from Zenit News:
HARARE, Zimbabwe, SEPT. 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Though the Zimbabwean government finally reached a power-sharing deal to end conflict over contested elections, the real priority for the country remains feeding the people, affirms an episcopal conference official.
Father Frederick Chiromba, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe bishops' conference, emphasized the challenges that lie ahead, despite Monday's agreement between long-ruling Robert Mugabe and opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara. Under the deal, Tsvangirai becomes prime minister and chairs a board that will oversee the cabinet.
After attending the signing of the deal on Monday, Father Chiromba said that getting food and medicines to Zimbabweans were among the immediate challenges. The once prosperous country is in total economic collapse, with inflation officially listed at over 11 million percent.
"There is a great need to provide basic food aid as people are coping with a bad harvest and of course, the country's dire economic situation," Father Chiromba said.
Some 2 million Zimbabweans depend on aid from international organizations in order to eat. Caritas feeds some 1 million people and aids another 3 million with their projects.
All of the problems combined with poor harvests have caused some 3 million Zimbabweans to flee the country.
"There are also no medicines in the hospitals, doctors do not even have aspirins to give out," said Father Chiromba.
While the episcopal conference official affirmed that the people of Zimbabwe are relieved by the signing of the deal, he stressed that those traumatized by violence need healing and reconciliation.
"The Catholic Church has always played a pivotal role in prioritizing the needs of the people and will continue to do so," he said, "as we all hope and pray that people's lives will now change for the better."
Bullcaca. the Catholic "liberation theology" types with the World council of churches helped get Mugabe his job. The hunger is from Mugabe's economic policies, which are the Marxist policies that caused starvation in other countries. But until Catholic bishops at all levels learn a little basic economics, we will continue to hear nonsense and platitudes like this...
Showing posts with label catholic bishops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label catholic bishops. Show all posts
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Ncube resigns
One of the most eloquent opponents of the notorious Mugabe government in Zimbabwe, Archbishop Ncube, has resigned after photos of a “sex sting” were released to the public. Ncube claims he has resigned to spare the church from being attacked by the government.
Although Ncube has denied the allegations, the acceptance of his resignation from the Vatican suggests that the Archbishop had resigned in sorrow and repentance. However, he remains a priest in full standing and says he plans to continue his political opposition to the Mugabe government.
Mugabe himself threatened church leaders in the country as Bishops became more vocal against his regime. He said they were on a dangerous path if their agenda became political and they would be treated harshly.
Immorality on the part of priests and bishops is not unknown in Africa, and one of my sources whose convent was destroyed in “operation cleanup” says that those remaining faithful to their vows are often falsely accused of immoral acts out of spite by those both inside and outside the church who wish to hide their own immoral actions.
But the fall of Ncube is a sad incident, first because it was an assignation not a love affair with a married woman and second because the Archbishop showed a lack of self control, putting his own needs for a sexual dalliance over the holiness of his vows at a time when the government was eager to destroy his ability to lead the opposition.
Although Ncube has denied the allegations, the acceptance of his resignation from the Vatican suggests that the Archbishop had resigned in sorrow and repentance. However, he remains a priest in full standing and says he plans to continue his political opposition to the Mugabe government.
Mugabe himself threatened church leaders in the country as Bishops became more vocal against his regime. He said they were on a dangerous path if their agenda became political and they would be treated harshly.
Immorality on the part of priests and bishops is not unknown in Africa, and one of my sources whose convent was destroyed in “operation cleanup” says that those remaining faithful to their vows are often falsely accused of immoral acts out of spite by those both inside and outside the church who wish to hide their own immoral actions.
But the fall of Ncube is a sad incident, first because it was an assignation not a love affair with a married woman and second because the Archbishop showed a lack of self control, putting his own needs for a sexual dalliance over the holiness of his vows at a time when the government was eager to destroy his ability to lead the opposition.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Govt to reveal More Smears about Ncube
Latest gov't smears will claim he is HIV positive and has two kids.
He revealed: “The CIO and their bosses were shocked by the public sympathy for Archbishop Ncube after the sex scandal broke.
“That is why the government later ordered the state media to stop using nude pictures depicting the bishop in bed with women. They hope Plan B and C will finish him off.”
