Source: Zimbabwe Council of Churches releases letter supporting Catholic Bishops – Savanna News
Dr Kenneth Mtata General Secretary Zimbabwe Council of Churches
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches has released a statement in support of Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference currently under fire from government for voicing their concern over deteriorating standards of living, political crisis and human rights abuses. The letter was published by Dr Kenneth Mtata, the General Secretary Zimbabwe Council of Churches
Below is the letter by ZCC
Echoing ‘The March is not ended’
`Seek the Lard and live, or he will break out against the hoarse of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench‘5 it. Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the groundrAmos 5 verse 6-7
Sunday, 16 August 2020
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) read with grave concern, the government response to the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) pastoral letter of the 14,h of August 2020 entitled “The March is not Ended”. The government response presented by Mrs Monica Mutsvangwa, the minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, revealed the following worrying signs:
1. Responsibility: While the churches, including the ZCBC, have consistently identified the partial negative contribution of natural disasters and international isolation to government’s economic performance, it has however noted with grave concern that, the Government of Zimbabwe consistently takes no responsibility for its own failings characterized by corruption, policy inconsistencies and above all, failure to unite the nation towards a common vision. The denialism that characterizes the Government of Zimbabwe’s handling of criticism has now become a deeply worrying trend. The blame-shifting labelling of critical voices as ‘regime change agents’, and recently “terrorists” smacks of the government’s unwillingness or inability to engage on the basis of ideas as well as robbing citizens of any hope that things can improve.2. Personalization: Pastoral letters, including the “The March is not Ended”, are products of prayerful discernment by the college of bishops informed by compassionate listening to the experiences of the congregants. Singling out the Most Revd Archbishop Richard Ndlovu, can only be viewed as undermining the most asset and character of the church that is its Unity. Our humble interpretation is that this is meant to isolate individuals from a collective discernment process with the sinister aim of diluting the collective voice of the church. The ZCC takes with exception any efforts to interfere with the unity of the Church for which Jesus prayed for in John 17:21.
3. Courtesy: The government response was overtly too emotional and disrespectful for formal communication. Using public media to utter disrespectful communication against the person of Archbishop Ndlovu does not only present the government as inappropriately deploying the resources of the state, but also increases the toxicity that is already characterizing our public space. If the government had strong objections to the Bishops’ communication, it could have addressed those issues without appearing to be discourteous to the viewers of the only national television station. The government will do well through its public officials to instil positive engagement on the basis of ideas than to use public media to buttress negativity.
4. Unity: The government response to the pastoral letter “The March is not Ended”, also missed its unifying and national orientation but instead appropriated distorted historical links and false comparisons with the Rwandan genocide. While the comparisons are unfounded and outrageous, they also seem to be intentionally or unintentionally stoking ethnic and tribal divisions which actually resulted in loss of thousands of lives in Matabeleland and Midlands during the Gukurahundi. To frivolously associate the bishops’ statement with such a major deep scar in the history of the nation, is not only insensitive to the misting present pain of those affected by Gukurahundi, but also gives the impression that the government is paying lip-service to national healing and reconciliation. The government statement could have been worth ignoring if it was only falsifying history, but it cannot be ignored as it appears dismissive of the invaluable work done by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, under the ZCBC, to offer documentation of the atrocities committed by the army during that dark period. The legacy of Gukurahundi still stalks the nation as those past hurts remain unhealed. His Excellency, President ED Mnangagwa has on several occasions spoken of the need to find healing on these past hurts, yet the government position gives the false impression that the 1987 Unity Accord brought closure to that episode.
5. History: The ecumenical churches’ relationship with the state has been consistent from colonial Rhodesia to independent Zimbabwe. The government response presented by Minister Mutsvangwa, seeks to create false discontinuity between the contemporary bishops and the suffering servants of the past. Such a view misses the importance of continuity of Tradition within Christian theology and practice. The consistency with which the ZCBC and the ecumenical church have pursued justice, peace and unity cannot be forgotten. Coincidentally, the issues raised by the “The March is not Ended” of the 14,h of August 2020 are fundamentally similar to calls by Bishop Donal Raymond Lamont in his Open letter to the Rhodesian Government on the 11,h of August 1976. In both cases, the message was well-meaning and consistent with the prophetic traditions of Micah, Amos, Jeremiah, John the Baptist and even our Lord Jesus Christ Those who have responded to this salvation history with repentance found life. Those who rejected it suffered destruction, not only in a spiritual sense but also materially.
Calls6. In light of the issues raised above, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches:
6.1 Seeks to affirm its solidarity with the spirit and intent of the “The March is not Ended” as honest communication aimed at calling the government of Zimbabwe to meaningful and respectful engagement to find solutions to the current pressing issues,
6.2 Seeks to enter into a collective discernment process to understand this government’s preparedness to engage and hence calls for the urgent convening of the National Episcopal Conference of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations to deliberate on the state of the nation and agree on the appropriate ecumenical action
6.3 Calls on all Christians and churches to pray for peace, well-being and courage for Archbishop Ndlovu, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the broad Christian Church in Zimbabwe as they will be demanded to exercise their prophetic and pastoral mandate for the nation.
6.4 Calls on all citizens to remain united across the denominational, ethnic, and political divide realizing that only through active, organized and peaceful citizens’ participation, the nation will be totally transformed.
6.5 Calls upon President E.D Mnangagwa to provide leadership by retracting the personal attacks on Archbishop Ndhlovu and the church leaders, but invite the national to an inclusive national dialogue towards a homegrown solution to the challenges that are facing the nation.
Seek the Lord and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it Ah,you that tuna justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground!”Amos 5 verse 6-7
Newer Post
PTUZ calls for talks on schools reopening Older Post
ED must explain Chasi’s exit
COMMENTS
Firstly I wish to state that I completely support the contents of the Pastoral letter by the Catholic Bishops as it resonates with the general feeling of the masses both inside and outside Zimbabwe.
The government should not attack religious organisations for expressing both their views and those of their congregants because they have a right to do so. It would appear that the government which is massively assisted by religious organisations through charitable work in caring for the poor and underprivileged such as CADEC from the Catholic Church and other Church organisation who they neglect but do not want them to say anything where they feel they have a right to say it.
If Church organisations who are being trashed by mnangagwa’s government were to withdraw their services to the poor and underprivileged in protest to unwarranted attacks from the government, would the government take over the responsibility. My bet is they would not even waste their precious time thinking about the plight of the people they neglect while looting national resources for themselves and their families but they are jumping with reckless abandon to attack religious people who are articulating the plight of the poor not to dislodge the government but for the government to pay attention to the suffering of the general populace who are ‘failing to breathe’.
Oh!!! My Beloved Zimbabwe, my heart is bleeding, Come Lord Jesus and help us. Amen!!!!