Deutsche Presse-Agentur
London – Hundreds of Anglican bishops led a protest march through central London Thursday urging world governments to show the “political will” to fulfil pledges of eradicating global poverty by 2015.
The colourful march, which turned the government centre of Whitehall into a sea of bishops’ purple, was led by Rowan Williams, the head of the worldwide Anglican Church.
It was spearheaded by around 600 bishops and joined by other faith leaders, politicians, diplomats and charity groups, swelling the total number of participants to over 2,000.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who addressed a final rally at Lambeth Palace, the London seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, said the bishops had staged the “greatest public demonstration of faith” Britain had ever seen.
The bishops had sent a “symbol and a very clear message” that poverty must – and will – be eradicated in line with the so-called Millennium Development Goals (MBGs) laid down in 2000.
“A hundred years is too long to wait for justice and that is why we must act now,” said Brown.
Williams, followed by bishops from around the world who are currently attending the Anglican Church’s Lambeth Conference, marched behind a huge banner calling on governments to halve world poverty by 2015.
The churches could “not stand by and let promises be broken,” Williams said in a letter handed to Brown. “The cause is not a lack of resources, but a lack of global political will.”
“Because our faith challenges us to eradicate poverty, and not merely to reduce it, we should all be more alarmed that with the halfway mark to 2015 passed, it is clear that most of these achievable targets will not be met,” said the letter.
Fulfilment of the goals was especially urgent as climate change and rising food prices were already hitting the poorest hardest, said Williams.
The march came as Britain’s leading aid charity Oxfam warned that 13 million people in East Africa are at risk of hunger and destitution as food prices spiral out of control.
A situation already marked by droughts, war and poverty was made worse by rising food prices which had increased by 350 per cent in some regions between 2007 and 2008, Oxfam said in a report issued in London Thursday.
Oxfam joined calls on donors from other international aid groups to increase aid levels to Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Its call followed a warning from the UN World Food Programme which said that more than 14 million people in the Horn of Africa needed food aid because of drought and rising food and fuel prices.
Oxfam’s Rob McNeil, who has toured Somalia and the Afar region of Ethiopia, said the cost of food had escalated by up to 500 per cent in some places and people were becoming desperate.
“I saw people in one village reduced to pounding the food pellets intended for their animals into porridge to feed their families. We fear that the worst could be yet to come as the crisis deteriorates across East Africa,” his report said.
In Somalia, the cost of imported rice increased by up to 350 per cent between the beginning of 2007 and May 2008, while in areas of Ethiopia, the price of wheat had more than doubled over a six-month period.
According to Oxfam, 2.6 million people in Somalia – or 35 per cent of the population – required emergency assistance, a need that could apply to half the country’s population by the end of this year.
In Ethiopia, the government estimated that 4.6 million people were in need of emergency food assistance, twice as many as at the beginning of the year.
In Turkana, northern Kenya, an Oxfam survey showed that 25 per cent of children were suffering from acute malnutrition, the highest in the country.
Copyright 2008 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
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posted July 24, 2008 at 6:04 pm
It’s a noble attempt and one you’d hope lots of religions and non-religious organizations would support but the fact is, modern agriculture as we know it requires a LOT of oil and we are past the era of cheap oil. That implies to me that in order to feed even the number of people in the world now, let alone the larger number in 2015, agriculture will have to suddenly get far more energy efficient and/or we in the first and second worlds will have to change our life styles far more than I think we’ll be willing to do.
I sincerely hope I’m wrong about that but I don’t think I am.
posted July 24, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Apropos of my post above here’s something I just came across:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080723094838.htm
posted July 24, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Smoke screen, did they wear their fancy robes? How about taking salary cuts and giving more to the poor or salary cuts and hire some poor for fair wages. This is just a shallow attempt to clean up the homosexual mess. The church has chosen to funnel its resources into the promotion of homosexuality instead of the poor of Africa and now it’s just trying to look better. Roll up your sleeves and help the poor get some sustainable agriculture if they really cared it would take a look more than this shallow publicity stunt.
posted July 24, 2008 at 11:03 pm
The problem with poverty is people think it’s an absolute. In fact, it is a relative scale. You can make a million dollars a year, but if the average salary is 2 million then you are in poverty.
posted July 25, 2008 at 9:24 am
rmcq if you can’t feed your children it’s pretty damn absolute. On the other hand before you have those children you should have good prospects of being able to feed them.
But it’s kind of strange to conflate poverty with making a million $ a year.
posted July 25, 2008 at 1:22 pm
cknuck-
Are you being a little bit too cynical?
