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Herald Reporter
THE shocking move by the Catholic Church to wade into politics by trying to stir up tribal and regional emotions while ignoring the Second Republic open door policy to dialogue and its well documented fight against corruption leaves the organisation as a front of the country’s detractors who want to effect a regime change, political analysts said.
This comes as a pastoral letter that the Catholic Church recently published triggered a storm in the country with fresh questions being raised on the “nefarious relationship” between the Church and the country’s detractors.
The pastoral letter comes hard on the heels of an-anti Zimbabwe campaign on social media which sought to manufacture a non-existent crisis in the country that was led by the remnants of the G40 faction, the country opposition and some misinformed politicians in South Africa and the region at large.
However, attempts to soil the image of the Second Republic have hit a brick-wall as the region has ignored calls by the country’s detractors to put Zimbabwe on the agenda at the ongoing SADC Summit, that is being held virtually because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Political analyst canvassed by The Herald said the stunning stance taken by the church exposes the axis of evil that exists between the Catholic Church and the supremacists who want to cause regime change in the country.
Former MDC Alliance spokesperson Mr Obert Gutu said although there is a fine line between evangelism and political activism, the pastoral letter bellies the fact that the country’s detractors have roped in men and women in cloth to perpetuate their evil machinations.
“There is always a serious conflict when men and women of the cloth decide to push a partisan political agenda whilst they still claim to be apolitical. Of course, one can argue that you can’t completely separate religion from politics but then, sometimes there’s always a very fine distinction between evangelism and political activism. The pastoral letter from the Catholic Bishops is undoubtedly controversial.
“It proves, beyond a shadow of doubt, that at least some of the Catholic Bishops have openly taken sides with certain oppositional forces in Zimbabwe’s political terrain. Therein lies the major challenge. These bishops should remove their pastoral gowns and openly enter the political fray if they have decided to be active politicians. They can’t have their own cake and eat it. They can’t blow hot and cold.
“They can’t approbate and reprobate,” he said.
Mr Gutu traced the current onslaught on Zimbabwe to the Land Reform Programme, a Zanu PF programme that empowered the black person who had been deprived of his land by white settlers.
“One doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to appreciate that there are extremely powerful global forces that have never, ever forgiven the Zanu PF government for daring to embark upon the revolutionary land reform programme at the turn of the new millennium. That marked the genesis of most of our current political and socio-economic challenges.
“The Catholic Church is the richest religious organisation in the world and there is absolutely no prize for guessing why the movers and shakers of the regime change agenda would deliberately target some elements within the Catholic Church to be agents of their nefarious agenda. This is a classic example of the use of soft power to try to force regime change in Zimbabwe. That said, there’s need for the Government authorities in Zimbabwe to reach out not only to the Catholic church but indeed to all relevant stakeholders and seek to soberly and rationally put across their side of the story.
“As it is said, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. The ordinary people’s interests should always be protected,” Mr Gutu said.
On his part, political analyst Mr Rodger Pote said religious leaders should stay away from politics and concentrate more on shepherding souls of religious believers.
“I appreciate our religious leaders along religion lines and we also appreciate them more and better if they stay away from politics and concentrate more on church pulpit
“Politics is a dirty game and it’s wise of them not to be involved anyhow so as to sanitize the objectives of their respective institutions. They must live above reproach in relation to self, the home, the society, and the world at large. They must not lost cognition of the fact that they are light and salt of the world.”
Another political scientist, Mr Collen Mharadzano said history will record Archbishop Ndlovu and his acolytes as accomplishes to the country’s detractors.
“This is an unfortunate tag on people who are entrusted with nourishing souls of the believers.
“Instead of Archbishop Ndlovu being at the forefront of sowing seeds of peace and eternal coalescing of diverse tribes,race and creed which constitute our beautiful nations.”
Mr Mharadzano said his sentiments betray the fundamentals which the Christian faith is built upon.
“It is a religion predicated upon the love and forgiveness which the Lord Jesus Christ embodies.
“Therefore Archbishop Ndlovu and his accomplices are betraying, abusing the faith and trust which the multitudes of congregants have entrusted upon through spearheading hate, pandemonium and division amongst their flock and indeed the nation of Zimbabwe,” he said.
In addition, Mr Mharadzano said, the Catholic bishops must also be reminded that they are not sacred.
“No, some of them are known drunkards and some are even alleged to be sexually perverts, hence they should limit themselves to the role of nourishing souls, a role which they have to date failed dismally.”
Their association with the American establishment, he said, depicts them as latter day Judas Iscariots was America’s foreign Policy on Zimbabwe is at crossroads with the national aspirations defined by the indigenous’ ownership of their land.
Despite the Second Republic’s well documented anti-corruption crusade, which has even claimed the scalps of Government Ministers and other senior officials, the Catholic letter is blind to these efforts and mimics the opposition anti-Government stance.
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