The Pastoral Letter was clear …
ARCHBISHOP PHIRI ACTING LIKE JUDAS
…he has betrayed the ZCCB -Sishuwa
By Mast Reporter
NDOLA Archdiocese Archbishop Benjamin Phiri exhibited the characteristics of a Judas Iscariot when he betrayed the position of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) that the pulpit must remain a place of prophetic truth and moral clarity, not political opportunism, Harvard-based historian Sishuwa Sishuwa has charged.
On Sunday, President Hakainde Hichilema and several UPND politicians such as Minister of Mines Paul Kabuswe and Copperbelt Province Minister Elijah Matambo attended mass at St Joseph Cupertino Catholic Church in Chifubu Parish, Ndola. During the event, the trio were allowed to use the pulpit to address congregants and pledge monetary donations to the Church for the procurement of uniforms for choir members.
Commenting on this development yesterday, Dr Sishuwa, a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University in the United States of America, criticised Archbishop Phiri for allowing politicians to use the pulpit for partisan interests or political agenda.
He said the ZCCB’s guidance on the use of the pulpit by non-priests was clear and the Archbishop, who is a member of the body, should have respected commonly agreed positions.
“Never in the history of the ZCCB has an Archbishop repudiated commonly agreed positions. As you know, I am a historian, so I consider myself sufficiently qualified and competent enough to comment on this matter. [Editor’s note: Dr Sishuwa obtained his PhD in Modern History at Oxford University and is also a Senior Lecturer in History at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.] The last time this happened was in June 2017 after then Lusaka Archdiocese Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu, who was also president of the ZCCB, issued a statement that Zambia was sliding into a dictatorship following the arrest of then opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on a bogus charge of treason by the previous administration. Bishop Benjamin Phiri, who was then Chipata Catholic Auxiliary Bishop, distanced himself from Archbishop Mpundu’s statement, claiming that it was not approved by the ZCCB. One can excuse Archbishop Phiri’s conduct at the time, especially if it was proved that Archbishop Mpundu’s statement was issued without consultation with the ZCCB membership. His conduct this time around cannot be excused”, Dr Sishuwa said.
“On 30 January this year, the ZCCB issued a Pastoral Letter in which they advised against the use of the pulpit by anyone for partisan interests or political agenda. The Pastoral Letter did not provide for any exemptions. Archbishop Phiri was a signatory to that Letter so it cannot be said that he is ignorant of the Church’s position on this issue. In addition to defying a collective position, Archbishop Phiri has allowed Hichilema to create a template whereby if the UPND presidential candidate is stopped from addressing the faithful using the pulpit in another parish, he will cry hatred. The conduct of Archbishop Phiri undermines collective positions and the standing of both the ZCCB and the Catholic Church in general. If individual leaders of the various opposition parties went to the Cathedral in Ndola to pray and request to use the pulpit to address the congregation and pledge financial donations like it was done on Sunday, will Archbishop Phiri allow this since the Catholic Church is known for its impartiality, fairness, and consistency? And where would that leave the ZCCB’s guidance on this issue? Archbishop Phiri may be compromised or sympathetic to Hichilema, but he should have respected the position that was stated by the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops that the pulpit must remain a place of prophetic truth and moral clarity, not political opportunism”, he said.
Dr Sishuwa argued that Archbishop Phiri betrayed not only the ZCCB’s position but also his own stated position on the use of the pulpit.
