Catholic leaders say government pressure changed churches' statement

Published: 2006-11-20

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- At least two Catholic leaders in Zimbabwe are frustrated that the government seems to have sabotaged a statement by Christian churches calling for a national vision to rescue the ailing country. Although the statement was issued electronically in mid-September, about 2,500 copies printed for the official launch by the churches in late October were changed, said Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. "It's not the document that I signed," the archbishop said in a Nov. 16 telephone interview from Bulawayo. "Whole pages have been cut out, and it's been watered down so much that it's lost all its power and energy. "The government has been interfering in the churches' process; they want to force their agenda instead of having genuine dialogue," Archbishop Ncube said. The statement, "The Zimbabwe We Want: Toward a National Vision for Zimbabwe," was issued by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, Zimbabwe Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe. Alouis Chaumba, who heads Zimbabwe's Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, said while Zimbabwe's churches have sufficient structures to distribute their 42-page statement throughout the country, there are "no more copies to be found anywhere, and at some meetings people are discussing it using only hearsay."

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