The Vatican on Friday appointed little known Bishop Michael Schupp to act as Archbishop of Bulawayo following the resignation of Pius Ncube who is facing adultery charges.In a move seen by observers as seeking to quickly distance the Catholic Church from now ordinary Bishop Ncube’s predicament, the Vatican quietly replaced him with a man expected to refocus the archdiocese.
Ncube, a fiery critic of President Robert Mugabe resigned last week as the Archbishop of Bulawayo following damaging sex allegations.
He Ncube was shown in the government media in bed with several women after a husband of one of the women filed an adultery lawsuit against the prelate.
The way the media handled the matter also came into focus last week when the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) fired its Zimbabwean correspondent, Super Mandiwanzira who was allegedly used by President Robert Mugabe’s secret police to expose Ncube.
A DVD purporting to show Ncube in bed with the women has even appeared on the streets of Harare. Ncube supporters have dismissed the reports as part of a government smear campaign.
Ncube has continually exposed Mugabe’s poor human rights record, especially the persecution of opposition leaders and independent journalists.
The influential Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference stood by Ncube when the scandal initially broke, chronicling several incidents in which he fought for the oppressed, among them his exposure of the early ’80s massacre of Ndebele-speaking people in Matabeleland and the Midlands.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce