Open Letter to the Rt Revd Samuel Azariah, Moderator of the Church of Pakistan

This letter was released as a press statement on 3 March 2011

Dear Bishop Samuel,

As I prepare to leave Bethlehem tonight, I am shocked and saddened to learn about the brutal murder of Mr Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for religious minorities in Pakistan, shot dead yesterday in a broad daylight in a residential area of Islamabad.

One can’t know the full story in these things but the fact that Mr Shahbaz Bhatti was the only Christian in the Islamabad cabinet and had expressed his dis-ease on the ‘regressive’ blasphemy law in Pakistan is certainly a troubling sign for inter-faith relationships – now and in the future.

The fact that his speaking out meant that he paid the price with his life, deserves the strongest condemnation by all.

As you are well aware, our recent meeting of Anglican Primates in Dublin had expressed regret about the blasphemy law and I had referred to this my February letter to the people of our Province. ( ‘To the Laos.’)

We, on behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa’s Synod of Bishops, send our prayers and condolences to his family, to our fellow Christians in Pakistan and to you as Moderator of the Church in Pakistan, our sister church in Pakistan.

Witnessing to Christ in other contexts can be costly - to the point of death. I urge all people of faith, especially in our Province to seek to understand each other and work together for the well-being of God’s people and God’s world.

Yours in the service of Christ,

The Most Revd Dr Thabo C Makgoba,

Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa

Message on the Monsoon Flooding in Pakistan

On 5 August, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd Dr Thabo Cecil Makgoba, sent the following message to the leaders of the Church in Pakistan, following the severe flooding and loss of life.

To: The Rt Revd Samuel Azariah, Moderator of the Church of Pakistan and the Rt Revd Humphrey Peters, Bishop of Peshawar

Dear Bishop Samuel, dear Bishop Humphrey

I am writing to assure you of my prayers, and those of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa for you and for the people of Pakistan who are affected by the terrible floods. None of us who see pictures of the devastation on our television screens and in our newspapers can fail to be deeply touched by the scale of the human tragedy that is unfolding, particularly in the region of Peshawar. Our hearts go out to you, and to all who are affected, and we especially remember those who have died and hold the bereaved and injured in our thoughts and prayers.

We ask that you will receive God's comfort and strength at this testing time, along with whatever tangible support you need. Through his inexhaustible grace, may you also find yourselves effective channels of the good news of his redemptive hope for the communities around you. My Province will do what we can to support your emergency relief and rescue programme, and I am urging people to make donations through our own disaster fund.

May Jesus Christ, who shared in the trials of our humanity so we might share in the glories of his resurrection, surround you all with the knowledge of his life-giving presence,

Yours in the service of Christ

+Thabo Cape Town

Detail for donations:

Account name: CPSA Disaster Relief Fund

Bank: Standard Bank of SA Ltd

Branch: Cape Town

Branch IBT Code: 02 0009

Account number: 07 007 8394