Published by the government of Zimbabwe
4 May 2007
Harare — PRESIDENT Mugabe has described the pastoral letter released recently by Catholic bishops as "political nonsense" and warned that the Government will treat them as political entities for taking that route.
In the letter released at the height of an orgy of violence perpetrated by the opposition MDC, the bishops claimed that despite the independence brought about by the armed struggle, "colonial structures and institutions of pre-independent Zimbabwe continue to persist in our society".
The bishops claimed that none of the unjust and oppressive security laws of the Rhodesian regime had been repealed and this was the cause of the problems in Zimbabwe.
The letter criticised the Government and its programmes such as land reform and the clean-up operation carried out in 2005 to rid urban centres of illegal structures. But in an interview with the New African published in the magazine's issue for this month, Cde Mugabe said the bishops had turned political and chosen a "dangerous path" and the Government would treat them accordingly.
"If I had gone to church and the priest had read that so-called pastoral letter, I would have stood up and said nonsense. It is not something spiritual, it is not religious, the bishops have decided to turn political. And once they turn political, we regard them as no longer being spiritual and our relations with them would be conducted as if we are dealing with political entities, and this is quite a dangerous path they have chosen for themselves," said Cde Mugabe.
However, the President said he would talk to some of the bishops but Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo had long been a lost bishop.
". . . he thinks he is close to God, that's why he says he is praying for me to die. But unfortunately God has not listened to him for all this duration. I don't know how many times a day he is saying that prayer: 'Please God take that man, Robert Mugabe away from us'."
Cde Mugabe said he once told a Catholic gathering that being a bishop did not place one next to God nor did it make one a chosen person for sainthood.
"A bishop can go to hell while an ordinary person goes to heaven depending on the character of the person. Well, I don't want to say much about the bishops now, I will say much when I meet them.
"But for our bishops, this is a sad, sad story. The whole of this pastoral letter is political nonsense. If you read it, there is no reference at all to what has actually led to our current situation. Yes, granted they refer to the hardships that our people are going through; yes, there are hardships. But tell me, even with these hardships we have maintained a solid educational system, a solid health system. Yes, there are shortages of drugs, but we've tried to maintain our population together.
"The droughts are not caused by bad governance, it's the mercies of the Good Lord that we would be lacking in those days of droughts. We have never allowed people to die, never! We have said the Church and State must work hand in hand, but if this is going to be the partner the Catholics want us to have, then obviously they must know that we will reciprocate as politicians," President Mugabe said.
He once again warned the opposition against engaging in violence and reminded Western diplomats interfering in Zimbabwean affairs that the Government would kick them out.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
