IT IS both scandalous and incomprehensible that Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe should be a guest at the Vatican for the beatification of
the late Pope John Paul II.
According to the Vatican, his presence was a "function of the diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Zimbabwe".
However,
Mugabe's ready acceptance by the Vatican for this beatification not
only undermines the strong moral position taken by the Zimbabwean
Bishops' Conference, but also by the combined Catholic bishops of
Southern Africa who have accused Mugabe of perpetuating genocide.
They
have called on all the regional leaders of Southern Africa to cut ties
with Mugabe, warning that a failure to do so would make them guilty of
"passive genocide".
Surely the Vatican as a sovereign state is
giving credibility and recognition to Robert Mugabe and, consequently,
in the words of its own bishops, must accept complicity in creating the
conditions that have resulted in starvation, displacement, disease and
death for ordinary Zimbabwean people -- which is nothing short of
passive genocide.