First, many of those ~600 Anglican Bishops are not supportive of full equality of lgbt people within the church.
Second, is it possible that because you do not agree with the direction of the US Episcopal Church you are being overly critical of the whole Anglican Church?
FYI, for decades, the Episcopal Church has been sending millions of dollars a year to the African Anglican Churches for them to use to assist the poor in whatever manner our African Brothers in Christ have deemed appropriate.
I will assume you were not aware of these fact when you made your critical post.
Peace!
posted July 25, 2008 at 6:55 pm
cknuck, you’re comparing the acceptance of homosexuals by many of the Episcopal churches to people starving in the world? It cost the church money to accept homosexuals? Interesting. I don’t agree with your theory, but it’s different. Also disagree that is was a publicity stunt.
posted July 26, 2008 at 11:22 am
The Prime Minister of England, Gordon Brown said the “Poverty March” was the greatest march of faith Britin has ever seen. This must have been a sight! The African group that didn’t attend because of small mindedness and lack of love should have been there marching with the “faithful”. I’m sure it will help keep the need to keep eradicating poverty forefront on peoples minds.
posted July 26, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Yes JohnQ it is possible that I am critical of the direction of the US Episcopal Church but I doubt I am overly critical just look at the mess they are in and where all the attention and what they are currently noted is going. They are indeed operating outside of the gospel that is why the African Anglican Church are willing to risk the separation to remain true to the gospel. A homosexual bishop living in a active sexual relationship which he choose over his heterosexual family including children he conceived with the wife he left for a man. Not good, and the Africans know it. Of course a politician would say its great it means he don’t have to do anything and he knows the march will change nothing it’s a publicity stunt with the buoyancy of a rock, it happened on the 24th what does it mean on the 26th? No change, no relief just pomp, I don’t know where the churches millions are going to but they have hardly made a difference in poverty stricken foreign countries let along in its own neighborhood and right now their main energies and focus is on promoting homosexual church leadership.
posted July 27, 2008 at 4:18 pm
What mess? I don’t see a mess. They are not operating outside the Gospel as they interpret it. The African Anglican Church wants to continue to interpret the Gospel as they do and don’t want to discuss anything with the other members because they want it their way. It really isn’t necessary to go over the same pathetic rendition of Bishop Robinson every time you comment on your interpretation, ck.
You think politicians think this March is great because they don’t have to do anything?? Are you talking about Englands’ Prime Minister, Gordon Brown? The March was one of “positive spirit” for the agenda of helping poverty. I think it will be remembered more than two days.
Can you prove the Anglican Episcopalians haven’t done anything for poverty stricken foreign countries ck? Being accepting, and loving for your fellowman, in this case GLBT, is much more than ‘promoting’. They will go down in History as a Church that believes what Jesus preached and standing up for people who have been downtrodden for too long, all in the name of ignorance and false piety.
posted July 27, 2008 at 5:22 pm
“GLBT”
First there is nothing gay about being homosexually active and there is certainly no room for the activity in church leadership
Lesbians: there is some rather disturbing studies of this activity. I saw one study based on women in prison and there are others based on college and other living arrangments.
There is no sense in bisexuality outside of insensible sexual desires, it’s an oxymoron
Transgender really is a telltale indicator of just where people can take society, how could one delude people into thinking such a thing is possible, its not and in reality it never will be possible.
So if you have a church that stands on these false principles then you have a broken church, all the marches in the world will not get them where they are suppose to be because marching is not helping when the agenda is so clearly elsewhere, the march is a front.
I don’t think that homosexuals or lesbians or even transgenders for that matter are ever not accepted from the church but to lead and stand on the principle that the lifestyle is a right one is not the right way for the church to go.
To think that there is this great and vast realm of interpretation that the gospel is open to is misinformation and misleading, the Bible is clear on how we are to live, lead, serve and worship.
posted July 27, 2008 at 6:51 pm
cknuck:
I know it has occured to you that there have ALWAYS been GLBT people, since time began (or since your god created them)? Human beings are not all born “heterosexual”. I don’t think anyone would choose to be discriminated against, told by some churches that what they do is wrong in the eyes of “God”, they aren’t allowed legally in all states to make permanent living arrangements, etc. It is not a “life style” it is the person’s natural state…
For what it is worth, many, many outstanding men and women have not been heterosexual…many have contributed to the good in this world.
TEC and Anglican’s will work out their problems or they will split and those conservatives in Africa and other spots will do their thing and the others will continue to accept and recognize that all human beings are worth God’s love…and acceptance. The Bible obviously has more than one way to be read. Lots of churches have split and have survived…this one will too.