“Not long ago, Archbishop Phiri issued a statement in which he banned the use of the pulpit by visitors. Let me quote what the same Archbishop wrote on 8 August 2022 in an internal memo addressed to the Vicars Forane, all priests, religious men and women, and all the lay faithful of the Catholic Diocese of Ndola. Here said and I quote: ‘Whenever politicians visit our churches, they should be treated like any other ordinary Christian coming to worship. At no time should they be accorded a chance to speak to the gathered faithful during Mass at the pulpit nor should they be given an audience outside Mass to speak to the parishioners within the church premises. I further admonish all the priests, especially the parish priests and their respective parish leaders, to strictly adhere to my directive without fail. I am aware that some priests out of courtesy have in the past accorded an opportunity to politicians to speak to the gathered faithful in the name of greeting them during Mass. This is not permitted at all. Our Churches are not political platforms of whatever political pronouncements our brothers and sisters from the political sphere wish to make known to the public. They are instead places of worship and reverence of our Creator. All the people must be free to come and worship without the worry of the environment or atmosphere whatsoever’, end of quote. This is what Archbishop Phiri said not long ago. What has changed? If the Archbishop could not respect the position of the ZCCB, he should have at least respected his own position on the use of the pulpit”, Dr Sishuwa said.
The political commentator said that while there is nothing wrong in welcoming Hichilema to any church service, it was wrong for Archbishop Phiri to allow Hichilema and his entourage to use the pulpit.
“No person goes to church in their capacity as president, minister, chief executive officer, academic, or representatives of any political party or ethnic group. They all go as ordinary worshippers. The church welcomes everyone regardless of their status in society. That is why Hichilema, like anyone else, is welcome to attend mass if he wishes to. Indeed, this is what both Archbishop Phiri and the ZCCB have repeatedly told us, that we are all equal before them. The moment a priest treats a person before the congregation differently because of the position that person holds somewhere else, then the priest is creating hierarchies within the Christian faithful that are not provided for in Scriptures. It is important to note that Hichilema did not attend Mass because he is president of UPND or of Zambia. He did not attend mass because he is an elder in the SDA Church. He attended mass as a sinner and child of God and should have been treated like anyone else for the duration of the service and the time that he spent within the Church premises. When people appear before a priest in a place of worship, they do so as children of God. Whatever status they enjoy outside the church service is immaterial when they are in a church. Neither the statement from the ZCCB nor the one from Archbishop Phiri provided any exemptions regarding who is allowed to use the pulpit beyond the priests. Both statements admonished the use of the pulpit by any visitor to the church. Hichilema, Kabuswe, and Matambo are not priests in the Catholic church; they were visitors and should not have been accorded any other status that elevated them over and above that of other worshipers”, added Dr Sishuwa.
The US-based academic argued that Archbishop Phiri exhibited four characteristics of a Judas Iscariot when he betrayed both his own previous position and the position of the ZCCB on the use of the pulpit by church visitors.
“The characteristics of the Judas Iscariot type include being a traitor, hypocrite, liar, and greed. The unacceptable conduct of Archbishop Benjamin Phiri on this subject meets all the four traits. One can say the Archbishop is a traitor because he went against what the ZCCB stated in black and white that the pulpit must remain a place of prophetic truth and moral clarity, not political opportunism. I doubt that the ZCCB, when they sat to write that Pastoral Letter, knew that there was a traitor in their midst and that he was about to betray them. Archbishop Phiri is a hypocrite because the very things that he told other people not to do are the very things that he did himself: that the use of the pulpit before, during, or after Mass is not permitted at all. And if a liar is a person whose word cannot be trusted, then Archbishop Phiri fits this description because he has gone against his own word and failed to live up to what he presented to us as the truth. How can anyone including priests under his care, trust what he will say today or tomorrow?’, Dr Sishuwa asked before providing the other trait of a Judas Iscariot that the Archbishop exhibited.
“Archbishop Phiri is greedy because he has betrayed collective positions in exchange for donations from politicians meant to finance the purchase of uniforms for choir members in his Archdiocese. I doubt the Archdiocese of Ndola is in such a financial ruin that it cannot afford to buy uniforms for choir members at any given parish under its care. Moreover, if choir members at Chifubu Parish need uniforms, then it means the politicians who donated money towards the purchase of unfirms were provided with this information. But this is not the way to go. If the Archdiocese is facing financial difficulties, let the Archbishop publicise this information so that all interested Zambians, including members of the opposition, can make donations and contribute to overcoming the spirit of poverty that appears to have afflicted the Archdiocese of Ndola”, Dr Sishuwa said.
