Zambia's bishops urge civic education to help constitutional process

Published: 2003-12-02

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Zambia's bishops have directed all parishes and Catholic institutions to set up civic education programs as the southern African country prepares to draw up a new constitution. The bishops also urged the government to ensure that the constitutional review process is above suspicion of manipulation. "We direct all Catholic parishes and institutions in Zambia to set up civic education programs to sensitize our faithful on the important issues that should be addressed in the constitutional review process," the bishops said. Zambian citizens should be "the driving force behind any constitutional-making process," they said in a statement. "The role of government is simply one of facilitating the process," they said in the Nov. 20 statement released in Lusaka.

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