News & Stories

Putting Principle above Pocketbook

July 1, 2005

[ABROAD] Anglican bishops in Africa are refusing millions of dollars from American Episcopal Church donors who have endorsed homosexual clergy after the 2003 election of openly homosexual New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson. Refusing these contributions has put a heavy burden on the Rwandan dioceses, which are still recovering from the effects of the 1994 genocide in that country. Rwandan Bishop John Rucyahana of the Diocese of Shyira said, “If money is being used to disgrace the gospel, then we don’t need it.” 
 
Africa is the fastest-growing portion of the Anglican Communion, which includes the U.S. Episcopal Church. After Bishop Robinson was ordained, the archbishops of many African countries, representing close to half the world’s Anglican community, declared that they will not accept grants from Episcopal churches that endorsed him.