The (Catholic) Church and Resistance to Zanu-PFism in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, in 2020, wrote two pastoral letters that focused on political accountability and responsibility. The letters pointedly recount the history of Zimbabwe and especially the thorny issue of the gukurahundi. The first letter, ‘On the 40th Anniversary of Zimbabwe’s Independence’ (2 April 2020), was issued before independence celebrations, and ‘The March is not Ended’ (14 August 2020), after Heroes and Defence Days. This chapter analyses the two letters, which challenge the internal conflicts happening in major political parties as an ongoing process that will eventually usher in a democratic system. The letters indicate that Christians and citizens are patriots on a journey to freedom, on which they should continue to walk together in the march, in awareness of the continued shrinking of the democratic space in Zimbabwe. Churches have all been struck by the undemocratic fever that is reducing religious freedom and, hence, divides church groups into ‘enablers’ and ‘dissenters’. On the one hand, religion is exploited through power struggles relating to political, class and gender, religious and racial identities, with those in power continually reviving the struggle. On the other hand, religion is the hope of society, as it stands against brutality, tyranny, autocracy and corruption by the state. The two letters warn about the death of democracy, which will be caused by religious leaders refusing to walk together with others on their journey of faith and life and especially on the thorny path towards liberating Zimbabwe. A church that does not know its mission in life, and especially the importance of its unity, as emphasised by love in the Word of God, is unlikely to endure and to complete the march. This chapter uses critical discourse analysis to analyse the two letters.