Implacable sources said the state media was “already armed with the facts” and were “waiting for a signal” from the CIO to unleash the story. Just as in the first allegations, they will wait for Sibanda to file his lawsuit in court before running the story.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
prayer service for Ncube
....Katazo added that many people viewed the case as a government created distraction from the hardships people are facing. Condemnation of the Archbishop was also instigated the last time there was an election. Katazo explained that the Archbishop was then accused of being a puppet of British prime minister Tony Blair. He said this time a lot of pornography was used, which is against our culture and against our traditional laws.
A report in the Standard newspaper said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) believes the drama was a "diversionary tactic" and they were aware of the "underhand tactics" used worldwide to silence human rights defenders.....
A report in the Standard newspaper said Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) believes the drama was a "diversionary tactic" and they were aware of the "underhand tactics" used worldwide to silence human rights defenders.....
Friday, July 20, 2007
Absurd stuff of the day
Mugabe may have destroyed his main opponant by setting him up with a girlfriend, complete with camera.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Archbishop Ncube wants invasion
Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, warned that millions were facing death from famine, unable to survive amid inflation believed to have soared to 15,000 per cent.
Mr Mugabe, 83, had proved intransigent despite the "massive risk to life", said Archbishop Ncube, the head of Zimbabwe's one million Catholics.
"I think it is justified for Britain to raid Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe,' he said.
"We should do it ourselves but there's too much fear. I'm ready to lead the people, guns blazing, but the people are not ready."
In some parts of Zimbabwe 95 per cent of crops have failed, leaving families with only two or three weeks' food supply to last ayear.
Prices are more than doubling every week and US ambassador Christopher Dell has predicted inflation could hit 1.5 million per cent by the end of the year.
Archbishop Ncube said that far from helping those struggling, Mr Mugabe had just spent $2.4 million on surveillance equipment to monitor phone calls and emails.
"How can you expect people to rise up when even our church services are attended by state intelligence people?" he said.
......c
Mr Mugabe, 83, had proved intransigent despite the "massive risk to life", said Archbishop Ncube, the head of Zimbabwe's one million Catholics.
"I think it is justified for Britain to raid Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe,' he said.
"We should do it ourselves but there's too much fear. I'm ready to lead the people, guns blazing, but the people are not ready."
In some parts of Zimbabwe 95 per cent of crops have failed, leaving families with only two or three weeks' food supply to last ayear.
Prices are more than doubling every week and US ambassador Christopher Dell has predicted inflation could hit 1.5 million per cent by the end of the year.
Archbishop Ncube said that far from helping those struggling, Mr Mugabe had just spent $2.4 million on surveillance equipment to monitor phone calls and emails.
"How can you expect people to rise up when even our church services are attended by state intelligence people?" he said.
......c
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Bishop says he has prophetic role
Zimbabwean Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube says he accepts that his opposition to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe may cost him his life.
"The church has a prophetic role to speak the truth when no-one else dares to," the Archbishop of Bulawayo told the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Meanwhile, a crackdown on aid groups suspected of opposing the president has begun, state media reports.
All non-governmental organisations must now reapply for their licences....
Information Sikhanyiso Ndlovu ordered the NGO crackdown as some organisations were using relief activities as a cover for an opposition-led campaign to overthrow the government.
"Pro-opposition and Western organisations masquerading as relief agencies continue to mushroom," state radio quoted him as saying.
"The government has annulled the registration of all NGOs in order to screen out agents of imperialism from organisations working to uplift the wellbeing of the poor."
Last month, a prayer meeting in the capital, Harare, attended by opposition leaders and activists was broken up by police, leaving two people dead.
Scores of activists, including Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, were arrested and assaulted in police custody.
Archbishop Ncube also accused other African leaders of failing to exert pressure on Mr Mugabe to relinquish power.
Southern African leaders have appointed South Africa President Thabo Mbeki to mediate between Mr Mugabe and the MDC party.
Over Easter, the country's bishops warned of a mass uprising unless free elections are held, in a letter pinned up in churches.
"The church has a prophetic role to speak the truth when no-one else dares to," the Archbishop of Bulawayo told the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Meanwhile, a crackdown on aid groups suspected of opposing the president has begun, state media reports.
All non-governmental organisations must now reapply for their licences....
Information Sikhanyiso Ndlovu ordered the NGO crackdown as some organisations were using relief activities as a cover for an opposition-led campaign to overthrow the government.
"Pro-opposition and Western organisations masquerading as relief agencies continue to mushroom," state radio quoted him as saying.
"The government has annulled the registration of all NGOs in order to screen out agents of imperialism from organisations working to uplift the wellbeing of the poor."
