By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
Is the Pastoral letter for the President or the people?
In the Calendar of the Church and its social teaching, a Pastoral Statement or Letter is significant.
Pastoral letters may deal with any subject affecting the faith, practice, welfare, or worship of the people. They are often published during certain seasons, as in Lent or Advent. Over the centuries they have become expressions of the ordinary teaching authority of the Church.
This past week, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), a college of Catholic Archbishops and Bishops in Zambia met. As usual this would have culminated in a Pastoral Statement issued and read publicly.
Apparently, State House is said to have learnt of the stinging details of the letter especially on; the failure of government to resolve the economic crisis three years in a roll, the cost of living crisis, volatile exchange rate market, emerging dictatorial tendencies and shrinking democratic space, load-shedding, misconduct of the Police, Electoral Commission of Zambia, the expulsion of nine MPs and impending constituency by-elections, the matters surrounding the abduction of Petauke Central Independent Member of Parliament Emmanuel Banda and other pertinent matters affecting the people.
Another matter of concern was the confidential letters of apology to the Church over the misconduct of the Police in Kabwe and Ndola against the Church. The Bishops strongly felt that the President must make such apologies public as the matters were in public domain and also beyond the apology, dealt with his erring officers.
So before the Conference could issue the Pastoral Statement, State House is said to have stepped in and chose to honour a previous request for a meeting and insisted that the President Hakainde Hichilema would meet the Bishops and hear, listen and help resolve the concerns.
A hurried meeting was therefore arranged hours and prior to the release of the Statement.
President Hichilema invited Catholic members from his government led by Secretary to Cabinet, Patrick Kangwa and Defence Minister, Ambrose Lufuma, and others to join the meeting.
Efyo na Pastoral Letter yashima!
The Bishops have since headed to a sub-regional consultative meeting of the Catholic Bishops of Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe taking place in Salima, Malawi, from 15 July to 19 July 2024.
This significant gathering aims to address various pressing challenges affecting the Church and the people within the three countries, including inequality, poverty, unemployment, cost of living crisis and environmental concerns.
