Church leaders in Zimbabwe say they need to repent for failing to help the oppressed people of their country and they now want to work together to promote the reconstruction of their nation. "The church must genuinely repent to God and confess to the suffering people of Zimbabwe for not fulfilling the two greatest commandments: 'Love the Lord thy God' and 'Love thy neighbor'," the church leaders said in a statement made on November 7.
The meeting of leaders of the Heads of Christian Denominations group, the (Roman) Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, the Zimbabwe National Pastors Conference, the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, the Anglican Diocese of Harare, the Ecumenical Support Services and New Frontiers-Zimbabwe, took place in Harare on November 3.
"The church in general has been divided and as such has been unable to satisfactorily meet the physical, moral and spiritual needs of the nation which is now in absolute crisis," they stated.
"The church must now demonstrate genuine unity by standing with the poor, weak, suffering and oppressed people."
The church leaders said, "This movement for unity must rapidly gather momentum and cascade throughout the church, her leadership, structures and people. Only then will the church be able to address truth, reconciliation and healing in Zimbabwe."
Methodist Bishop Levee Kadenge of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance told ENI that the statement represented "the best news ever to come from Zimbabwean churches."
A consultation to include about 25 key church leaders will be held in a few weeks time, the British humanitarian agency Christian Aid reported on November 6. The leaders will discuss unity, healing and reconciliation, and the role of the Church in Zimbabwe's past, present and future.
Christian Aid quoted Kadenge as saying, "We must gather together to repent. Only then can we prepare ourselves to be the moral and spiritual conscience of the nation and position ourselves at the heart of the reconstruction of our beloved nation."
The initiative by the Christian leaders came as leaders from southern Africa prepared to meet in Johannesburg on November 9 to attempt to break a deadlock between Zimbabwe's political leaders over the setting up of a national unity government.
The head of Zimbabwe's Zanu-PF party, Robert Mugabe, who became leader of his country in 1980, is refusing to budge from power or to share it fully with the Movement for Democratic Change which won a parliamentary election in March, say Zimbabwean opposition leaders.
Christian Aid said that only when the church has thrown off its own cloak of fear will it be able to help the nation do the same.
"The church should be at the heart of truth and reconciliation in Zimbabwe. Sadly as a divided body, it has been unable to play a meaningful role at the national level for more than a decade, and therefore cannot form a Truth Commission," said William Anderson, Christian Aid's country manager in Zimbabwe.
"A secular truth and reconciliation commission will not be able to take the nation forward in the same way as one that could and should be led by the church."
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(Source: ELO)