Zimbabwe: "Pius Ncube Now Living a Life of Prayer"

allAfrica
August 5, 2012

http://allafrica.com/stories/201208050590.html

Archbishop Robert Ndlovu heads the Harare diocese of the Roman Catholic Church which covers 63 555 square kilometres and boasts of a Catholic population close to 500 000 people. The Standard deputy Editor Walter Marwizi, was granted an exclusive chance to meet the man of cloth, and in excerpts below he speaks candidly about errant priests, politics and the future of the church.

What is the state of Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe: Is it growing or declining in terms of numbers?

Well, I would say it's growing judging by the number of people and records that we have, of those that are being baptised, those that are being confirmed it's grown, but there is an element that we have to look at. In the past few years, within the last 10 years or so, a good number of Catholics have gone to the diaspora and we can feel that in our parishes. But otherwise in terms of growth, I can say it is balancing.

There are critics who say the church is losing members especially the youth because it has remained too conservative on matters such as condoms and birth control. What is your comment?

We believe that sex is something sacred and it is to be used within a relationship, and therefore it's an expression of love of two people and they realise in so doing they are co-operating with their creator. And that is God...So if it is morally wrong it does not become morally right because someone has invented a condom...

Let's turn to the problems in the priesthood. The church has been criticised for failing to rein in wayward priests. Is the church addressing these problems?

You always have problems and a rotten apple here and there because we are human beings and I think action is being taken, a good number of priests have been suspended once they were found out. A good number have just been told to leave the priesthood.

Do you have numbers?

Well, I wouldn't give you statistics but I know for instance since I came to Harare, I can say more or less with certainty five or six priests have been told to leave the priesthood. And I think two or three were sent on suspension because it depends on the gravity of the matter, some of them are not really (serious offences) but for discipline's sake we have to do that... But also look at it from this point of view; we are recruiting from a society that we all know. I like to use the term a wounded society, so sometimes these temptations don't stop because someone has become a priest...

We have this case of former Archbishop Pius Ncube. Here is a head of the church who got involved with a woman, what do you think about his conduct?

Well, I get your point and I know the gravity of the situation especially as it was reported. But as I said there is a human side to all things and sometimes people can exploit that, I wouldn't know the details of it, you know it was really a private life, how he came to be hooked into that situation, was it something set up, it is very difficult to get, he knows the rest but I always said, I look at myself and say it could happen to me, I am still a human being I can still get attracted to a person of the opposite sex ...And we have to also realise that celibacy itself is not an easy life and I think anyone who tells you it's an easy life, will not be truthful. Celibacy is not an easy life but is a life that is worth living with the grace of God. It can be, it can be done.

And what would you say is the damage that was caused by to the church by the Pius Ncube saga.

Well, as I said the issue of what happened to Archbishop Ncube has a lot of question marks that we still cannot answer. That is why I use the word, was he trapped into that... but you know it had also, some people will still think it had a political dimension, true or false I don't know.

But he confessed when he went to Vatican

Yah, but you see he confessed having, it's not to deny that something happened that he had an affair with her but how it came about. This is what I don't know and how do you get to that, he is the only one who knows what happened. How he met that woman and how he managed to reach that stage with a married woman for that matter, I don't know what transpired there. But definitely I would be naive about it, we have to accept that it scandalised the faithful.