Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
20 July 2007
document
Pretoria — Adultery allegations made against Archbishop Pius Ncube should not divert attention from the terrible political and economic crisis facing the country, Southern African bishops said.
The president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, expressed hope that "Zimbabweans and the international community will not be sidetracked by these allegations in their efforts of finding a lasting solution to the serious problems bedevilling the country at present."
Archbishop Ncube of Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, was on Monday sued by a junior state worker for adultery in what appears to be a dirty campaign to silence the church's leading voice against bad governance in the country.
He is said to have had sexual relations with the man's wife who worked for the church.
President Robert Mugabe has already concluded Archbishop Ncube is guilty. State media quoted him saying "the archbishop's failure to uphold celibacy was unfortunate."
Following is the full text of Archbishop Tlhagale's statement as published today by the People for Peace organization in Nairobi, Kenya:
We note with sadness and concern the allegations of adultery against his Excellency Archbishop Pius Ncube widely covered by both the Zimbabwean and South African media.
These allegations (and corresponding publicity) unfortunately come at a time when Zimbabwe is facing one of its worst political and economic crisis in its history, a crisis which Archbishop Ncube has consistently expressed great concern about and which we believe the country should be focused on.
Many of the faithful in Zimbabwe are suffering due to this political and economic crisis causing a huge number to cross-neighbouring borders (at great danger to their lives) to find refuge in these countries.
The archbishop's voice of reason in this context is, therefore, very important and should continue to be heard. We, therefore, hope that Zimbabweans and the international community will not be sidetracked by these allegations in their efforts of finding a lasting solution to the serious problems bedevilling the country at present.
At the moment, the Archbishop's guilt or innocence has yet to be proved and therefore we appeal to the media and everyone concerned to allow the law to take its course without passing premature judgement on the Archbishop aimed at casting doubt on his credibility reputation and dignity.
We call on all the faithful in Zimbabwe and the International community to continue to pray for the archbishop during this testing period.
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