Lutherans Lament 'Deteriorating' Situation in Zimbabwe

Lutherans concluded their global council meeting on Tuesday with a call to restore hope in Zimbabwe.

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(Photo: LWF)

Deputy General Secretary Rev. Chandran Paul Martin (left), Lutheran World Federation President Bishop Mark S. Hanson (middle) and General Secretary the Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko (right) speak in a plenary session during the 2007 LWF Council Meeting in Lund, Sweden.

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The Lutheran World Federation Council stated that it "laments the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe" and expressed strong support for initiatives aiming toward a resolution to the crisis in the Southern African country.

"In a world of plenty, the persistence of poverty, especially extreme poverty was a scandal and an outrage," the LWF Council affirmed.

According to the CIA World Factbook, 80 percent of the population in Zimbabwe was estimated to be living below poverty line in 2004. The unemployment rate in 2005 was also at 80 percent.

The global council also affirmed the Ecumenical Peace Initiative under which a group of churches and related organizations have condemned the use of violence as a means to suppress opposition against the current regime. The document was titled "The Zimbabwe We Want: Towards a National Vision for Zimbabwe."

Days before the eight-day council meeting in Lund, Sweden, LWF General Secretary the Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko strongly condemned the Zimbabwean government's attacks upon its own people who express resistance and participate in peaceful demonstrations.

"Mr. President, I appeal to you to do all in your power to exert influence upon the government of Zimbabwe to change its self-destructive course, to cease its attacks upon its own people, to correct its failed economic policies, and to reverse its aggressive isolationism," Noko, a Zimbabwean, wrote in a March 15 letter to the African Union chairperson, Ghanaian President John Kufuor.

Noko further expressed hope that the community of African nations can mobilize to help save Zimbabwe and "restore faith in African leadership in the world."

On Tuesday, Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, announced that he will boycott presidential eelctions scheduled next year unless the poll is carried out under a new democratic constitution that ensures they are free and fair, CNN reported. The announcement was made at a memorial service for an opposition activist who was shot dead by police March 11. A free election was the constitutional and democratic right of Zimbabweans, said Tsvangirai.

The LWF Council, meanwhile, declared the first and most fundamental responsibility of the governments is to assure basic welfare and God-given human dignity of the citizens.

All Lutheran churches in the global denomination were called this week to uphold the people and churches of Zimbabwe in their prayers.

Some 500 people attended the LWF Council meeting on March 20-27, during which Lutherans celebrated the 60th anniversary of the global body and expanding ecumenical relations, and debated on issues of family, marriage and homosexuality.