THE Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) has welcomed the revocation of the deportation of Rwandese Catholic priest Viateur Banyangandora.
ZEC General Secretary Fr. Cleophas Lungu said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the Catholic Church was happy with the good news of the revocation of the deportation of Fr. Banyangandora.
“We are happy with this good news. We have been praying and hoping that Government reconsiders the deportation of the man of God,” Fr Lungu said.
He said the Catholic Church had made its mandate clear that it would never participate in partisan politics but continue advocating about good governance.
Fr Lungu said Catholic Priests worldwide had a God given mandate to speak the truth about the ills in society regardless of who was perpetuating them.
“Sometimes as clergy we preach to people who are affected, so when you point out a wrong whether perpetuated by a politician or an ordinary member of society it should not be misconstrued to mean that we are engaging in partisan politics,” Fr Lungu said.
He stressed that the Catholic Church did not harbour any grudge against the Government over the deportation adding that the revocation had been welcomed in the spirit of continued good relations between the Church and the State.
He was hopeful the Government and the Church would continue to work together through dialogue and resolve issues amicably in the spirit of forgiveness.
He said just as Government had forgiven Fr. Banyangandora, the Church also continued to bear with all those with whom misunderstandings may exist.
Council Churches in Zambia (CCZ) Secretary- General Suzanne Matale also welcomed the revocation of Fr Banyangandora’s deportation stating that it was a welcome development.
Ms Matale however reiterated that the Church would not shun from commenting on matters of governance as the church was directly affected by Government actions.
“We preach to beings that are affected by politics. Their concerns are our concerns therefore we cannot shun from talking about them,” Ms Matale said.
She urged the government not to stray from its promises of restoring people’s dignity adding that the church would never abrogate its responsibility to the people.
Keep machetes away from this man. Look at his eyes…He should be left where he is. We dont commit genocide in Zambia
This is the way to go Mr State. In fact, we are bound to suspect that tthis was used to simulate a crisis to use to gain political mileage. #1 that is out of order: you lack international experience.
This Satanic man should die soon……..
The church should stay away from state matters. It would be catastrophic if the church and state becomes one, CCZ should keep their rosaries out of state matters. The priests from Rwanda have been implicated in genocides, we don’t need hate preachers here!. If his human rights were infringed, the CCZ should have appealed in the courts.