The Most Revd Peter Akinola

The Most Reverend Peter Jasper Akinola (born 1944) is the current Anglican Primate of Nigeria. He is also Bishop of Abuja (Nigeria's capital) and Archbishop of Province III, which covers the northern and central parts of the country. Peter Jasper Akinola, Anglican Primate of Nigeria Comments moved from Wikipedia:Image sleuthing Found here http://www. ... The Reverend is an honorary prefix to the names of most Christian clergy and ministers. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Families 15, See classification A primate (L. prima, first) is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the latter category including humans. ... A mitre is used as a symbol of the bishops ministry. ... Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria, with an estimated population of 2. ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. ...

A very "low church" Evangelical and graduate of the Episcopal Church's Virginia Theological Seminary, Akinola emphasizes the Bible over tradition, and has taken a strong stand against those promoting values he considers to be incompatible with the Bible, with a particular emphasis on homosexuality. He is a hero to many conservatives throughout the Anglican Communion and beyond, while liberals see him as a divisive force. But he lost some conservative supporters over his handling of a letter in November 2005 which was publicly repudiated by three conservative allies mistakenly alleged to have signed it with him. Low church is a term of distinction in the Church of England, initially designed to be pejorative. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to religious practices and traditions which are found in conservative, almost always Protestant, Christianity. ... The word Bible refers to the canonical collections of sacred writings of Judaism and Christianity. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual and romantic attraction between two individuals of the same sex. ... The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. ...

As of November 2003, Akinola is the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, an ecumenical body bringing together Protestant, Catholic, and African independent Christians. He is also Chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa, representing an estimated 37 million Anglicans. However, his conservative views about homosexuality are not shared by all African Anglicans, and, notably, not by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Protestantism is one of three main groups within Christianity. ... An African Initiated Church is an independent church or religious movement which demonstrates syncretism or partial integration between aspects of Christian belief and African culture. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual and romantic attraction between two individuals of the same sex. ... The Anglican Church of Southern Africa (formerly the Church of the Province of Southern Africa) is the Anglican province in the southern part of Africa, including dioceses in Angola, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Saint Helena, South Africa and Swaziland. ...

In August 2003 he stated that if the openly gay and partnered, but celibate, Dr Jeffrey John was consecrated as Bishop of Reading or the openly gay and partnered Gene Robinson consecrated as Bishop of New Hampshire, the Church of Nigeria would leave the Anglican Communion. A number of dioceses throughout the world, including the Diocese of Sydney, made similar hints. In the face of the controversy, the consecration of Jeffrey John never took place (he was, instead, appointed as Dean of St Albans) but that of Gene Robinson did, precipitating a crisis in the Anglican Communion in which Akinola has been a frequent and vocal participant on the side of those claiming that the Communion should not accommodate those on both sides of the argument and that those opposed to his views should be excluded because their views are incompatible, as he contends, with membership of the Church. 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for August, 2003. ... The Reverend Dr Jeffrey Philip Hywel John, MA DPhil (born 1953) is a Church of England cleric, and the current Dean of St Albans. ... Reading is a town and unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) in the English county of Berkshire. ... Bishop Robinson The Rt. ... Official language(s) English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Area  Ranked 46th  - Total 9,359 sq mi (24,239 km²)  - Width 68 miles (110 km)  - Length 190 miles (305 km)  - % water 3. ... The Church of Nigeria is the Anglican Church in Nigeria. ... The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. ... The Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia is unique in Western Anglicanism in that the majority of the diocese is Evangelical (low church) in nature, and committed to Reformed and Calvinist theology. ... The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. ...

