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ZIMBABWE-NCUBE Apr-5-2007 (380 words) xxxi
Zimbabwean bishop discusses leaders' response to Zimbabwe's violence
By Bronwen Dachs
Catholic News Service
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Zimbabwean Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo said he is not surprised political leaders haven't pressured Zimbabwe's government to stop the violence and reinstate the rule of law.
The southern African political leaders "have backed one another like this before, but I hope they put pressure on (Zimbabwean President Robert) Mugabe in private," Archbishop Ncube told Catholic News Service April 2 in a telephone interview from Bulawayo.
The African bishops' strong support for Zimbabweans and their appeal to political leaders to stop the violence is "unprecedented," he said.
The Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, known by its acronym SECAM, in March urged political leaders to "immediately take measures to stop the violence and carnage that is engulfing" Zimbabwe.
SECAM members "have been watching Zimbabwe and feel it is high time there should be change," said the archbishop.
But, he said, Mugabe "has shown no repentance" for his role in the suffering of Zimbabweans.
"Everyone is terribly concerned" about the crisis in the country "as things get worse and worse," he noted. Zimbabwe's economy is in free-fall with an inflation rate of more than 1,700 percent and an unemployment rate of 80 percent. The recent chaos has caused public services for heath care, schools and sewage to all but shut down.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, who was appointed to mediate between Mugabe and opposition leaders, met in early April with leaders from the Movement for Democratic Change, the main opposition party, to discuss resolving the conflict. Some Zimbabweans have been calling for constitutional reform to reduce the power of the presidency.
The Zimbabwean bishops and other religious leaders have encouraged Catholics around the world to join in a day of prayer for the country April 14.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean Jesuits said in a newsletter that Zimbabwe's bishops "have clearly distanced themselves" from any intention of reconciling the oppressed with their oppressors.
The Jesuits called the bishops' March statement "truly liberating" for Zimbabweans. The Jesuits quoted the statement as saying that "oppression is sin and cannot be compromised with. It must be overcome."
The bishops "do not blame both sides equally for violence, afraid to say who is responsible for it," the Jesuits said.
END
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