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First Stop In Southern Africa
PAGE 5 — The Georgia Bulletin, September 15, 1988
Pope Lauds Zimbabwe For Peace, Reconciliation
BY JOHN THAVIS
HARARE, Zimbabwe (NC) — At the start of a 10-day
swing through southern Africa, Pope John Paul II praised
its youngest black-ruled nation, Zimbabwe, and said the
country’s reconciliation effort should be a model for the
rest of the continent.
In meetings Sept. 10-11 with civil authorities, bishops and
groups of lay Catholics, the pope also stressed that the
church must continue to have a strong voice in the
country’s post-colonial development.
On several occasions, the pope condemned the apartheid
policies of neighboring South Africa and contrasted them
with Zimbabwe’s attempts to include all races and tribes in
a national program.
He drew attention to Zimbabwe’s precarious stability in a
region dominated by “powerful political, economic and
ideological forces,” an apparent reference to South Africa.
Zimbabwe, which has only about 800,000 Catholics among
a population of nine million, gave the pope a warm and
rhythmic welcome, led by its president and former black
guerrilla leader, Robert Mugabe. Mugabe is both a Marxist
and a Catholic who once taught in church schools.
At an outdoor Mass in Harare Sept. 11, some 200,000 peo
ple, possibly the largest crowd ever assembled in the coun
try, accompanied the liturgy with songs, drums and dance.
Maryknoll Sister Janice McLaughlin, a U.S. missionary
who was arrested and expelled by the white minority
government for her justice and peace work, distributed
Communion at the Mass.
Also at the beginning of the Mass a woman walked up the
altar steps balancing a pot of water on her head and
presented it to the pope for the washing of hands, a tradi
tional rite of respect in Zimbabwe.
Later that day, a stadium full of about 30,000 enthusiastic
youths cheered as the pope told them he was counting on
them to be good Catholics and “loyal and dedicated
citizens.”
Shortly after landing at Harare’s airport Sept. 10, the
pope stood on a podium with Mugabe and lauded the “new
era of peace and reconciliation” that was “taking shape” in
Zimbabwe.
The pope said the government’s program of reconstruc
tion, begun in 1980 after seven years of civil war, offered
space for collaboration by “all sectors of society.”
All of Africa, the pope said, was looking to Zimbabwe “for
a sign that a better future can be built on the basis of justice
and brotherhood under God, without discrimination.”
“I assure you of my prayerful support and encourage
ment,” he said.
The pope’s words were unusual praise for a one-party
state that says it is Marxist-inspired. But, as bishops in
Zimbabwe have taken care to point out, the church there
has been given government cooperation and ample space to
operate.
Mugabe, speaking at the airport ceremony, offered the
pope an explanation for the war he helped lead against the
country’s former white-minority government of Ian Smith.
“Violence was not an end in itself, but a means to achieve
peace. We laid down our arms, but we still keep them for
our protection,” Mugabe said. Later, he and the pope met in
the statehouse for private talks that lasted 35 minutes.
Pope Detoured To S. Africa
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (NC) — Bad
weather forced Pope John Paul IPs plane to land in
South Africa, the country that had been deliberately
excluded from his Sept. 10-19 trip to five southern
African countries.
The papal flight was diverted to Johannesburg
Sept. 14 because of low clouds over the airport in
Maseru, Lesotho, where the plane was scheduled to
land in the morning.
A spokesman for the South African Foreign
Ministry said the government had provided the pope
and his entourage with luxury buses for the 360-mile
trip from Johannesburg to Maseru. He estimated the
trip would take six hours.
The pope, informed of the diversion, remarked with
a smile, “It wasn’t on the schedule,” and continued
reading a book of philosophy.
Upon the plane’s arrival, armed guards quickly
surrounded the plane, which also carried the pope’s
entourage and 70 journalists.
At the airport, Foreign Minister R.F. “Pik” Botha
arrived and talked briefly with the pope in the air
port’s VIP lounge.
It was the first time a papal flight had been
diverted to a different country on one of his
pilgrimages. In Canada in 1984, his plane was forced
to land at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, in
stead of another town in the territories, Fort Simp
son.
Pilot Robert Cartwright said the plane took off late
from Gaborone, Botswana, because of reports of
storms in Maseru. When the plane made its landing
approach in. Maseru, the airport landing beacons
were out. The airport is flanked by mountains. The
cloud level was reported at 800 feet.
The pilot had to make a hurried decision and decid
ed on Johannesburg because of bad weather at other
airports.
In a speech the same night to bishops of southern Africa,
the pope said the church can never propose violence as an
answer to injustice. When the church loses confidence in
non-violent reconciliation, he said, it only further threatens
peace.
The pope also advised the bishops not to lose sight of the
church’s basic task — evangelization — as it tries to meet
the many immediate humanitarian needs.
Addressing one of the major social problems of the
region, the pope told Zimbabwe’s bishops Sept, ll that the
plight of refugees was a “festering wound” in Africa.
Earlier, responding to a question, Pope John Paul said he
disagreed with South African Anglican Archbishop Des
mond Tutu’s assertion that violence could be justified as a
response to state violence.
Later, talking to lay Catholics, he praised Zimbabwe’s
“humanitarian approach” to the tens of thousands of
refugees that have entered the country, many of whom
have fled apartheid or civil fighting in Mozambique.
