Avoid “third term conversations”: Catholic Bishops in Zimbabwe Appeal amid Talks to Extend President’s Term

“Economically, we are not faring well. Businesses are closing and many people are losing their jobs. The few who are still lucky to be working are burdened under the regime of taxes,” ZCBC members say in their Lenten Message issued under the theme, “to proclaim the Year of the Lord’s favour”.

Zimbabwe, the Catholic Bishops say, “is doomed”, owing to rampant corruption in the country.

“Corruption is rampant and seems to be out of control. At the rate at which it is taking place, cutting through various sectors, the nation is doomed,” they lament, and add, “One wonders why the corrupt seem uncensured and even rewarded whilst haemorrhaging the nation.”

Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops have also decried what they describe as an ever-widening gap between the poor and the rich in the country, where they say only a few individuals seem to be benefiting from the wealth of the nation. 

They have proposed that the people of God in Zimbabwe  revisit the spirituality of the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year in their Lenten reflections, the spiritual initiative that Pope Francis officially launched on the Eve of 2024 Christmas with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica of Rome.

ZCBC members observe that key to the celebration of any jubilee is the restoration of the people's dignity, correcting the wrongs of the society and an opportunity to re-orientate themselves. 

“The jubilee spirituality is not divorced from Lenten spirituality. For what is Lent if it is not about renewal of our baptismal commitment, restoration, being right with God, one another, and creation?” they pose.

The Catholic Church leaders add, “We are likely to benefit from the Lenten and Jubilee celebrations this year if we are cognisant of the environment in which we are called to pray, fast, and give alms, that is, to live our Lent.”

They say that the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year and the Lenten Season are a time for every faithful to have their identities restored by “a break with sin” and the experience of God’s forgiveness.

Meanwhile, ZCBC members have lauded the Zimbabwean government for signing into law a bill that abolishes capital punishment in the Southern African nation.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s President, reportedly signed the death penalty abolition bill into law on 31 December 2024, bringing an end to the law that had been introduced in what is now Zimbabwe during colonial rule.

The move, the Catholic Bishops say, is a step in the right direction.

“As a Church we welcome and congratulate the nation for the abolition of the Death Penalty Act. That was a step in the right direction indicating we care about human life and dignity,” they say, and add, “We uphold the sovereignty of God, and we will never usurp God's power to decree the span of one's life.”

In their March 3 Lenten Pastoral letter, ZCBC members have, however, acknowledged that there are many areas where “restoration is needed and where a jubilee experience is needed” in the country.

They say that just like most developing countries, Zimbabwe is burdened by sovereign debt. 

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Sadly, they say, international monetary institutions have crafted their policies such that the interest on lending rates for developing countries are so high. The situation, the Bishops note, “keeps developing nations in bondage, fans poverty and holds them in perpetual slavery.’

“We call for a reform of these unjust practices as they speak against development and the hopes of many nations,” Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops say, and add, “Developing nations deserve reprieve.”

Here is ZCBC’s prayer for Lent:

Wishing you a blessed Lenten season lived in the spirit of the Jubilee Year 2025.

Lord, may this Lenten season, in the grace of the Jubilee Year,

renew our hearts, strengthen our faith, fill us with hope,

and lead us ever deeper into your mercy and joy.

Amen.