Last month, a prayer meeting in the capital, Harare, attended by opposition leaders and activists was broken up by police, leaving two people dead.
Scores of activists, including Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, were arrested and assaulted in police custody.
Archbishop Ncube also accused other African leaders of failing to exert pressure on Mr Mugabe to relinquish power.
Southern African leaders have appointed South Africa President Thabo Mbeki to mediate between Mr Mugabe and the MDC party.
Over Easter, the country's bishops warned of a mass uprising unless free elections are held, in a letter pinned up in churches.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Church leaders questioned about prayer meeting
Two church leaders from the Christian Alliance were questioned by police on Thursday in connection with a prayer meeting that is scheduled for Bulawayo on Saturday. This will be the second time in just over a month that the group, under the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, will attempt to hold a prayer meeting. Useni Sibanda, the National Coordinator of the Alliance said: “As I speak to you right now, two of our leaders have been called in by police for questioning and that is Pastor Ray Motsi and Pastor Patson Nheta because the Christian Alliance is the one that is coordinating the meeting.”
He said the police also threatened the priest in charge of St Patrick’s Catholic Church, the venue of the meeting, and ordered him to call off the meeting. But the group said the prayer meeting would go ahead despite the harassment by the police.
This Catholic Church is in the diocese of the outspoken cleric Archbishop Pius Ncube, who is expected to lead the sermon. Speakers will also include opposition leaders: Morgan Tsvangirai & Arthur Mutambara, National Constitutional Assembly Chairperson, Dr Lovemore Madhuku; Zimbabwe National Students Union President Promise Mkwananzi; the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and several Bishops from South Africa who are coming in solidarity.
The regime has been using its muscle, through draconian security laws like the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), to clampdown on pro-democracy groups. When asked if the Church had notified the police Pastor Sibanda responded by saying: “There is no law in Zimbabwe which requires us to do that because literally this is a religious meeting convened by bonafied religious organisations. There is no need for us to ask for police permission to do that.”
Last month armed riot police blocked a similar meeting in Harare and severely assaulted political and civic leaders. The Save Zimbabwe Campaign is a coalition of pro-democracy groups - including political parties, students, civic society and Churches.
Pastor Sibanda said this time they had decided to hold the prayer meeting in a Church to avoid a repeat of what happened on March 11th....
He said they want people to come and pray for an end to the crisis and the suffering of the people in Zimbabwe. The Church is increasingly speaking out against the injustices in Zimbabwe. Just last week, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference wrote a highly critical message on the crisis in Zimbabwe, in a pastoral letter for Easter. ...
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Zim: From fairy tale to nightmare
....One didn’t need to be a grown up back then to understand what was at stake; white supremacist rule (hiding behind Muzorewa’s black face) vs. black majority rule represented by Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe. How we envied Zimbabwe when the Lancaster talks ended with an agreement for new internationally supervised elections! This was a time when Cameroon was solidly under the control of a dictator called Ahmadou Ahidjo; an era of rule by terror which a generation of Cameroonians cannot begin to relate to and even occasionally romanticize – the result of a quarter of a century of misrule by Ahidjo's successor Paul Biya…......
But that euphoria did not last long and the honeymoon was soon over. In 1982 the affable Joshua Nkomo was accused for attempting to overthrow Mugabe's regime. Mugabe then unleashed a six-year reign of terror in Nkomo's native Matabeleland where, according to some estimates, the North-Korean trained Fifth Brigade allegedly killed about 40,000 people – nearly twice the number who died during the war of liberation. Mugabe called the campaign “Operation Gukuruhundi”, meaning "the wind that sweeps away the chaff". Zimbabwe had lost its luster. And suddenly, Paul Biya's Cameroon felt a million times safer … and freer!!!
......
