Clergy and pilgrims hoping to visit the Arthur Shearly Cripps Shrine last week were once again frustrated by excommunicated bishop Dr Norbert Kunonga who now claims to be in charge of the shrine and 78 Anglican churches in Masvingo Diocese.
The Anglican Diocese of Masvingo said its leaders advised Anglican worshippers against taking part in this year’s Shearly Cripps celebrations, scheduled for 29 to 31 July, after a court ruled that Dr Kunonga could not be prevented from attending the shrine.
A diocesan spokesperson told ACNS, “Kunonga got wind of the Diocesan preparations for commemoration of Arthur Shearly Cripps by pilgrims at the Arthur Shearly Cripps Shrine this month end, and he began to counter these efforts.
This is a most disturbing development because it takes the persecution out of Kunonga’s original area. He was bishop of Harare, the capital in the north central area of Zimbabwe until he was deposed. Masvingo is a different diocese altogether, covering the south-east of the country. Reading this account, however, it is significant that Kunonga seems to have no support at grass roots level. He has to travel around accompanied by a band of what would be called tsotsis (thugs) from place to place, rather than being supported by groups of local people. He has some very limited support in and around Harare from the minority there who support the corrupt political party ZANU/PF of Robert Mugabe (who by the way lost every constituency in Harare, even in a rigged election). But Kunonga clearly has no support among the people in the SE, despite the dispiriting detail about the police chief cravenly giving in.
Can any of you good UK Anglicans tell me if USPG has issued any statement on Kunonga? The mission he tried to take over at Daramombe was one of those generously supported by USPG for many years. This whole thing is so sad and of course as I have said ad nauseam South Africa does nothing to rein in these crooks.
You will find a wonderful, short life of Arthur Shearly Cripps called God’s Irregular by Douglas Steere. From his remote mission he kept an eye on the colonial legislature and if it proposed Jim Crow style legislation he would write to London to get it quashed. He was a humble and caring chaplain to hospitals for people suffering from TB and from sexually-transmitted diseases, both groups being shunned by the wider populace. His nickname with its reference to walking is significant. He would even walk the 150 miles from his mission to the capital (Salisbury, now Harare) rather than take a lift in a car. The reason? The humble people of the country walked or cycled along the roads, and cars shot past in a cloud of dust. ‘You do not’ he said ‘kick dust in your friends’ faces.’ How significant, and how moving, that after all these years, there is a holy white man whose memory is still revered and respected by black people. What a sign of hope, and of contradiction. No wonder Kunonga is enraged. By the way, respect to the clergy who stood up to Kunonga and his thugs and refused to hand over the keys.
Prayers for Zimbabwe and our Anglican brothers and sisters there; may God support them in their faithfulness in the current persecution they are going through, hear their prayers and heal their land.