CATHOLIC BISHOPS FAIL US

CATHOLIC Bishops have failed us. Their attempt to curtail and therefore truncate debate on Bill No. 10 is an exercise in highhanded magisterium and has no place in modern day politics. More insidiously it is the Bishops patent failure to analyze and therefore appreciate the vacuous nature of our western imposed multipartyism which emphasizes division in place of dialogue and common purpose. They should understand the divisions are political rather than on substance, which should form the basis of any public policy deliberation. It is of course true that the Church has authority to give authentic interpretation of the Word of God, but this must be in a context that responds fully to give effect to the diversity offered by an ill defined political system that does not value the merit of dialogue, compromise and consensus based on objective reality and public policy nuance. Catholicism by its nature comes from two Greek words, krata and holos meaning all-embracing, all-inclusiveness and all-accepting. The very admonition in Matthew 18:20,” For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”, should have given the Bishops a moment of reflection and introspection before pronouncing themselves on behalf of the opposition. Bill 10 is a result of cogent deliberation at various levels which deliberation cannot be dismissed in the manner the bishops deem. African theology has a duty and responsibility to be faithful to a vocation that translates the nature of God in the reality and democracy in which the people live. The bishops should have learnt from the failure of the Bill of Rights referendum which floundered on account of a political culture defined by a divisive constructivism of selfish politicians who use ethnicity as a basis for political organization. That is the nature of our politics, empty, divisive, and self-destructive. The Bishops should not have fallen in this pit that has seen the very same church in Rwanda and other countries mired in partisan politics. The Bishops should know that our multiparty democracy is broken and ineffectual because it is informed by western concepts and imposed on us. In the words of theologian Duncan Muwowo, multipartyism is a sin which is an unjust and ungodly practice for being the source of division, civil strife, tribalism , sectarianism and genocide. The Bishops should surely know that our country is polarized, not by substance, but by very fluid tribal agglomeration that passes for ethnicism but which in reality is an attempt by political elites to use the less informed to gain or retain power, privilege and opportunity. Bill 10 supported by proposed amendments should have been read and analyzed by the Bishops to provide the basis upon which they would have provide an informed, articulate and fact based critique, rather than simply reproduce the generalized, ill-informed and incendiary statement by the UPND. There are two sides to the debate. Each has merit and demerit. It therefore serves no purpose, and neither is it appropriate for the church to render its magisterium authority by truncating rather than allowing dialogue. After all God is the starting point of leadership and Governance of God’s people. Therefore, making a claim in support of a broken democratic structure that is reeking in tribal polarization, cannot claim divine inspiration. Divine intervention would propose instead a commonality of purpose allowing for the full vent of diversity. This is the African way.