Catholic bishops to boldly proclaim the truth: Church has obligation to advise congregation on good leadership
The country’s powerful and influential church, Catholic, says it has an obligation to tell its members on how to distinguish good leaders from bad leaders and to boldly proclaim the truth.
Secretary to the church’s bishops body, the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, Father Henry Saindi said this Saturday just a day after the Catholic bishops issued a statement which said the church cannot tell people who to vote for during an election.
“As a church, we encourage our members to fully engage in politics, that is their right. We tell them the quality of good leaders so that they are well informed,” said Saindi.
However, Saindi said the church cannot tell people who to vote for, saying the church comprises of members from different political parties.
The vice-president Saulos Chilima has been closely associated with the church and some Catholic clergy recently asked him to consider running for presidency in 2019 elections, drawing sharp criticism from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which accuses the church of promoting and backing Chilima.
Saindi said it is the role of the church to inform its members the importance of voting into power good leaders.
The bishops also asked for violent free elections following the recent spate of political violence perpetrated by the ruling party’s youth wing, the cadets.
The church has been vocal in accusing President Peter Mutharika and his government of nepotism, favouritism, cronyism, tribalism and regionalism among others.
In the statement signed by ECM Chairman, Bishop Luke Msusa, the church called upon all Malawians to pray for peaceful elections and cooperate with God.
“We call upon all Malawians to pray for peaceful elections and cooperate with God in achieving this by desisting from utterances, actions or inactions which can cause violence,” the statement stated.
It articulated that Malawi has been blessed with peace since its inception as a State.
“We all have a duty before God and our Nation to ensure peaceful coexistence at all times but especially now as we prepare for the elections,” it said.
The Bishops encouraged the Citizenry to register and vote in the forthcoming elections as it is not only a right but an obligation of every Malawian.
“Voting in such elections is not only a right but an obligation of every
eligible Malawian.
“In addition, we call upon all those charged with the duty of managing the said elections to ensure that the entire electoral process is properly managed so that we have truly free, fair and credible elections”.
The Bishops reminded priests, church bearers, catechists and heads of their institutions to refrain from making utterances or doing things that can justifiably be perceived as advancing partisan politics.
“For the same reason, we cannot endorse or support any particular politician or political party,” the statement reads.
The statement has been released having received reports from various commissions and departments during their plenary session of June 2018 concerning the forthcoming tripartite elections and considering what they have observed over the last few months regarding the same elections.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Pitala is a bad leader that Malawians should not vote for. Pitala just like Bingu favors lomwes and because of that Lomwe bosses like Ben Botolo are terrorizing subordinates who are not lomwes. Botolo has a mother from the north and grew up as a tumbuka. Now because the father was from Phalombe he cleverly changed colors. Pitala has been stealing money from us as evidenced by the K145 millio kick back he received from Karim. Do the police need rations like soldiers who are at war? Akumangwetu kuba or kusolola kwanji kotereku? To hell with Pitala. Death is a… Read more »
am too worried about what is happening especially the church having a candidate to support. they should remember that once they select a leader and that leader fails us it means themselves have failed to choose a leader for us. How many times has the church suppoorted a leader and failed us thier choosen leader. we are tired for them choosing leaders for us christiaans. just give us hints on good leadership not saying chilima is the best. no no! He is the best mafia of all. Remember that he did to joice Bsanda in 2014 using airtel to block… Read more »
The Catholic Church has been there for Malawi in the hour of her need. It is today we hear a lot of faith organisations with pastoral letters moreover the Catholic seminaries do teach political science for the social coherence and adequate appreciation of national activities. So you are different from the new religious fanatics whose main job is to con the society by issuing false predictions as to who wins the next election. Accused or not the Church has been at centre of emancipating our nation from political evils, the Church has been and is a colossal presence amidst us… Read more »
VERY TRUE.
catholic church my foot! these people think they are powerful hey?yes with worldly powers not religious.Politics divide and so where is the love in politics as proclaimed by the gospel you say you stand for ? u cant say u love john & you hate Bob or Mary Magalena is better than other women then at same time say that is a christian value. Mwazitenga kuti zimenezi? can u tell me where jesus favoured the kingdom of this world?he even refused to bow down to the devil in order to be given control of world powers..which simply means power of… Read more »
Mukuvutikikanji a Kwalira Mkango. Stick to what you know. Let others be.
Catholic clergy think think they are smart. Tikuwonerani ngati Chilima wanuyo awine next year. we are not fools
We lost trust in you Catholic Fathers. God’s power is great that He managed to reveal your dirty works which you have been doing in hiding. Who knew or believed that Masambuka was killed by one of you? You need to come in the open tell us how one of you, if not many of you have been involved in this tragedy. We are waiting for your apology and compensation to the believed family.
Roman Catholic with its selective telling the truth. I will only appreciate their telling the truth when they issue a pastoral letter acknowledge and condemn the act of fathering children by some of their colleagues who pretend to observe calibercy. I will take them seriously when they stop transferring the priests opalamula, like those killing albinos. I will indeed start holding them in high esteem when they start respecting women by treating their nuns the same way they treat the priests. The nuns are not allowed to move around in civilian clothes while the priests are. Whenever the nuns commit… Read more »
These Catholic Church priests are really pathetic. Who are you to proclaim the truth? What is truth as far as politics is concerned? There is none and the Saulosi Chilima you are advocating mwamphetekesa. He should have been appreciative that he was chosen as APM runningmate and became VP.
Inunso a chitsiru mapetooooooooooooooooooooo!! Appreciate what!! You’re brainwashed!! Umamwa madzi ometela ndemvu za……………………………………………..!!
Anthu achiphamaso inu opusisa ana anzanu kuti mulindimphavu yowathandiza kuti awine. Gwanda adafa mphawi coz of you aneneri onyenga inu. Pano ndi izi mwampusitsa saulosi, mwayamba kusintha zonena. Zimene mumachita kutseli sizigwilizana konse ndi zimene mumanena pa public. Mumayesa amalawi opusa. Mulungu adatitsekula maso. Tikupenya kkkkkkkkkkkkkk