But the worse was yet to come with the bungled land distribution campaign and Mugabe’s maniacal obsession with hanging to power whatever the cost. Whatever one’s take on the historical legitimacy (or lack thereof) of the land distribution campaign, it is now evident that this was a fly-by-night operation whose implementation was driven primarily by cynical political and populist motives. This was not a carefully planned program aimed at rectifying the errors of the past and at jump-starting the Zimbabwean economy. The end result is there for all to see. As Zimbabwean Bishops lament in a recent pastoral letter:
"Following a radical land reform programme seven years ago, many people are today going to bed hungry and wake up to a day without work. Hundreds of companies were forced to close. Over 80 per cent of the people of Zimbabwe are without employment. Scores risk their lives week after week in search of work in neighbouring countries. Inflation has soared to over 1,600 per cent, and continues to rise, daily. It is the highest in the world and has made the life of ordinary Zimbabweans unbearable…"
The downhill slide would continue with the mass eviction of “illegal dwellers” across the country in the infamous “operation Murambatsvina” (get rid of the filth) of 2005. The operation, which had strong political and partisan undertones, only worsened the socio-economic situation in the country. According a United Nations fact finding mission:
"It estimated that some 700,000 people in cities across the country have lost either their homes, their source of livelihood or both. Indirectly, a further 2.4 million people have been affected in varying degrees. Hundreds of thousands of women, men and children were made homeless, without access to food, water and sanitation, or health care. Education for thousands of school age children has been disrupted. Many of the sick, including those with HIV and AIDS, no longer have access to care. The vast majority of those directly and indirectly affected are the poor and disadvantaged segments of the population. They are, today, deeper in poverty, deprivation and destitution, and have been rendered more vulnerable."
In recent months, Mugabe has upped the ante on political repression and recklessness as he uses every bloody trick in the book hang on to power in perpetuity; the hounding, jailing, torture and even murder of anyone who is rightly or wrongly considered an enemy of the regime is now a national hobby.
Today, Zimbabwe is a shadow of its old self, a fairytale transformed into a gory nightmare right before our eyes. That rainbow nation where black and white were supposed to live happily ever after, where political opponents were supposed to carry on with the business of nation building without fear or repression, is now a distant and even laughable dream. Zimbabwe has gone full circle, right back to the worst days of good old Rhodesia as the Bishops point out in their letter:
"None of the unjust and oppressive security laws of the Rhodesian State have been repealed; in fact, they have been reinforced by even more repressive legislation… in particular. It almost appears as though someone sat down with the Declaration of Human Rights and deliberately scrubbed out each in turn. [S]oon after Independence, the power and wealth of the tiny white Rhodesian elite was appropriated by an equally exclusive black elite, some of whom have governed the country for the past 27 years through political patronage. Black Zimbabweans today fight for the same basic rights they fought for during the liberation struggle. It is the same conflict between those who possess power and wealth in abundance, and those who do not; between those who are determined to maintain their privileges of power and wealth at any cost, even at the cost of bloodshed, and those who demand their democratic rights and a share in the fruits of independence...."......
But that euphoria did not last long and the honeymoon was soon over. In 1982 the affable Joshua Nkomo was accused for attempting to overthrow Mugabe's regime. Mugabe then unleashed a six-year reign of terror in Nkomo's native Matabeleland where, according to some estimates, the North-Korean trained Fifth Brigade allegedly killed about 40,000 people – nearly twice the number who died during the war of liberation. Mugabe called the campaign “Operation Gukuruhundi”, meaning "the wind that sweeps away the chaff". Zimbabwe had lost its luster. And suddenly, Paul Biya's Cameroon felt a million times safer … and freer!!!
......
But the worse was yet to come with the bungled land distribution campaign and Mugabe’s maniacal obsession with hanging to power whatever the cost. Whatever one’s take on the historical legitimacy (or lack thereof) of the land distribution campaign, it is now evident that this was a fly-by-night operation whose implementation was driven primarily by cynical political and populist motives. This was not a carefully planned program aimed at rectifying the errors of the past and at jump-starting the Zimbabwean economy. The end result is there for all to see. As Zimbabwean Bishops lament in a recent pastoral letter:
"Following a radical land reform programme seven years ago, many people are today going to bed hungry and wake up to a day without work. Hundreds of companies were forced to close. Over 80 per cent of the people of Zimbabwe are without employment. Scores risk their lives week after week in search of work in neighbouring countries. Inflation has soared to over 1,600 per cent, and continues to rise, daily. It is the highest in the world and has made the life of ordinary Zimbabweans unbearable…"
The downhill slide would continue with the mass eviction of “illegal dwellers” across the country in the infamous “operation Murambatsvina” (get rid of the filth) of 2005. The operation, which had strong political and partisan undertones, only worsened the socio-economic situation in the country. According a United Nations fact finding mission:
"It estimated that some 700,000 people in cities across the country have lost either their homes, their source of livelihood or both. Indirectly, a further 2.4 million people have been affected in varying degrees. Hundreds of thousands of women, men and children were made homeless, without access to food, water and sanitation, or health care. Education for thousands of school age children has been disrupted. Many of the sick, including those with HIV and AIDS, no longer have access to care. The vast majority of those directly and indirectly affected are the poor and disadvantaged segments of the population. They are, today, deeper in poverty, deprivation and destitution, and have been rendered more vulnerable."
