Church leaders urged to 'get real' in Tanzania

Anglican Christians in parts of Africa are calling on their leaders attending the 2007 Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania this week, to concentrate on real issues and not spend so much time debating the rights of gay men and lesbian women.

Those who criticise the amounts of time and energy spent debating gay issues say there should be a focus on the catastrophic spread of HIV/AIDS, widespread and pervasive poverty, severe drought, lack of governmental transparency and how the church can use its moral influence to remove despots from power.

In London, a rising star in the Anglican Communion, the Bishop of Botswana, the Right Reverend Musonda Trevor Selwyn Mwamba, told IWPR that Anglicans in Africa are growing tired of the gay debate, the endless arguments about who goes to bed with whom and what colour pyjamas they wear. Read more