Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI
Harare (Agenzia Fides) – Zimbabwe’s main Christian denominations describe their country’s situation as a situation of “negative peace” in the declaration “Act Now for a Pacific World,” issued on the occasion of World Peace Day on September 21.The document, sent to Fides, is signed by the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD), which includes the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, and the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe (UDACIZA).By “negative peace,” the authors of the text define a context in which there is no direct violence (“Zimbabwe is not directly involved in violence or open warfare”), but “presents underlying structural injustices and inequalities.””Zimbabwe faces numerous challenges,” the statement emphasizes. These include: difficult economic conditions; polarized political life; and social ills such as drug abuse, domestic violence, and robbery, which primarily affect the most vulnerable members of society, such as women, children, and people with disabilities. For this reason, the leaders of Zimbabwe’s largest Christian denominations are appealing to the country’s creditors to “consider canceling our foreign debt” in order to free up financial resources that can be invested in improving the health and education systems and national infrastructure. Recalling Gandhi’s words (“Poverty is the worst form of violence”), the ZHOCD emphasizes that “by addressing these structural problems, we can achieve a positive peace characterized by justice, equality, and human dignity for all Zimbabweans.” (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 23/9/2025)
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