Bishop Mambo writes….
Statement from Bishop John Mambo on Christians that have criticised President Hakainde Hichilema for visiting Pope Francis
23rd February 2022
I wish to express my profound regret on some of our Christian groups that have vehemently and hysterically condemned our Republican President for visiting Pope Francis in Rome.
I wish to state that our immediate past President visited the same Pope but never received such astonishing criticism like the current President is receiving and that’s in itself is amazing.
First and foremost, the Pope is a Head of State and President Hichilema, I imagine, as Head of State visited him on that bilateral and diplomatic level, and not as a member of a particular church or denomination.
But most importantly brothers and sisters, the most important responsibility for any leader is to unite and not to divide, to include and not to exclude, to advance equity and fairness and not inequality, to gather and not scatter and I verily believe this is the very description and the profound character of Jesus Christ; to embrace and not to reject, to love and dialogue with those that are different from us, than to pour scorn and judge.
Reaching out to Moslems, Hindus and Bahais does not make one any of those faiths, but it makes one considerate, loving and Christ like. Just like going out to trade in Dubai which is a preoccupation of some of those criticising the President, does not make one a Moslem
From my standpoint, we must treat the body of Christ as being supreme and above religious or doctrinal affiliation. Christian is anchored on peace, love and harmony. Any message outside these three principles must be treated as not being from God, His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
We must therefore emulate Christ by advancing the language of love than hatred because Jesus focused on reaching out to all even the gentiles.
Let’s give President Hakainde Hichilema a chance to unite a country that was once divided to it’s core. Those that condemn him for visiting the Pope must reach out to their consciences and decide if it’s not being done out of hate and anger, something the Christian faith preaches against.
Bishop John Mambo