The pope called on the laity to bring Gospel values and
the church’s social teaching to “every walk of life.”
The measure of social progress, he said, is the human
person, and “not any institution, neither the state nor a par
ty nor a business enterprise.”
The pope also cautioned lay people and youths that for
Africa to flourish, its traditional family values must be
upheld. In Zimbabwe, the government’s aggressive birth
control program has been criticized by church leaders.
When he spoke to Zimbabwe’s bishops, the pope endorsed
their controversial position on Catholic schools, one poten
tial point of conflict with the government. Recent legisla
tion has attempted to reduce church control over school
policies and hirings.
“Civil law should respect the right of the responsible
Catholic authorities to select the heads and the teachers of
these institutions, so that their Catholic character can be
maintained,” the pope said.
Throughout the two days, the pope looked beyond Zim
babwe to other African trouble spots.
Speaking to diplomats Sept, ll, he said the situation in
Sudan, where thousands are endangered by civil war and
famine, called for a worldwide response.
“The very survival of millions of our brothers and sisters
throughout the world depends on our concern for them,” he
said.
In his talk to bishops of the Inter-Regional Meeting of
Bishops of Southern Africa, the pope expressed hope that
ongoing peace talks will bring peace to Angola and a “swift
and positive recognition” of Namibia’s right to sovereignty
and independence.
The two issues are currently being discussed together,
under a plan that would involve withdrawal of Cuban and
South African forces from Angola, along with an end to
South African rule of Namibia.
Mission Pilgrims Become Dot In Exuberant Mosaic
BY JOHN THAVIS
CHISHAWASHA, Zimbabwe (NC) — When the sun rose
Sept. 11 over the Chishawasha mission, about an hour out
side Harare, 18-year-old Robert Ben was already tapping
his foot in anticipation of the papal Mass he and other local
Catholics were to attend in the capital.
Like many of his neighbors, he had awakened early,
eager for the rare chance to join in a national celebration of
song, dance and prayer. Pope John Paul II was to be chief
celebrant of their rhythmic, high-energy liturgy.
“I enjoy Mass intensely, and I like the dancing. Right
now, my body is just waiting to dance,” Ben said with a
smile and a bounce.
Beside him, some 200 friends and relatives lined up for
the bus ride into Harare’s Borrowdale Race Track. Their
priest, Father Horst Ulbrizh, was to be one of 200 con-
celebrants with the pope.
“They’ve been getting ready since July,” Father Ulbrizh
said. To prepare, he organized several meetings of
“spiritual reflection” — which his parishioners described
as “parties” and songfests.
“Singing and drumming is naturally a big part of the
liturgy,” the priest said. “When they start down the aisle
during the Offertory procession, for example, people just
begin to sway.” -
Father Ulbrizh, a West German Jesuit, speaks the native
Moshona language fluently after less than two years as
head of the mission. In leading services, he enthusiastically
borrows from native customs that come from the people’s
animist background,
“Our attitude is, as long as it can be baptized, we’ll bap
tize it,” he said of the traditional practices.
The Chishawasha mission is the second-oldest church set
tlement in the country, and its small cemetery is the na
tional resting place for missionaries killed during Zim
babwe’s long struggle for independence and black majority
rule.
In that sense it has become a symbol of the church’s per-
The priest stood under a purple jacaran-
da tree, taking payment for the bus ride in
to the Mass - about $3, a lot of money to
those who earn their living by subsistence
farming.
manence in the region. When the mission’s 680 young
boarding students filed past for an early-morning song ser
vice, the church’s future here seemed to be on display.
The priest stood under a purple jacaranda tree, taking
payment for the bus ride into the Mass — about $3, a lot of
money to those who earn their living by subsistence farm
ing.
“The children had to save up for this,” Father Ulbrizh
said.
, Meanwhile, Ben and other youths practiced the rhythmic
clapping of hands they would use to greet the pope, as a sign
ot “respect for the father,” along with a handshaking
ceremony among themselves.
“This is a celebration of our group, too,” Ben explained.
Women wrapped themselves in traditional “dzanga”
skirts decorated in back with the papal crest. Many wore
rosaries around their necks.
When the first bus pulled out, it quickly became a swing
ing church choir on wheels. The lyrics of special songs af
firmed that “the pope strengthens the spirit of the people,
and the whole church is glad.” That and the joyful ululating
by the women — a high-pitched warbling sound — seemed
to capture the spirit of the day.
The packed bus ran along a tiny dirt road past huts made
of mud and brick, past crimson musasa trees, and along the
edge of dells that are characteristic of Zimbabwe.
When the group arrived, the Chishawasha pilgrims took
their place among the crowd of more than 200,000. Many
literally jumped for joy when the “popemobile” came into
view, clapping their hands above their heads, and cheered
when the pope mounted the altar. They danced and sang for
nearly three hours in the sunshine.
From the pope’s view, the mission group was a small
piece of a swaying human mosaic that filled the race track
and beyond. But when he came unexpectedly to the
microphone at the end of Mass and said, “I admire your
participation in the Eucharist, especially your beautiful
singing,” the 200 Catholics from Chishawasha were con
vinced his words were especially meant for them.