National Spokesperson for the National Patriotic Front (NPF), Jealousy Mawarire says the Church has a moral obligation to stand for the vulnerable and it is within their right to do so.
He made the remarks following a Pastoral Letter issued by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference on 14 August which called on the government to end human rights abuses.
The Pastoral Letter was not well-received by the government, with Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa lashing out at the Bishops, calling them “genocidal” and a “self-righteous Ndebele minority”.
In a post on Twitter, Mawarire said it is unfortunate that the “junta” government believes that “the Church is there to support its programs, massaging egos of the looting and genocidal cabal”. Wrote Mawarire:
The Junta-PF government response to the Catholic Bishops Pastoral letter is quite interesting in as much as it is intriguing because it shows a warped understanding of the role of the Church and its leadership.
While the rogue regime believes the Church is there to support its programs, massaging egos of the looting and genocidal cabal, the Church is there to protect the poor, the vulnerable and the downtrodden from a diabolical political leadership. There shouldn’t be a disconnect between the Church and politics since Jesus, the head of the Church is King of Kings.
Jesus, whom the Bishops represent, is the overall leader, He is above presidents and is the ultimate politician (Rev 1:5). ED is actually a VP. The church has a right to dabble in politics, Jesus did not die for the world so that genocidal leaders can continue abusing people.
Biblical prophets, like Amos, chided leaders and announced their removal from power. They attacked the leadership of the day for oppressing the poor and for corruption (Amos 3:10-11).
The coup government in Zimbabwe has no moral authority to tell the Church not to intervene when it tramples upon the rights of citizens, allegedly murdering, abducting and raping citizens. The Church has a moral obligation to stand for the vulnerable and it’s within their right to do so.
Zimbabweans should refuse to be intimidated by a rogue regime just because the regime is irritated by the truth. It’s not the role of the Church to prop-up dictatorship. The church is there to rebuke, publicly, those sinning (1Tim 5:20) even if the sinners are institutionalised in government.