Online Reporter
Zvamaida Murwira in ROME, Italy
ZIMBABWE has been commended by Community of Sant’Egidio, a Roman Catholic organisation specialising in spreading social justice, for abolishing the death penalty.
The organisation said other countries should emulate the country for removing capital punishment from its legal statutes.
A three-member team from Community of Sant’Egidio, a Rome-based social justice organisation, said this after paying a courtesy call on President Mnangagwa here yesterday.
President Mnangagwa met the three before concluding his State visit whose major climax was a meeting he held on Saturday with Roman Catholic Church world leader Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican City in a major diplomatic milestone registered by Zimbabwe.
Community of Sant’Egidio secretary general Mr Paolo Impagliazzo said they were impressed by the decision made by Zimbabwe when it abolished the death penalty.
He said they were determined to strengthen relations with Zimbabwe which dates back decades.
“First of all, we expressed our congratulations for the abolition of the death penalty in Zimbabwe because we are aware that the President was always against the death penalty but of course he respected the decision of the country.
“So we congratulated him and we extended an invitation to the Minister of Justice that he attends a conference that we are going to organise at the end of the year,” said Mr Impagliazzo.
“The decision by Zimbabwe in abolishing the death penalty is also important for other countries. And as Sant’Egidio, we are a Christian community, and we also have to abide with what the Church says, that the death penalty is unjust.
“We have no right to take the life of anybody, particularly if we are a state, a Government, a country. So the example of Zimbabwe, it’s really important in the region because we would like to have Africa as the second continent after Europe free from the death penalty. And so this is an important step forward for the globe.”
Most of sub-Saharan Africa has now abolished the death penalty bringing up the real possibility that the continent will be the second to be free of what is seen as a barbaric punishment.
Mr Impagliazzo said Zimbabwe has a long standing relationship with his organisation.
“There is a long-standing friendship between the Community of Sant’Egidio and Zimbabwe, particularly with His Excellency the President. So he visited us recently when he was in Rome and we are happy and honoured to have met him today here in Rome again during his visit to the Holy Father,” he said.
Discussions between the two centred on a number of issues that include conflict resolution efforts in troubled hot spots.
“We discussed a number of issues about peace, particularly for the crisis in the north of Mozambique. And we discussed also the region, discussing about Sadc countries and other issues. I have to say that President Mnangagwa was close to the Community of Sant’Egidio since the 1990s when we were negotiating and facilitating the peace process in Mozambique.
“Zimbabwe played an important role. And since then, since the early 1990s, we were together with Zimbabwe in solving the civil war in Mozambique. So the relationship is a very long-standing one,” Mr Impagliazzo said.
In 2016, while he was Vice President and overseeing the Ministry of Justice, President Mnangagwa attended a Ministers of Justice conference in Rome initiated by the organisation where he presented a paper on the ills of capital punishment.
President Mnangagwa was also invited because of his strong stance against the death penalty, having been spared the noose for his revolutionary activities by the Ian Smith settler regime on account of his young age.
Earlier on yesterday, President Mnangagwa met Zimbabwean Roman Catholic priests studying religious disciplines in Rome where they discussed various facets of Catholicism.
The three he met were part of more than 30 Zimbabwean Roman Catholic priests studying with Vatican-linked learning tertiary institutions in various disciplines and at different stages of completion in Italy.
They are Father Innocent Chambara, and two Seminarians, Newton Kabeta and Hopewell Shonhe.
In an interview after the meeting held at President Mnangagwa’s hotel, Father
Chambara said they briefed President Mnangagwa about the gratitude the Catholic community in Rome had about his visit to the Vatican City and subsequent meeting he had with Roman Catholic church world leader His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.
“We are quite happy to have met the President. We told him that the Catholic community is very happy with his meeting with the Pope and what they shared is important for the Catholic church and the nation particularly on the aspect of education and health,” said Father Chambara.
He said the church had a great role to play in advancing world peace in troubled spots of the world.
“The church is very important because it preaches the message of peace. Even when Christ came, he emphasised the importance of peace,” Father Chambara said.
They were accompanied by Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the Vatican City, Dr Sekai Nzenza and Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Italy, Mrs Mietani Chauke.
Diplomatic protocols mean that a country’s Ambassador to Italy cannot at the same time be the Ambassador to the Vatican City, which is why Dr Nzenza, usually based in France, doubles up in that post.
The meeting was also attended by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr Martin Rushwaya, Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet responsible for Presidential Communications Mr George Charamba and senior Government officials.
The meeting by the trainee priests came a day after President Mnangagwa met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican City where he is on a State visit to strengthen bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and the Vatican City.
The meeting by President Mnangagwa with the pontiff has been described as a diplomatic milestone given how much influence the Roman Catholic wields in global discourse.
Meanwhile, President Mnangagwa left Rome, Italy yesterday for China after concluding an eventful State visit where he met Roman Catholic church world leader His Holiness Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican City.
He was seen off at Ciampino International airport by Zimbabwe Ambassador to the Vatican City, Dr Nzenza and Harare’s Ambassador to Italy Mrs Chauke together with officials from the Embassy. In China, President Mnangagwa is expected to join other world leaders for the 80th anniversary of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti Fascist War.
Way to go