I am touched by the Holy Father's call for prayers for Africa, but am perturbed that he pointedly ignored the current elephant in the living room, namely
Zimbabwe. Is this perhaps because the lunatical leader of that country is a Catholic? There are things going on in Zimbabwe that are just as horrific as
those that are taking place up north. Perhaps it's because the mere few odd thousand people who have been massacred in Zimbabwe, don't rank up there
with the hundreds of thousands who have died in Darfur. Why is it that everyone (including the Vatican) seems to wait until things reach genocidal proportions
before even requesting prayers and aid for a particular region? I know the Holy Father spoke to the South African ambassador to the UN regarding this problem
but that, sadly, will have done very little good. Our country continues to practise a policy of 'quiet diplomacy'. i.e. constantly ignoring/giving in
to Robert Mugabe's continuing lunacy. Granted, we do not know what might be going on in the background, but is it too much to ask that the Holy Father
also request prayers for this particularly troubled region?
In Zimbabwe, MDC supporters are being locked in their houses, which are then torched. Others are beaten and tortured to death because they are known to have voted for the MDC in last month's elections. Our neighbour's Zimbabwean employees tell of the ZANU PF police arriving in their village, shooting one of the inhabitants in front of everyone else and telling them that that is what would happen to them if they voted for the MDC in the upcoming elections. And that is, no doubt, just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of Zimbabweans continue to stream across the border into South Africa and xenophobic tensions are on the rise in a country that already has enough poverty and domestic problems of its own. Poverty-stricken South Africans regard these refugees as competitors for food and jobs, and with good reason. We are now seeing vicious attacks on Zimbabweans in the poorer regions and shanty towns in and around Gauteng. Our own police, unfortunately, also victimise these poor people.
So, in the absence of a request from the Holy Father, I am asking everyone to also include Zimbabwe and it's neighbours in their prayer for peace in Africa and, most especially, to pray for Robert Mugabe's conversion of heart.
In Zimbabwe, MDC supporters are being locked in their houses, which are then torched. Others are beaten and tortured to death because they are known to have voted for the MDC in last month's elections. Our neighbour's Zimbabwean employees tell of the ZANU PF police arriving in their village, shooting one of the inhabitants in front of everyone else and telling them that that is what would happen to them if they voted for the MDC in the upcoming elections. And that is, no doubt, just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of Zimbabweans continue to stream across the border into South Africa and xenophobic tensions are on the rise in a country that already has enough poverty and domestic problems of its own. Poverty-stricken South Africans regard these refugees as competitors for food and jobs, and with good reason. We are now seeing vicious attacks on Zimbabweans in the poorer regions and shanty towns in and around Gauteng. Our own police, unfortunately, also victimise these poor people.
So, in the absence of a request from the Holy Father, I am asking everyone to also include Zimbabwe and it's neighbours in their prayer for peace in Africa and, most especially, to pray for Robert Mugabe's conversion of heart.
