Alick Banda wins Malawi, Zimbabwe bishops support
By Thandizo Banda
CATHOLIC bishops in Malawi and Zimbabwe have urged the Zambian government not to abuse the law by intimidating the Church following the arrest and detention of Lusaka Archbishop Alick Banda.
In two separate statements of solidarity, the Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops (MCCB) urged the government not to use the law to intimidate the Church.
In a hard-hitting statement issued on Sunday, the Malawian bishops said they stood in profound fraternal solidarity with the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) and the Catholic faithful.
“The Church strictly respects civil authority and the rule of law, but justice must be served fairly. We call upon the Zambian government to handle this matter with complete transparency and to ensure that the legal process is not used as a political tool to intimidate the Church,” they said.
The MCCB called for unity within the Catholic Church in Zambia, urging bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful to rally behind the ZCCB leadership and stand shoulder-to-shoulder at this critical time.
The bishops appealed to all Zambians across political, ethnic and religious divides to safeguard peace and stability.
“At this critical period of heightened national anxiety, we call upon all Zambians to safeguard the peace, stability and democratic ideals of their great country. Let justice be pursued through national dialogue and reconciliation rather than division,” they said.
“We entrust Archbishop Alick Banda, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops, all the Catholic faithful in Zambia and the whole country to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Africa,” the Malawian bishops said.
And the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) says it will not remain indifferent while the Church in Zambia is under attack.
The bishops said the Church in Zambia needed support because it was facing the worst trial following the arrest of Archbishop Banda.
In a solidarity letter dated October, 2 to ZCCB, the Zimbabwe bishops said they had followed with concern the developments around Archbishop Banda’s appearance before the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) on September 28 and his subsequent arrest and appearance before a Lusaka magistrates’ court and the ongoing judicial process.
“We, your brother bishops of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference [ZCBC], write to express our fraternal solidarity and prayerful closeness to the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops [ZCCB], His Grace Archbishop Alick Banda, Metropolitan Archbishop of Lusaka, and the entire Catholic Church in Zambia during this challenging moment,” they said.
The bishops said while the Church recognised the legitimate responsibility of public institutions to administer justice and uphold the rule of law, the dignity of every person required that judicial procedures be conducted fairly and impartially with full respect for due process.
“We therefore join you in praying that truth and justice may prevail,” they said.
The bishops said the ZCBC and ZCCB shared a longstanding communion through the Association of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe (ACBC-MAZAZI), and therefore when one local Church passed through a moment of difficulty, they could not remain indifferent.
