Peace with Nature Emanates from “respect for the Creator”: Catholic Archbishop in Namibia

“God warns against the misuse of those resources or exploiting them in the wrong or greedy way,” Archbishop Nashenda says in his March 29 message, and adds, “How we use or misuse our resources affects other people as well as ourselves.”

He explains, “If we waste the earth’s resources today, we will be harming our children and grandchildren.”

Archbishop Nashenda reflects on the gospel of Mathew about doing to others what one would like to be done to them and says, “This can be applied to the way we treat our earth and its resources as well as our ordinary relationships.”

He says that the Southern African nation has plenty of resources that can be utilized to serve the entire population if integrity is embraced by the country’s leadership.

“Our land Namibia is rich in minerals like uranium, diamonds, zinc, lead, Sulphur, salt, tantalite, and copper,” he says, and adds, “In fact, Namibia proudly holds fourth place in the world as far as supplying uranium is concerned.”

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The Local Ordinary of Windhoek Archdiocese further says that a pure environment can only be defined as an environment that is sustained well by those bestowed by the responsibility to do so.

He adds, “A pure environment means an environment being treated in sustainable ways by those to whom God has given responsibility for its wellbeing, namely humanity.”

The Namibian Archbishop who will turn 63 on April 7 explains what a pure environment entails saying, "Purity entails a fundamental respect for the integrity of the whole created order, the health of its ecospheres, the viability and wellbeing of its species, the renewability of its productivity. And so, we return to the theme of God’s children and responsible work practices.”

Archbishop Nashenda further reflects on the biblical story of Zachariah and decries oppression of the poor saying that such a social vice results in environmental degradation through making the land desolate.

“Peace with God includes care for the earth that God has made,” he says, and adds, “Productive land, of course, has to be worked in order to yield its fruit.”

The Catholic Archbishop who has been at the helm of the Namibian Archdiocese since November 2004 challenges those who call themselves Christians to emulate the integrity of Christ of “bringing good news to the poor and proclaiming liberty to the captives taking care of nature.” 

“Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. It is knowing the right things to do and doing the right things. It is not an absolute notion that you either have or totally lack,” he says.

The Catholic Church leader calls upon Namibia’s government and those in leadership positions to inspire the public by embracing integrity. He says that integrity entails honesty, transparency, competency, and showcasing “ethical standards of public service.”

“Ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what ought to be done, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues, '' Archbishop Nashenda says.

He adds in his March 29 message, “Higher ethical standards and practices are critical in administering work to gain public trust, especially regarding service delivery.”

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To ensure equitable distribution of resources with an aim of enabling access to basic necessities of life by everyone, the Archbishop continues, the government should establish a redistribution scheme that will accommodate everyone.

“It is right to fight for a humane distribution of these resources, and it is up to governments to establish tax and redistribution schemes so that the wealth of one part of society is shared fairly, but without imposing an unbearable burden, especially upon the middle class,” Archbishop Nashenda says.

He calls for the rebuilding of the country’s economy especially after the damage done by COVID-19, adding that to rebuild the economy of the country, there is need to consider the needs of the current time as far as the present economy and lifestyle is concerned.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.