CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE FROM ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF

UNCLAS PRETORIA 002474 FOR S/ES-CR (NATALIE CHAGNON),S/ES-O, AND AF/S E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPDC PREL OVIP SF SUBJECT: CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE FROM ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF CAPE TOWN, THABO MAKGOBA REF: STATE 118192 As requested in reftel, Post passes the following letter of congratulation to President-elect Barack Obama from the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Cecil Makgoba. A scanned copy of the original letter will be forwarded via email; no original has been provided. Begin text: Dear President-Elect Obama On behalf of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, I offer my warmest congratulations on your election as President of the United States of America, and assure you of our prayers as you take up office. As South, and Southern, Africans, we are more than conscious of what it means to strive to overcome historic divisions based on no more than the colour of one's skin - a matter over which one has no choice. Yet our contemporary world is still plagued by far too many unjust divisions, not least of poverty, that are too often encountered as accidents of birth, yet still perpetrated and maintained by the continuing choices of those with power and influence. Therefore, as we rejoice with you, we also offer you the challenge to build the 'bonds of affection' across division, to which you referred in your acceptance speech, not only within America, but across the world, and in ways that bear tangible fruit. There is no doubt that God has given you gifts of inspirational leadership, so we ask you to dare to use them to lead the world into a new economic era of justice for all, especially those in greatest need, those with least power and influence; and to call the whole world into covenanting together, for the well-being of the environment, the integrity of creation, and the flourishing of every human being. On a personal note, I assure you of my particular prayers for you, your wife and your children, being myself also a 47-year old married father of two, who earlier this year became the youngest occupant of the official residence of generations of Archbishops of Cape Town, under the shadow of such illustrious predecessors as Desmond Tutu - and so I too know a little, albeit on a far smaller scale, of what it is to find oneself called to fill shoes that at first seem very large indeed, and what this can mean for family life. May you, and your family, know God's protection, his love and his care, as you make this transition. May he direct you, and equip you for all that lies ahead. And may he bless you, and make you a blessing not only to your nation, but to our world. Yours in the service of Christ Thabo End text. BOST