Let’s “discern how to be church in the midst of a pandemic”: Catholic Bishop in Eswatini

“On Monday, July 26 we will be holding a Diocesan presbyteral council meeting to reflect both on the present situation of unrest and on the constant impact of COVID19 has in our lives and pastoral work,” Bishop Ponce de León says in the report published by Agenzia Fides July 23.

In the report, the native of Argentina highlights the challenge of political instability in Eswatini and acknowledges the interventions by various entities, including the Council of Swaziland Churches (CSC) where he is a member.

“On Saturday, July 17, the three known Christian Church bodies: the League of African Churches, the ESwatini Conference of Churches and the Council of Swaziland Churches met the South African Development Community (SADC) delegation,” the Catholic Bishop says.

He continues, “The Council of Swaziland Churches presented a nine-page document with an analysis of the current problems of the country, the chronology of events, possible scenarios if the government ignores and does not act on the current problems but also possible ones if matters are addressed.”

“The document presents a detailed list of meetings the CSC has held in the last two weeks with different stakeholders in the country and some short- and long-term recommendations to the government and SADC,” the 60-year-old Bishop further says. 

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In his first address to the nation since violence erupted, the king of Eswatini and head of the Swazi Royal Family, Mswati III, has described as "satanic" the violent conflict that has  reportedly caused massive loss of property.

The King has called for an open forum to deliberate on the pro-democracy protests in the Southern African nation formerly known as Swaziland.