At first, Akinola's fire was concentrated on the Churches of the USA and Canada, and he successfully backed their suspension from the Anglican Consultative Council's meeting in Nottingham in 2005, which he personally attended. In August 2005 he publicly denounced a statement of the Church of England's House of Bishops on civil partnerships and called for the suspension or disciplining of the Church of England within the Anglican Communion. Since the Anglican Communion has historically been defined as those Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, whose Archbishop is head of the Church of England and thus primus inter pares in the Anglican Communion, this led to speculation that Akinola was positioning himself as a possible international leader of a more conservative church than the present Anglican Communion, which would no longer recognise the authority or primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury. In September 2005, he also fell out with the Church in Brazil over the deposition of an Evangelical bishop and excommunication of over 30 priests [1]. The Anglican Consultative Council is one of the four Instruments of Unity of the Anglican Communion. ... Nottingham is a city (and county town of Nottinghamshire) in the East Midlands of England. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of the Anglican Church. ... Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In September 2005, he secured the redefinition of his church's relationship to the Anglican Communion so as to replace all former references to "communion with the See of Canterbury" with "communion with all Anglican Churches, Dioceses and Provinces that hold and maintain the 'Historic Faith, Doctrine, Sacrament and Discipline of the one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church'." (source) On November 12, 2005 Akinola signed a Covenant of Concordat with the Presiding Bishops of the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... 12 November 2005 (Saturday) Amir Peretz, the new head of the Israeli Labour Party, warns Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that if Sharon does not pick a date for an early election, Peretz will institute a motion of no-confidence forcing a snap election within 90 days. ... The Reformed Episcopal Church is an Anglican church in the United States and Canada. ... The Anglican Province of America is one of a number of continuing Anglican chuches in the United States, i. ...

He led the list of signatories to a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury on November 15, 2005 describing Europe as "a spiritual desert" and suggesting that the Church of England "gives the appearance of evil". However, three of alleged signatories, President Bishop Clive Handford of Jerusalem and the Middle East, the Primate of the West Indies Archbishop Drexel Gomez, and the Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone Bishop Gregory Venables subsequently denied signing or approving the letter, describing it as "an act of impatience", "scandalous", and "megaphone diplomacy". Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... Map that frames the area named Southern Cone The term Southern Cone (Spanish: Cono Sur, Portuguese: Cone Sul) refers to a geographic region composed of the southernmost areas of South America. ...

In February 2006, after Muslims rioting over the cartoon controversy targeted Christians and their property, resulting in a reported 43 deaths, 30 burned churches [2] and 250 destroyed shops and houses [3], Akinola issued a statement in his capacity as President of the Christian Association of Nigeria that some interpreted as a veiled threat of violence against Muslims: "May we at this stage remind our Muslim brothers that they do not have the monopoly of violence in this nation." This was criticised by Bishop Cyril Okorocha of the Owerri diocese in Nigeria as "inflammatory" and "not the view of the whole Church". In the wake of his statement, Christian mobs in Onitsha retaliated against Muslims in the city. They killed at least 80 muslims[4], burned a Muslim district with 100 homes[5], defaced mosques with Christian slogans[6] and burned the corpses of those they had killed in the streets[7]. Hundreds of Muslims were forced to flee the city [8]. The controversial cartoons of Muhammad, as they were first published in Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. ... Onitsha (pop 7 million 2005 est. ...

Defending Akinola's statement was American evangelical leader Rick Warren. Writing in Time magazine in April, 2006, he said, "[Akinola] has been criticized for recent remarks of frustration that some felt exacerbated Muslim-Christian clashes in his country. But Christians are routinely attacked in parts of Nigeria, and his anger was no more characteristic than Nelson Mandela's apartheid-era statement that 'sooner or later this violence is going to spread to whites.'"[9] Richard D. Rick Warren (born January 28, 1954) is the founding and senior pastor of Saddleback Church. ... Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (IPA ) (born July 18, 1918) was the first President of South Africa to be elected in fully-representative democratic elections. ...

Also in February 2006, Akinola issued a communique on behalf of his Church of Nigeria Standing Committee stating "The Church commends the law-makers for their prompt reaction to outlaw same-sex relationships in Nigeria and calls for the bill to be passed since the idea expressed in the bill is the moral position of Nigerians regarding human sexuality." The bill in question, as well as criminalising same-sex marriage, also proposed to criminalise "Registration of Gay Clubs, Societies and organizations" and "Publicity, procession and public show of same-sex amorous relationship through the electronic or print media physically, directly, indirectly or otherwise", on penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment. The proposed legislation was formally challenged by the United States State Department as a possible breach of Nigeria's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

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