Prayer in Zimbabwe
The Save Zimbabwe prayer rally held yesterday was peaceful:
Opposition speakers withdrew under police orders Saturday from a pro-democracy prayer meeting, which ended without the violence that halted a previous gathering, organizers said.
The Save Zimbabwe Campaign, an alliance of Christian and pro-democracy groups, said key opposition figures showed “solidarity” by attending the vigil without addressing the congregation in the western provincial capital of Bulawayo (read more here)
In addition to yesterday’s meeting, someone sent us this evocative description, and image, from a prayer service held in the Catholic Cathedral in Bulawayo on Thursday evening last week (12 April). It shows that there is nothing passive about prayer in Zimbabwe!
The scheduled prayer service at St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Bulawayo, on Thursday 12th April, at 5.30pm went ahead as planned.
It was called for as a follow-up to the Easter Pastoral Letter issued by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference on Holy Thursday 5 April 2007. The title of that Letter was titled adopted as the theme of the Service - “God Hears the Cry of the Oppressed”.
The Service was supposed to have been led by Rev Ray Motsi. He was not there when the Service started. He eventually arrived about an hour into the service. He had in fact been detained by the authorities in connection with the preparation of another Prayer Service to be held at St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Makakoba (a high density suburb in Bulawayo) on Saturday 14th April, under the banner of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. Needless to say he was in high spirits!
Also present were Archbishop Pius Ncube of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bulawayo, as well as two visitors from South Africa - Archbishop Buti J. Tlhabane of the Johannesburg Archdiocese (South Africa) and Bishop Kevin Dowling of the Rustenburg Diocese (South Africa). Both are veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa.
The Service was addressed by several Ministers and the Bishops, and none of whom minced their words. After lighting the Peace Candle, Archbishop Pius went on to clearly explain that the Service was all about achieving peace in Zimbabwe for all its citizens - peace for the people, and just as important - peace for the authorities.
Rev Motsi followed the theme of the Service, when he said:
“If you cannot afford even to send your child to school, then you are oppressed. If you cannot even afford to put one meal a day on your table, then you are oppressed. If you cannot meet with anyone you wish to meet with and talk to them about what you want to talk to them about, then you are oppressed. If you cannot send your children to the school of your choice, then you are oppressed. If you cannot vote for the party of your choice, be it zanupf or MDC, or Zapu, then you are oppressed.”
That’s just to mention but a few of the parallels that he drew - but that God surely hears the cry of the oppressed!
Archbisop Buti and Bishop Dowling brought messages of support from the people of South Africa, and explained that they had come to see the situation in the country first-hand, so that they could report back to their congregations at home. They related some of thier experiences during demonstrations in the apartheid period. They exorted the congregation to stay strong, to keep working and praying for peace in Zimbabwe and and not to give up, as God was with them.
Bishop Dowling went as far as to address the CIO operatives (who were undoubtedly in the audience), and bade them welcome and a good evening. He asked them to take a message back to their superiors - that the people were not afraid of them, and that they were on the losing side. God was surely on the side of the people - the opressed - and that they should think about getting themselves on the right side and start working for peace!
The addresses were followed by a candlelight procession. Every one of the two to three hundred-strong congregation processed to the sanctuary where the Bishops lit each person’s candle from the peace candle, and then they placed their candles on the Altar. It was a very moving and powerful experience in the dimly lit church, with the Altar ablaze with several hundred candles!
The service was not without its comic moment - when asked what they were doing sending messages on their cellphones, two activists explained that they were pointing out to each other a suspected CIO operative who appeared to be trying to take pictures of the congregation with a cellphone camera!
The procession was followed by testimonies of three brave activists who had been victims of the recent and ongoing abductions (about 600 people so far), beatings and torture in Harare. Archbishop Pius noted that abductions appeared to have started in Bulawayo as well.
The Service ended at about 7.30pm with the congregation all joining in with the unofficial anthem of the opposition - the deeply stirring hymn, Nkosi Sikilel ‘I Afrika (God Bless Africa).
To our knowledge, the Service went off peacefully and without incident.
April 19th, 2007 19:14
Hello, God bless,
Thank you for sharing this beautiful photo and this interesting comment.
I understand that recently freedom and peace are treatened in your country.
I am a christian and like to go to mass. I am a convert. In my area on the globe, most people are not practising, no believers, for different historic reasons.
My wife is of west-afrikcan origin. She is in the ordination process in the Anglican church.
I myself are a native Belgian with an open mind to the different people of the world.
It is good to see that you people derive strenght, inspiration and peace out of faith and mass.
As a historian I know that a lot of deep change can take place in any society. Be patient and carefully active.
I pray for you.
Halleluia.
Stefaan Christopher, Leuven, Belgium, Western Europe