The Role of the church in fighting for justice: Analysing the pastoral letter of the Zimbabwe Catholics Bishop Conference

The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) has released a statement that documents the injustices by the government and political actors that has led to the loss of innocent lives.

The statement documents the failures by the government to deal with the worsening economic situation where many companies are closing, people losing their jobs and disposable income amid the rise in cost of living. The deterioration in key service area i.e. Health and Education highlights the concerns of the ZCBC.

The ZCBC also criticized the government’s imposition of a 2% transactional tax on citizens and hefty fuel increases on 12 January 2019 calling it a “piecemeal and knee jerk reaction to the worsening economic situation”. This has led to general disenchantment by the populace causing the recent violence that characterized the #shutdownZimbabwe protest

The statement laments the violence and disruption of essential services and condemns the   killing of ordinary citizens caused by government’ “heavy handed and intolerant handling of dissent and expression of rights by Zimbabwe’s dissatisfied population” calling for restraint and calm.

It laments the polarization of the political sphere during and after the July 2018 harmonized elections which has, up to now, led to the death of civilians and left scars on a healing nation,

Above all the statement enlightens the vision of a clergy that cares about the citizens of Zimbabwe by envisaging an idea Zimbabwe for all, calling for the building of strong institutions and shunning away political idols. It further calls on a new Zimbabwean politics that is “more collaborative, inclusive, build on strong democratic institutions that embody and secures the values of our democracy”

One wonders what role of the church in Zimbabwe should take amid the political and economic turmoil.  The church is in its right capacity to comment and make recommendation on the things that affect citizen lives. The church has a role to foster social justice.

 The church should be conscious of social injustice practices that are happening in society in the face of adversaries in society like violence or all other forms of abuse Church denominations should network together to and speak out against those ills. Condemning the role of the army in Zimbabwean politics is a major step in addressing the crisis in Zimbabwe.

When societies suffer from famine or war, it is the duty of the church to take a central role in binding the wounds of a suffering humanity. Likewise that’s what the ZCBC has done to speak on the humanitarian crisis Zimbabwe is facing.

 Tatenda W Mhlanga