of schism when they arrive in Jerusalem?
Praise that God measures the truth and heart of men’s souls, and not their public faces and words of what they purport to be depending on their environment, irregardless of their conduct and machinations where they think they are not being observed.
Jerusalem gay pride? Genius!
Jim Naughton’s observations at Episcopal CafĂ© “Lead”, which you link, bear repetition. He reminds us “that Akinola, a fierce critic of Islam, has refused to answer questions about his knowledge of, or involvement in, the retributive massacre of some 700 Muslim in the town of Yelwa in northern Nigeria in 2004. “The massacre was carried out by a para-militia wearing clothing associating it with the Christian Association of Nigeria of which Akinola was then president. When asked about the massacre by Eliza Griswold, who wrote The Atlantic’s story, Akinola refused to comment. He has since ignored requests for clarification. “… Read more »
As Akinola and Venables were prevented, may it be that this meeting and enterprise is not the will of God.
It seems to confirm a nagging doubt I’ve had about it. (I could be wrong. I know all our messes can become creative– but seem so upsetting at the time.
Or maybe the Lord is giving lessons in patience & vulnerability. If so we could all learn from that.
However, my heart did go out to Akinola being detained like that, and presumably tired, hungry and confused.
I should hate to be treated like that.
Are the English bishops who are attending GAFCON going as official representatives of the CofE, or of their diocese?
Or are they travelling as private “pilgrims” and paying their own way and taking it as part of their leave?
Perhaps a journalist might ask.
According to Reuters Africa:
“Fjeldstad said Akinola was not denied entry into Jordan but gave up after several hours’ delay at the border.
“He was kept in bureaucratic limbo,” he said. “They claimed that, as a diplomatic passport holder, he had to give advance warning that he was coming. He decided to go back to Jerusalem.”
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN943184.html
L Roberts: “As Akinola and Venables were prevented, may it be that this meeting and enterprise is not the will of God.” According to Ruth Gledhill’s article, “Gregory Venables is not in Jordan because his wife is in hospital after complications following a hip operation. He is hoping to join Gafcon in Jerusalem.” I think it’s important that we not get carried away, or jump to conclusions, about why certain people didn’t show up at GAFCON. Being “barred” is certainly different than a spouse’s surgical issues. And regardless of what one thinks about Greg Venables and his tactics, his wife… Read more »
One thing that it’s essential to learn during life is that the same thing can mean different things in different countries and cultures…
Passports that might mean one thing in Nigeria might mean a different thing in Jordan.
Scripture that might mean one thing in Nigeria might mean a different thing elsewhere.
Let’s hope that this is something that the hapless Archbishop might take home from GAFCON.
For the purpose of information, and out of curiosity as to the response it would elicit, I posted a reference to the Yelwa massacre on a Stand Firm thread shortly after I posted the comment above. The response, from “Pageantmaster”, was absolutely what I anticipated: ” Wacky Rabbit I don’t think that +Akinola’s refusing to be cross-examined by the daughter of his not so trusted former colleague, +Griswold is grounds for believing that an Anglican prelate would condone violence or murder, NO! “I find the willingness to enlist any argument, any slur [however spurious] against anyone opposed to TEC’s interests… Read more »
Not so fast, all who cheer the failure of the Primate of All Nigeria and His Realms Beyond the Sea to enter Jordan. Is it not curious that rooms and conference facilities which were previously unavailable in Jerusalem suddenly opened up – at exactly the moment they became necessary?
So now Gaffe Con has a martyr (Akinola) and a miracle (the multiplication of hotel rooms). Not a bad week for them.
Slowly and clearly the world can understand that not all Nigerian Bishops attending Gafcon went there in there own clear consciences as some of them will have been blackmailed into going and threatened if they dare not attend. Archbishop Akinola’s power game is once more revealing as he now travels with a Diplomatic passport. How come those who work hard to discredit the Lambeth Conference are all planning vacations and holidays and visiting friends and allies in England at same time as the Lambeth Conference will be taking place? The truth is that the conservatives now understand that they cannot… Read more »
I’m sure the purple shirts will blend in nicely with the pink triangles on the 26th.
I seem to recall a saying somewhere that, if we are blind and leading the blind, we may all fall aside in ditches.
Bravo to Jerusalem Gay Pride, I stand with Riazat – brilliant. What God is not being allowed to do through GAFCON, may perhaps be worked through Jerusalem Gay Pride?
Heave on oh spin doctors, you have your work cut out for you now. Pull. Does anybody really doubt that GAFCON was a smashing success from way before the moment it was publicly announced?
I am wondering as to what this Gaffecon dĂ©bacle really is. Superficially it looks like a disaster, the Primate of All Nigeria detained for 4 hour’s questioning, denied entry by the authorities due to his questionable diplomatic passport (and probably his anti Muslim activities at Yelwa and other places), and reduced to go to Jerusalem alone… On the other hand he did not go alone but a few days early with the rest of the Nigerian delegation… Was Jordan ever on??? or was it merely a ruse to deflect criticism that the Global South leaders had disregarded the opinion of… Read more »
GAFConites should attend the Parade! Perhaps they could engage in the listening process!
