EVEN AT DAVID KATO'S FUNERAL...

From Reuters:

Scuffles broke out between locals and friends of a murdered Ugandan gay activist at his funeral on Friday after the pastor conducting the service berated gay people and villagers refused to bury the coffin.

David Kato was beaten to death with a hammer on Wednesday, police said. His photo was printed on the cover of a newspaper last October that called for gays to be executed under a headline that read: "Hang them".
....

During the funeral -- which was attended by about 300 people, including about 100 members of the country's gay community -- the pastor lashed out at homosexuality, provoking a strong reaction from friends of Kato.

"The world has gone crazy," the pastor told the congregation through a microphone.

"People are turning away from the scriptures. They should turn back, they should abandon what they are doing. You cannot start admiring a fellow man."
....

Villagers then refused to bury the body at which point a group of Kato's friends, most of whom were gay, carried his coffin to the grave and buried it themselves.

Read it all, the whole sorry spectacle of an Anglican priest Lay Reader berating the deceased and his friends from the pulpit at Kato's funeral.

The police authorities say the preliminary investigation indicates that Kato was killed in a robbery, but human rights activists suspect otherwise.

H/T to Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin.

PRESIDING BISHOP'S STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF DAVID KATO

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s statement:

At this morning’s Eucharist at the Primates Meeting, I offered prayers for the repose of the soul of David Kato. His murder deprives his people of a significant and effective voice, and we pray that the world may learn from his gentle and quiet witness, and begin to receive a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone. May he rest in peace, and may his work continue to bring justice and dignity for all God’s children.

H/T to Andrew Gerns at The Lead.

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE MURDER OF DAVID KATO

Archbishop condemns murder of Ugandan gay human rights activist

Friday 28 January 2011

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is currently in Dublin for the Primates' meeting, has made the following statement regarding the murder of the gay human rights activist David Kato Kisulle in Uganda:

"The brutal murder of David Kato Kisule, a gay human rights activist, is profoundly shocking. Our prayers and deep sympathy go out for his family and friends - and for all who live in fear for their lives. Whatever the precise circumstances of his death, which have yet to be determined, we know that David Kato Kisule lived under the threat of violence and death. No one should have to live in such fear because of the bigotry of others. Such violence has been consistently condemned by the Anglican Communion worldwide. This event also makes it all the more urgent for the British Government to secure the safety of LGBT asylum seekers in the UK. This is a moment to take very serious stock and to address those attitudes of mind which endanger the lives of men and women belonging to sexual minorities." (My emphasis)

From the Anglican Communion Office.

Photo from Wikipedia.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.

UPDATE: Read Tobias Haller's post at In a Godward Direction. Shorter version: The archbishop's statement, "Such violence has been consistently condemned by the Anglican Communion worldwide, " ain't a lie, if you parse it just right.

Note: Tobias did not approve approves my shorter version of his post.

DUTY CALLS

This one is for Grandpère.

PS: Oh my goodness! I forgot to say thanks to Ann. I'm still laughing at the cartoon.

UPDATE: From xkcd.

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT OBAMA ON THE KILLING OF DAVID CATO

From the White House:

I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder of David Kato. In Uganda, David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom. The United States mourns his murder, and we recommit ourselves to David’s work. At home and around the world, LGBT persons continue to be subjected to unconscionable bullying, discrimination, and hate. In the weeks preceding David Kato’s murder in Uganda, five members of the LGBT community in Honduras ... to strongly support human rights and assistance work on behalf of LGBT persons abroad. We do this because we recognize the threat faced by leaders like David Kato, and we share their commitment to advancing freedom, fairness, and equality for all. ...

The Primates of the Anglican Communion are gathered in Dublin. It would be a good thing to hear a few words from them on the killing.

H/T to Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin.

"DAVID KATO, MY FEARLESS FRIEND...."

By Blogger Nsubuga in the Guardian:

I first met David in school. I know he was a few years ahead but apart from that, my memory fails.

