Catholic World News News Feature

South African bishops call for action on Zimbabwe April 04, 2007

The Catholic bishops of Southern Africa have issued a statement condemning human-rights abuses in Zimbabwe, echoing the stand of the bishops in that country.

A statement signed by Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, the president of the Southern African bishops' conference, says that the people of Zimbabwe are suffering. "An elite of their own people is oppressing them and denying them the most basic human rights," the statement says.

The statement backs the strongly worded pastoral statement issued by the bishops of Zimbabwe, who said that their country is facing a crisis because of the pervasive corruption of the regime led by President Robert Mugabe and the flagrant violations of human rights.

The bishops ask for prayers on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe, and insist that a peaceful resolution of that country's problems can be worked out through national dialogue, respectful negotiation, and the preparation of a new constitution that would safeguard the rights of the country's people.

"We did this in the final years of apartheid and we know how God worked a miracle for us," the southern African bishops say.

The Southern African bishops' conference includes the bishops of South Africa, Botswana, and Swaziland.