CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP DR ALICK BANDA AND CATHOLIC WOMEN’S LEAGUE WHO WENT TO VISIT CHARITY KATANGA THIS MORNING HAVE BEEN CHASED AWAY AND NOT ALLOWED TO SEE HER.
After being chased Bishop banda said
” Charity Katanga she is a member of our church and We are requesting the UPND Government if they can respect the role of the churches of preaching the word of God, visiting the sick and those who are in prisons, put politics aside”
There is nothing strange about it, the Police or Correctional Services officers look at many other areas depending on the sensitivity of some of those areas. Those who still remember, few days ago, former president ECL was blocked when he wanted to see Chishimba Kambwili at Maina Soko. We should also learn to differentiate between politics and pastoral work, I believe there are many Catholics currently in prisons and Archbishop Alick Banda has not visited them, what is so special about Charity Katanga? Moreover when when we visit the prisoners, the sick, the mourners, widows, orphans, the hungry, the naked and the poor, we need to put their membership aside and just use spiritual eyes where we see all of them as children of God whom Christ died for. Besides that, visiting these special groups of people should be our habit that we do everyday and not necessarily only when our members or those with names are affected. We should therefore avoid creating this unnecessary artificial tension and confusion between the Government and the Catholic Church. If Charity Katanga loses her appeal and is jailed for the three years she has been slapped with, Archbishop Alick Banda and other Zambians from all walks of life will be allowed to be visiting her. The President has always emphasized that we are not enemies, we are not competitors but partners in development. In that vein, the Church, the Traditional Leadership and the Government should always work together and develop our country.
The Church should not be used by this Political zealot who uses the church as a cover for his sinful ways.
Besides stop saying the UPND government. Its the law that is stopping you. When you breach the calibacy law, you want to suggest otherwise? No thy shall not comit adultery iwe.
Bishop Banda should exercise some wisdom before engaging in such activities. He should not be playing politics at every available opportunity. He is a leader of an organisation comprising members with different political persuasions.
His visit to Mrs. Charity Katanga has political overtones. His political leanings are also very well-known and so are Mrs. Katanga’s. He is playing politics even as he urges others to lay politics aside.
He has come to the fore lately as a champion of the oppressed but was not visible when PF was raining havoc on the nation. If anything, I remember him receiving a donation from Mr. Edgar Lungu, the former president, towards some priests’ project in Mr. Bowman Lusambo’s Kabushi constituency.
At the right time, he will be allowed to visit Mrs. Katanga.
There is nothing unusual about the clergy and their flock visiting prisoners. Even those awaiting execution have been visited by the clergy and their flock. As major seminarians from Mpima in the 80s, we organized with the help of the prison chaplain then, a Belgian Priest by the name of Fr. Hanecart, a football match with inmates of Mukobeko. We were allowed to play football against inmates within the Mukobeko prison grounds. It was such an entertaining match that even inmates watching behind bars were entertained and cheering throughout. After the match, we met up with coup plotters Edward Shamwana, Valentine Musakanya and others who were being visited by relatives at the time. Let us not forget the Sermon on the Mount on the standards by which we shall be judged. It will be by what we did to the least of our brethren. For instance, whether we visited those who were in prison. In a Christian Nation like ours, we should live by the requirements of the Sermon on the Mount.