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The argument exposed a wide division in clergy attitudes to the troubled government of President Robert Mugabe.

Norbert Kunonga was consecrated at a ceremony at Harare's City Sports Center. Bishop Kunonga, a 49-year-old black priest and theology lecturer at the Africa University in Mutare, 170 miles east of Harare, succeeds Bishop Jonathan Siyachitema, who retired last October.

Timothy Neill, former vicar general of the diocese, had been fighting since last December to have Kunonga's nomination overturned. Neill, a 47-year-old white priest and prominent critic of the Mugabe government, claimed that the procedure contravened church laws and was "tainted" by racism against whites.

Neill was among three short-listed candidates submitted to the assembly convened in December to elect the new bishop. Kunonga was not on the list. According to the Star newspaper, published in South Africa, Neill's supporters alleged in December that supporters of the Mugabe government blocked Neill's election and engaged in intense lobbying for Kunonga.

Neill said that the clergyman who nominated Kunonga should have been disqualified because he had circulated a letter at the December assembly accusing Neill of racism.

The letter was written by Godfrey Tawonezvi, a priest at St Paul's Church in Highfield, Harare, and sent to Neill. Copies were sent to other priests and deacons. The letter stated: "I note with concern that you are ambitious to be the next Bishop of the Diocese of Harare. My own assessment is that such an ambition by you brings shame to the Church of God."

Tawonezvi accused Neill of racism, of perpetuating racial injustice in the diocese, and of wanting to become bishop in order to continue to dominate blacks. Neill, in turn, claimed that Kunonga had been involved in a smear campaign against him before the selection of the new bishop.

However, on March 9, a 12-member church court of confirmation, comprising two bishops and 10 other clergymen, unanimously confirmed Kunonga's election, brushing aside Neill's objections that he had been slandered.

Neill said last month that Kunonga's nomination was corrupt. "I did not feel that after years of denouncing a corrupt government I could condone similar corruption within the church. The election of Norbert Kunonga included outright slander, deception and lobbying," he said.

Neill did not attend Sunday's ceremony. He said last week that he was leaving for the United States to visit his brother-in-law, who was seriously ill.

Harare's Herald newspaper reported that a number of Anglican priests and parishioners were also conspicuous by their absence.

The consecration took place at a time of deep unrest and confusion in Zimbabwe. Critics both in Zimbabwe and abroad have accused President Robert Mugabe of turning a blind eye to attempts by his supporters to intimidate whites and members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Bernard Malango, the Zambia-based Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Central Africa, who presided at Kunonga's consecration, gave a homily critical of clergy involvement in politics. Some saw this as an indirect criticism of Neill who is known to his opponents as the "Pulpit Politician."

Archbishop Malango told the congregation of 4,000: "People come to church to hear the word of God and not politics. Those who want to get into politics should do so during their own spare time, and not use the church as a springboard for their ambitions. As members of the church, we are supposed to be speakers of the speechless. This means we have to represent everyone, regardless of their political affiliation."

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April (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45