In recent months, Mugabe has upped the ante on political repression and recklessness as he uses every bloody trick in the book hang on to power in perpetuity; the hounding, jailing, torture and even murder of anyone who is rightly or wrongly considered an enemy of the regime is now a national hobby.
Today, Zimbabwe is a shadow of its old self, a fairytale transformed into a gory nightmare right before our eyes. That rainbow nation where black and white were supposed to live happily ever after, where political opponents were supposed to carry on with the business of nation building without fear or repression, is now a distant and even laughable dream. Zimbabwe has gone full circle, right back to the worst days of good old Rhodesia as the Bishops point out in their letter:
"None of the unjust and oppressive security laws of the Rhodesian State have been repealed; in fact, they have been reinforced by even more repressive legislation… in particular. It almost appears as though someone sat down with the Declaration of Human Rights and deliberately scrubbed out each in turn. [S]oon after Independence, the power and wealth of the tiny white Rhodesian elite was appropriated by an equally exclusive black elite, some of whom have governed the country for the past 27 years through political patronage. Black Zimbabweans today fight for the same basic rights they fought for during the liberation struggle. It is the same conflict between those who possess power and wealth in abundance, and those who do not; between those who are determined to maintain their privileges of power and wealth at any cost, even at the cost of bloodshed, and those who demand their democratic rights and a share in the fruits of independence...."......
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Catholic bishops condemn Mugabe
.......
And they wasted no time in portraying Mugabe's actions as in no great sense dissimilar to the white's who held power in former Rhodesia:
The bishops have been anxious to stay out of politics until now, but the pressure from their congregations, as Mugabe's thugs tour the townships beating up and branding opponents, has proven too strong to resist....
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headsup Zimprayer blogspot
After the almost terminal cowardice shown by the rest of Africa's political leadership, it is a breath of fresh air to see a group openly condemning Mugabe for his disgraceful practices. And the Catholic Bishops are a very powerful group in Zimbabwe and their words will carry great weight.The pastoral letter, read out in churches yesterday, denounces "overtly corrupt" leaders for using "ever harsher oppression through arrests, detentions, banning orders, beatings and torture", days after Mr Mugabe said that his opponents deserved to be "bashed".
The Catholic bishops' conference letter warns that Zimbabwe is heading towards a "flashpoint" but appeals for "peace and restraint" in protests ahead of a two-day general strike called from tomorrow. The letter said young Zimbabweans "see their leaders habitually engaging in acts and words which are hateful, disrespectful, racist, corrupt, lawless, unjust, greedy, dishonest and violent in order to cling to the privileges of power and wealth".The bishops say the seizure and redistribution of white-owned farms over recent years, the centrepiece of what Mr Mugabe portrays as his campaign to liberate Zimbabwe from the vestiges of colonialism, has enriched the elite but done little to help the poor. They conclude that the white settlers who once exploited what was Rhodesia have been supplanted by a black elite that is just as abusive.
And they wasted no time in portraying Mugabe's actions as in no great sense dissimilar to the white's who held power in former Rhodesia:
It's a stunning intervention and their words carry all the more weight because of who they come from. And by portraying Mugabe as little better than the whites of former Rhodesia, who also used violence to try and hold on to their privileges, they rob Mugabe of his most powerful rhetoric, as he always likes to portray anyone who opposes him as somehow representing colonialists. The Bishops have very cleverly pointed out that the person who most resembles the colonialists is Mugabe himself."It is the same conflict between those who possess power and wealth in abundance, and those who do not; between those who are determined to maintain their privileges of power and wealth at any cost, even at the cost of bloodshed, and those who demand their democratic rights and a share in the fruits of independence; between those who continue to benefit from the present system of inequality and injustice, because it favours them and enables them to maintain an exceptionally high standard of living, and those who go to bed hungry at night and wake up in the morning to another day without work and without income; between those who only know the language of violence and intimidation, and those who feel they have nothing more to lose because their constitutional rights have been abrogated and their votes rigged," the letter says.
The bishops back calls for a new constitution "that will guide a democratic leadership chosen in free and fair elections".
The bishops have been anxious to stay out of politics until now, but the pressure from their congregations, as Mugabe's thugs tour the townships beating up and branding opponents, has proven too strong to resist....
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headsup Zimprayer blogspot
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