Zambian bishops urge Catholics to study statement on reforms

Published: 2007-08-14

LUSAKA, Zambia (CNS) -- Zambia's Catholic bishops have urged all Zambian Catholics to get together in small community groups to study their statement on constitutional reform, calling the current time a "critical moment in the democratic life" of the southern African country. In the pastoral statement read in churches across the country Aug. 12 and scheduled to be broadcast daily for two weeks on church-sponsored community radio stations, the Zambian bishops' conference said group study will enable people "to understand what is at stake." The bishops encouraged Catholics "to call on their local members of parliament to fully explain to them how (they) will represent them on these constitutional issues." The bishops said they told President Levy Mwanawasa at their July 12 meeting with him that Zambia will never have a legitimate constitution unless it is "genuinely a product of national consensus, that is, inclusive of all social groups in this country: political, religious, civil society, government" and others. A British-drafted constitution has been used since the former colony's independence in 1964.

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