Catholic Church decries widening economic inequalities between the rich and the poor

The Archdiocese of Lilongwe of the Roman Catholic Church has deplored the widening economic inequalities between the rich and the poor, saying this is a clear manifestation of injustice and lack of sound policies.

The Archbishop Secretary Father John Enock Kaliwamba has since challenged the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) to champion policies that would translate into equitable distribution of resources in the country.

Kaliwamba made the remarks at Mponela in Dowa on Saturday when he opened a two-day training for CCJP paralegal officers from all the parishes under the Archdiocese of Lilongwe.

With financial support from Charles Stewart-Mott Foundation, CCJP Lilongwe is implementing a Primary Justice Project with an aim of enhancing access to justice for women and children through improving the quality and accessibility of the primary justice system.

Kaliwamba said being a structure of the church, CCJP has a duty to collaborate with the government in advancing policies that could translate into eradication of inequalities in the society.

He added that CCJP is actually the best placed in championing policies for achieving equality since it is at the base where these injustices and lack of sound policies are manifested.

“Therefore, before we talk of salvation, we have to talk of their welfare while we are here on earth. The people who are joining the worshipping community are the very same people who are actually getting trampled; who are being challenged by different polices that are not promoting the common good and the betterment of the ordinary citizens,” said Kaliwamba.

He said the Roman Catholic Church would continue to denounce anything that comes in the way in the realization of human and people’s rights.

The Minister of Information and Government Spokesperson Gospel Kazako admitted in a separate interview that the gap between the rich and the poor is indeed worrisome.

Kazako assured that the Tonse government is keen to formulate and implement policies that are designed to narrow the gap.

“I will share with you some of these policies in due course. But I wish to commend the church for being candid in pointing out grey areas in the existing policies,” he said.

CCJP Lilongwe Archdiocesan Coordinator Enock Kamundi Phiri said the Commission organized the training workshop to equip the paralegals with skills for defending the rights of voiceless and the downtrodden in the society.

“The ultimate goal of the training is to equip the paralegals with basic knowledge of the law so that when they mediate, they give legal opinion, it should be backed by law and it should be legally binding. This is necessary because Malawi has very few lawyers and almost all of them live in cities where the marginalized groups cannot access them,” said Kamundi.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!