Bishops to corrupt African leaders: repent or quit

VATICAN CITY – Bishops attending a Vatican meeting on Africa issued a blunt ultimatum Friday to corrupt Catholic political leaders in Africa: repent or leave public office.

In a strong final message, the bishops said Africa needs "saints" in government "who will clean the continent of corruption, work for the good of the people," and end the evils of war and poverty devastating the continent.

They cited as an example the late Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere, the father of Tanzanian independence and a symbol of Africa's hopes as it emerged from the shadow of colonial rule, who is being considered for possible beatification.

While praising some Catholic leaders who are doing their public service well, they accused others of having "fallen woefully short in their performance in office."

"The synod calls on such people to repent, or quit the public arena and stop causing havoc to the people and giving the Catholic Church a bad name," the bishops wrote at the end of their monthlong synod.

The bishops didn't name names, but Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who has been blamed for presiding over a politically repressive regime that led to the economic collapse of the country, and Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos, whose party swept elections last year that critics say were marred by fraud and corruption, are two well-known Catholic leaders.

The prelates, some 300 from Africa and around the world, also condemned non-Catholic leaders and outside foreign interests for allowing African countries to fall into such devastation, saying "in most cases we are dealing with greed for power and wealth at the expense of the people and nation."

In particular they cited areas of conflict such as Somalia, the Great Lakes region, Sudan and Guinea.

"Whatever may be the responsibility of foreign interests, there is always the shameful and tragic collusion of the local leaders: politicians who betray and sell out their nations, dirty business people who collude with rapacious multinationals, African arms dealers and traffickers who thrive on small arms that cause great havoc on human lives, and local agents of some international organizations who get paid for peddling toxic ideologies that they don't believe in" — a reference to NGOs and humanitarian groups that promote abortion rights.

The results, the bishops wrote, are visible for the world to see: poverty, misery and disease, refugees within Africa's borders and beyond, brain drain, human trafficking, wars, child soldiers and violence against women.

"How can anybody be proud of 'presiding' over such chaos?" the bishops asked. "What has happened to our traditional African sense of shame? This synod proclaims it loud and clear: it is time to change habits, for the sake of present and future generations."

To be fair, the bishops said the Catholic Church had to get its house in order, too, saying it must serve as a model for good governance, transparency, good financial management and unity — a reference to the ethnic divisions that even mar relations between priests and bishops.

"Your example of living together in peace across tribal and racial lines can be a powerful witness to others," the bishops wrote to churchmen at home, telling them they should "gladly welcome" whomever the Vatican appoints to be their bishops, regardless of where he was born.

The bishops didn't mention Rwanda, but in that country Catholic Church officials themselves were alleged to have played significant roles in the 100-day massacre of Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The message from the bishops is intended as their public statement at the end of their monthlong meeting on how the Church can help bring peace, justice and reconciliation to the continent.

On Saturday, the bishops will issue another document: a set of proposals to Pope Benedict XVI to use as he formulates a policy response to what the church should be doing in Africa.

Two pressing policy areas that the bishops touched on in their Friday statement included celibacy for priests and condoms as a way to fight HIV infection.

There have been several cases in Africa with priests living openly with women; in their message Friday, the bishops reminded priests of their commitment to "a life of celibacy in chastity."

Regarding AIDS, which has devastated the continent, the bishops made no concessions on the Vatican's opposition to using condoms as a means to fight the virus' spread. The bishops warned that "the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics" and urged greater awareness of sexual abstinence and fidelity programs.

Addressing young people, the bishops said, "Let no one deceive you into thinking you cannot control yourselves. Yes you can, with the grace of God."