Tue, 25 Apr 2017 10:33:01 +0000
Throughout history the Church has never sided with the poor, downtrodden and voiceless.
If anything the Catholic Church was forced into reformation in 1570 when Martin Luther wrote his 95 thesis against the Church’s cohabitation with power, prestige and principalities.
It is a reality that the Church has always sided with the rich and powerful, those who exert influence and manipulate political circumstances. This is true of the Church today. It can continue to pontificate on matters of the rich and powerful while remaining totally silent to the plight of the poor, dispossessed and marginalized.
This is evidenced by the causes which the Church now associates itself with by protecting the powerful at the expense of the thousands if not millions of Zambians who will stand to suffer if political instability, sparked by greedy and power hungry politicians comes to pass.
This is the church that fails to condemn post 2016 election violence in which scores of people were forcibly relocated on account of their ethnic and political orientation. The disaster management and Mitigation Unit of the Vice-Presidents office, almost single handedly with the help of the Zambia Red Cross helped to evacuate victims for resettlement outside the province.
There was not a word, not a sermon, not a pastoral letter, not even a gesture of empathy from the Church because the hapless victims were neither strong, powerful nor rich.
Instead, the Church stands ready to prophesy Armageddon on account of perceived “suffering” of special interest individuals.
It speaks out for those who can hide in safe tunnels, built in their luxurious mansions to protect themselves against the violence they stoke. Not only that they leave their foot soldiers to bear the brunt of retribution from angry policemen seeking to effect an arrest.
The foot soldiers are sidelined as collateral damage to the greater cause of political interest, premised on the interest of international capital.
The defence of the Law Association of Zambia by the Church is yet another elitist preoccupation that fails to address the human crisis affecting the criminal justice system in Zambia which is incarcerating thousands of men and women in inhumane conditions thereby subjecting them to unusual punishment that is outlawed by international statutes and conventions.
One of the problems, as rightly pointed out by the Minister of Justice yesterday, is the impeded access to justice due to prohibitive legal fees, which are unaffordable to most Zambians and yet the Church has the time, energy and temerity to defend individuals who can afford a whole battery of lawyers while those in need are again considered as dispensable fodder.
Everyday thousands of Zambians languish in excessive pre-trial detention, occasioned mainly by their failure to meet tough bail conditions. Although not yet sentenced they must suffer horrendous prison conditions and the Church has remained silent, insular and certainly unmoved.
This is an association that will spend its resources defending one of their own involved in a criminal matter rather than offer pro bono service to the multitude languishing in remand custody.
This is an association that has just increased legal fees, distancing itself further from the poor who are most in need of their services.
This is the type of church that Martin Luther revolted against because it pandered to privilege massaging the egos of the powerful, while ministering vacuous metaphysical platitudes.
We strongly believe that Zambia needs a proactive and relevant church that does not respond to crisis but maintains a vigilance and dutiful oversight to ensure the promotion of social, economic and cultural development. This should be a church that is not elitist but holistically present in the life of the poor and marginalized.
This is a church that is not judgemental and as Pope Francis has noted this is a church that recognizes the exigencies of modern life and works with the populace to address issues of poverty, family brokenness and most important of all addresses those circumstances and political realities that endanger peace and tranquility.
