Reading politics through the Church’s eyes

PEOPLE, POWER AND PARTICIPATION: A collection of essays. Compiled by Oskar Wermter SJ. Published by the Inter-regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (2013). 125pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton
Seeing a dog racing after every passing bus, a bystander comments: “I wonder what he is going to do with the bus once he’s caught it?”

From this wry point of view, Oskar Wermter tackles the controversial issue of political power. Too often, he suggests, once politicians have “caught” this power, they have no idea what to do with it. They just enjoy the perks of office and the glamour of being deemed powerful. Their real task is to work for the common good of all, but this is news to them.

Officials can all too frequently possess responsibility but not share it in case they lose control to some more competent member of their team. So they look important, do next to nothing, and the intelligence and energy of their subordinates are wasted.

Fr Wermter, the head of the pastoral department of the Inter-regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (Imbisa), has written this short, pointed commentary on the tensions between Church and state within the territories of these bishops.

The first essay is a reflection on the shape of things in Zimbabwe, the author’s  home, in the aftermath of the national elections there in 2013.

Building on a succinct digest of the history of political development in Europe, culminating in the emergence of a democratic system of governance, he hones in on the necessity of the pursuit of the common good to go hand in hand with a common moral basis.

Morality and values are areas where religion and politics meet, yet politicians lack a definable moral basis and perceive any kind of religious surveillance of their activities as blatant interference. During the Zimbabwe election process, the presence of Church observers was resented and condemned as such.

The government in power in Zimbabwe grew out of the liberation movement and therefore regards its electoral victory as permanent. It has won the “armed struggle” rather than the popular vote. It works to preserve its permanency by the use of dishonest and violent means to win the ballot. Election observers see examples of this in fraudulent electoral rolls, vote buying, social and psychological pressure to “vote wisely” and media propaganda. This is not what the Church’s social teaching accepts as a democratic process.

All the essays published in this book are the work of German-born Fr Wermter who has experienced the rough and tumble of Zimbabwe’s political history at first hand over a long period. If anyone can fearlessly spell out the injustices in Zimbabwe’s so-called democratic structures, he can. He does this with clarity and scholarly insight from the basis of the teachings of Scripture and the Catholic Church on the dignity of every single human being.

The democratic process in Zimbabwe has withered at the roots, he says. The bullet has replaced the ballot. The Judaeo-Christian belief in every man and woman being created in the image of God has no place.

It is the huge task of the Church to turn this messy situation around. But the obstacles are formidable. The ruling class came to power through armed conflict and persists in the hateful rhetoric of that conflict. Its consequences have been violence and killings.

The purpose for publishing these essays was to keep the bishops of Imbisa, which includes those of South Africa, informed of the plight and problems of their flocks, and what stand the Church can adopt to react appropriately.

The gravity of the subject matter, however, is something that must concern all citizens of the region, including South Africa, whose voters will be casting their ballots in this year’s general election.

The right to vote does not ensure a democratic society. Though it may be accepted that the ballot was conducted freely and fairly, if the majority party rides roughshod over the constitutional rights of the minority, the result is akin to tyranny.

I recommend Fr Wermter’s insightful observations to readers who appreciate a tightly constructed presentation of the status quo with its socio-political ancestry and its serious Christian imperatives.

His reflections, personal recollections and anecdotes lend a nice human and sympathetic touch to what he writes.

• Order from Imbisa, Box EH 99, Emerald Hill, Harare, Zimbabwe at  $5,00.