CNS STORY: Zimbabwe Catholic leader: Bishops to mobilize citizens for elections

The whole CNS
public Web site
headlines, briefs
stories, etc,
represents less
than one percent
of the daily news
report.

Get all the news!

If you would like
more information
about the
Catholic News
Service daily
news report,
please contact
CNS at one of
the following:
cns@
catholicnews.com
or
(202) 541-3250

Copyright:

This material
may not
be published,
broadcast,
rewritten or
otherwise
distributed.

Copyright
(c) 2006
Catholic News
Service/U.S.
Conference of
Catholic Bishops.

CNS Story:

ZIMBABWE-VOTE Dec-21-2007 (480 words) xxxi

Zimbabwe Catholic leader: Bishops to mobilize citizens for elections

By Bronwen Dachs
Catholic News Service

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Recognizing the difficulty of persuading Zimbabweans, whose primary concern is survival, to vote in the March presidential elections, the Catholic bishops' conference of Zimbabwe will use all its structures to mobilize them, said a church official.

"We need to persuade people that if they don't do something we will have the same problems next year," said Alouis Chaumba, head of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe.

In a Dec. 21 telephone interview from the capital, Harare, he said, "People can't even buy groceries for Christmas with no food on supermarket shelves and long lines at all the banks, where very little cash is available."

The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference has encouraged people to vote "in an atmosphere of peace," noting that "to neglect your duty to vote is to be irresponsible, for you leave others to decide your future for you."

The bishops urged Catholics to "converge at our parish churches in prayer as we prepare" for the elections.

"We urge those responsible for organizing the elections to establish a credible electoral process, whose outcome will be free and fair and with local and international recognition," the bishops said in a Dec. 16 pastoral letter.

Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party endorsed President Robert Mugabe as its candidate Dec. 13, making it possible for him to extend his rule for another five years. Mugabe, 83, widely blamed for his country's political and economic crisis, has led Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980.

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which accuses Mugabe of hanging on to power through vote-rigging and repression, is weak and divided, leading analysts to predict another victory for Mugabe.

Noting that "past elections have been marred by controversy and violence," the bishops urged "the government and all the contesting parties to create a social, political and economic climate that enhances moral integrity."

Political parties "should not be provocative in their campaigns," and all "should be free to campaign and have equal access to state resources in the form of media coverage, police protection (and) financial subsidies," they said.

Christian voters should use the church's social teaching to examine candidates' standpoints "and should consider the candidates' integrity and their past or potential performance," the bishops said.

The respect the church has for individual decisions is evident in the makeup of its congregations where members belong "to all existing parties," they said.

"After elections, all citizens should join forces to build the Zimbabwe we all want. We appeal to all citizens to adopt a spirit of oneness and solidarity," the bishops said.

"May the electoral process of 2008 bring us a national rebirth and help us to grow in the love of God and neighbor, as Zimbabwe regains its rightful place among the nations of the world," they said.

END

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250