Today, Pope Francis arrives in Africa on a six-day pastoral trip to three nations in a concerted push for inter-religious and inter-cultural efforts favouring peace over conflict and dialogue over entrenchment.
He arrives today in Nairobi, Kenya, and will also visit Uganda before rounding up his trip in the Central African Republic (CAR), a place many consider an active warzone.
Thinking about this trip edifies me the same way I felt when I travelled with some young Zimbabweans to join the Pope on his maiden trip outside Italy, in Brazil. And I am sure I am not alone in this. The preparatory work, and the air of expectancy especially in the three countries that will host him, bear testimony to the joy and expectations placed on the Papal visit.
In the two-and-a-half years he has been Pope, Francis has proved to be an extraordinary man of faith. His humility, and love for the poor is noted, has inspired many.
Wherever he has gone since the first trip to Brazil — and that includes to Israel, Jordan, Palestine, South Korea, Albania, the European Union headquarters in Brussels, Turkey, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Cuba, and the United States — the Pope has left people with hope for a better world.
So today, as he begins his visit to Africa, there is a general and legitimate expectation that he will be extraordinary as usual, preaching humility and self-denial especially to the leaders in Africa “who lord it over others”, and advising inclusivity in a continent of dual societies.
After observing Pope Francis on his 10 previous out-of-Italy visits, what is clearly emerging as his new signature, is his role as a unifier and a top diplomat. He facilitated the restoration of diplomatic relations after 50 years of unhelpful tension between the US and Cuba. To me then, on this African visit, what will be the greatest act of evangelism by Pope Francis, if it happens, will be his mission in the CAR. It could dwarf the facilitation of cordial and diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US.
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The CAR is a country in dire straits, described by many “as an active warzone between Muslims and Christians”. The situation is so dire that there are serious questions even today about the Pope’s security given continual violent clashes between the warring armed factions. There is a largely Muslim anti-government rebel group known as Seleka, which brought much destruction when it took over many local villages in 2012 and 2013, leading to its seizure of the capital. That destruction led to the formation of a counter militia, largely Christian, known as the Anti-Balaka, to fight Seleka.
In a bid to push for inter-religious work towards peace in CAR, Pope Francis will meet with the different groups, and most importantly, will engage with the city’s Muslim community at its main mosque in Bangui to discuss and to pray together for peace.
Whatever will come out of the meeting, for me is secondary. My simple joy comes from the Pope’s effort to meet with potential adversaries, in their backyard, to discuss peace and unity.
That is where I think, outside everything else that the Pope will do, the Church leaders in Zimbabwe should draw important lessons.
We are a country with a history of political violence. We have lost many friends and relatives in brutal and institutionalised political fights over the years. But do we get our Christian leaders moving out of the comfort of their air-conditioned offices to go to the frontiers and “reason” with victims and perpetrators? It’s not enough to send donations and some agents; it counts a lot when leaders get down and engage. That is surely one thing we are learning this week from Pope Francis.
The opposition political formations have been accused of violence in this country. I do not remember the leadership of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (not their secretaries), or the leadership of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe or the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (again not their secretaries), sitting down to pray and to share with MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a manner the Pope will do with the Muslim leaders, in their backyard, to try and find lasting peace for the country.
Equally, where Zanu PF has been blamed, I have not seen a high-level engagement from the majority Christian leaders with the Zanu PF leader. There have been positive statements here and there from the Catholic bishops, and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, but surely sitting down to talk would push far more and cut deeper than writing letters.
If the leaders of the mainline churches are trying, but failing to make decisive steps towards peace-building, the situation is worse with the leaders of the prophetic movements in this country. They can give “anointed” exam pens and “anointed” condoms, prophesy and point fingers at every other sinful culprit, but drivers of political violence. Yet confronting violence for the sake of sustainable peace is what we learn from the biblical prophets Elijah, Daniel, Amos, Jeremiah et al.
Maybe we expect a lot when we ask our Christian leaders to build bridges between warring political formations when they can’t build bridges among themselves. They probably think it would be a huge scandal for United Family International Church leader Emmanuel Makandiwa to have tea with Catholic Archbishop of Harare Robert Ndlovu or Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries founder Walter Magaya to be in the company of Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa leader Ezekiel Guti.
But what I know is if Pope Francis is to come to Zimbabwe, there sure will be tea and prayer invites to prophets Guti, Makandiwa and Magaya.
lGift Mambipiri is a media and development consultant based in Kadoma. He can be reached on [email protected]
