A group of supporters of Zambia’s ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) staged a protest on Friday outside the Vatican embassy in the capital Lusaka to protest against some elements of the Roman Catholic Church who have been attacking government policy lately.
The protesters, who presented a petition at the embassy, said they had been angered at the activities of some Catholic Church priests and bishops for always attacking government.
The petitioners named Lusaka Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu and two priests – Fathers Frank Bwalya and Miha Dravensek — as among those in the church that have been incessantly attacking government recently.
Father Bwalya, who has taken a sabbatical from the priesthood and formed a pressure group called “Change Zambia”, was recently arrested and charged with conduct likely to cause breach of peace.
Father Miha, who runs the church’s media services, has been a strong critic of government for what he terms as neglecting the poor in society, while Bishop Mpundu was recently involved in a spat with former President Frederick Chiluba.
As the petition was being handed over to the Vatican embassy, Vice president George Kunda also launched a scathing attack on the church while addressing parliament on Friday.
He charged that the church was now filled with individuals with political ambitions instead of playing the role of peace-builder for which the Roman Catholic Church has always been known.
Kunda said that, as a practicing Catholic, he had been “extremely disappointed” that the church had decided to take a confrontational stance against government.
There was no immediate comment from the church to the petition as well as the criticism from the vice president.
Source African Press Agency
African News from NetNewsPublisher.com
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