Just read the official GAFCON documents…they could teach you liberals a good deal about fudge and deliberate ambiguity. On Marriage, ” CASUAL ” divorce is condemned so as to hide the fact that some in GAFCON are divorced , re-married and believe in it. The word casual is the KEY to understanding the deliberate fudge. In the liturgical section, Anglo-catholics are appeased and there is no reference to how Cranmer abolished the Mass, prayers for the dead and to the Saints, adoration of the sacrament and reservation. The quote from Cranmer is one which Anglo- Catholics and Evangelicals can read… Read more »
I think ‘liberals’ should resist the temptation of crowing over Akinola’s discomfiture. It all seems … rather unChristian.
“” CASUAL ” divorce” Is this anything like “excessive interest”? I notice several conservatives here using that phrase in the defence of usury, ignoring the 1500 years in which it was interest, no matter how tiny, that was sinful. They then, of course, turn right around and condemn others for saying something sin’t sinful when the Bible clearly says it is. How horrible! We’ve never done THAT before! So, excessive interest is sinful, not interest in itself, casual divorce(what Gene Robinson and his exwife describe seems the opposite of whatever “casual” divorce means, but I guess it’s all casual when… Read more »
“So now Gaffe Con has a martyr (Akinola) and a miracle (the multiplication of hotel rooms). Not a bad week for them.”
Ther is quite a lot on that miracle to be seen on Stand Firm. God w a n t e d Gaffecon to be in Jerusalem!
But was it ever intended to be elsewhere?
I wonder how the bishop of Jerusalem likes this development. They moved part of the conference to Jordan for his sake. Will he be crying on Jon Bruno’s shoulder now that the whole conference will be where it was originally scheduled?
When God closes a door, he often opens a window! I have seen this many times of the medical mission trips that I have been on. Carry on godly Christian warriors:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
I was once the holder of an “official” passport. An official passport indicates that you are travelling on business realted to the issuing government, but that you do not hold the same privileges and immunities as a person travelling on a diplomatic passport. I was required to hold a separate personal passport. On any occasion I was to travel with the official passport, I had to turn in the personal passport to get it, since one cannot (normally) hold two passports at once. I was advised that it would be improper to undertake personal travel using the official passport. Official… Read more »
From The Telegraph of all places. GAFCON is a ‘shambles’, ‘semi-fiasco’, ‘relative failure’. “The truth is that the conference has so far been a shambles. Its leader, the belligerent Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, has been denied entry to Jordan. Other conservative church leaders are missing because they have chosen not to attend. Significant absentees at Gafcon include the Rt Rev John Chew, Primate of South-East Asia, and Dr Mouneer Anis, Presiding Bishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East and treasurer of the “Global South” group of conservative provinces. And even those leaders who are attending the conference make up… Read more »
Robroy:
You think it’s OK to hold this kind of meeting without the approval…indeed, with the express disapproval…of the local primate?
“Carry on godly Christian warriors” Warriors fighting whom? Come on, give it up, you’re not being persecuted, much as you want to be. Is there any need to be such a drama queen? Do you really need to concoct this myth? What’s the base of it, anger making you fearful, or fear making you angry? As to the Bishop of Jerusalem, I imagine he’s worrying what this will do in his already tense diocese, probably a bit upset that his stated concerns were so rudely ignored by people he thought were his friends. But concerns about peace must take second… Read more »
Reading the GAFCON book further…they aplaud ecumenism ( inc with Rome!), acknowledge Anglican compehensiveness and diversity of worship, and completely ignore the area of female headship. This must certainly irk some trads , Protestant Sydneyites
The parade news was one of those joyous coicidences that only God can contrive with aplomb. On John’s Christian concerns. Recall Jesus at Matthew 7:2 “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” So the Nigerian church has in recent years released press releases internationally warning of fraud and misrepresentation by souls who purport to have a history with their church. Did the church, aware of these possible anomalies, proceed to investigate all members of its church (from the least to the greatest)? Or… Read more »
“Gafcon is dominated by the single issue of homosexuality” This is a manifestation of the issue, not the issue itself. They “tolerated” women in collars in other dioceses, they “tolerated” liturgical reform, they even tolerated a growing political liberalism. Much of what upsets them cannot be made into communion breaking issues. But, gay people are hated enough around the world that, for the vast majority of the human population, demonizing us, ejecting us from the Church, jailing us, is not seen as anything other than righteousness. So, we are a “safe” rock, at least in their own jurisdictions, on which… Read more »
“Carry on godly Christian warriors”
I doubt he has any idea how this sounds in the ears of most Americans after 8 years of GW Bush and his adoring apocalyptic fundamentalist Red Guards dominating the teevee.
Onward Christina Soldiers,,,right into Baghdad and Abu Ghraib.
Malcolm noted that “I fail to see how this attempt to destroy the Anglican Communion could possibly be considered official business of the Nigerian state.”
Well, perhaps it is the official business of the Government of Nigeria. Maybe they actually do want to destroy the Anglican Communion and have sent their Archbishop to do the job. 🙂
Re the concern about casual divorce, obviously the concern is sartorial in nature. One can be divorced in a dinner jacket (that’s “tuxedo” to you in North America), but certainly not in casual attire.
“Well, perhaps it is the official business of the Government of Nigeria. Maybe they actually do want to destroy the Anglican Communion and have sent their Archbishop to do the job. :-)” Is it so far off the mark? We know IRD has been funding these people. We know IRD is supportive of, and supported by, elements in America that are hostile to any religious voice that opposes their ultraconservative positions. Indeed, the main support for the Bush Republicans has been ultraconservative Fundamentalist Christians who believe nonfundamentalists are not Christians at all, are going to Hell, and are the enemy,… Read more »