I didn't know he was gay. I was yet to put meaning to the impulses I felt then. I knew I was different, but couldn't see the same difference in anyone else.

Later, when I was as "out" as I could be in Uganda's secretive gay community, we met again. We were having a party. My partner had organised it. And David Kato Kisule was the stranger claiming to be gay who wanted to crash the party.
....

I felt like crying when the news came of the death of a friend, confidant, fellow activist. And the manner of his death: horrible. Someone entered his home in the middle of the day and hit him with a hammer. Two blows to the head.
....

By the time Rolling Stone came out, David was so well known outside the community that they thought it fitting to put his photo on the front page. He was one of the three people who sued the paper. On 3 January, they won the case, securing us a small victory.

But in Uganda, such exposure has a price. In court, David was chased by anti-gay activists. Strangers knew he was gay. Even at home in Mukono they also knew.

Read it all.

May David rest in peace and rise in glory.

May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to all who loved David.

Pray that justice may be done. Pray for the murderer.

Pray that David's death may be the inspiration for many to work to bring about change in Ugandan society, politics, and religion.

UPDATE: read Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement on David Kato's murder at The Lead.

SNIDE JOURNALISM

Earlier today, Lapin sent me the link to this particularly nasty bit of snide journalism by Damian Thompson in his blog at the Telegraph:

The Most Rev Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, has given a most revealing interview to the Houston Chronicle in which she says that Anglican churches in Africa have polygamous members and, um, that’s basically OK. I mean, not ideal, but a man can keep his wives if he wants to, though not add to his collection.
....

Well, I suppose her Church was founded by a man with six wives…

Here's the Q&A from the Houston Chronicle:

Q: How does that play in more conservative parts of the world? Do you follow one set of beliefs here, and other cultural values in other parts of the world?

A: That's really the name of the game with Anglicans. One of our primary issues during the Reformation was that worship had to be in a language the people could understand. We take context really seriously, because we take incarnation, the presence of God in the flesh, very seriously. He appears to us in different ways in places. I'll give you a contrasting example. In the 1980s, the Anglican community started to wrestle with the issue of polygamy in Africa. Polygamy is not an issue here, except in very small pockets of Utah and Arizona, and the church has taken a very different position. We said no. In Africa, the church doesn't officially recognize polygamy. They certainly have polygamous members of their churches. In some places, they say the man can't take additional wives once he becomes a Christian, but he isn't forced to divorce the wives he already has. The children generally are recognized as full members if they want to be baptized.

In some instances, there was good reason for permitting married, male converts to Christianity to keep the wives they already had. Had the wives and children been abandoned, many of them would have been viewed as outcasts in their societies, women with no status, left without protection.

Obviously, Thompson doesn't do nuance well. Thompson is Roman Catholic. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

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OH SWEET!

From the Church of Ireland:

On Sunday 30th January at 9.00am, the Most Revd Dr Katharine Jefferts-Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the USA, will preach at the Sung Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral (please note the earlier time).

Dr Jefferts Schori is in Ireland attending a conference of the Primates of the Anglican Communion which is being held at the Emmaus Retreat Centre in Swords, Co. Dublin.

Speaking of the bishop’s visit, the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, the Very Revd Dermot Dunne said “It is truly a delight and a historic moment for the cathedral to welcome Dr Jefferts-Schori who has done so much for the Anglican Communion in areas of minority inclusion”. (My emphasis)

Dear me! What will Rowan think?

H/T to John Chilton at The Lead.

UGANDAN LGTB ACTIVIST MURDERED

Jim Burroway at Box turtle Bulletin reports that David Kato Kisuule, LGTB activist in Uganda, was murdered.

David Kato was a spokesperson for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and one of the plaintiffs (or applicants) in the successful lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction against the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the U.S. publication of the same name). Kato was one of three applicants who had been named by the tabloid under a headline tagged “Hang Them!”

Few details are available a this time.

Lord, have mercy!