Mugabe warns Catholic Bishops
04/05/2007 14:26  - (SA)  

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Mugabe: These things happen 'Strip Mugabe of degree'

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Harare - President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has warned Roman Catholic bishops in the country they are on a dangerous path after they criticised his government in a recent pastoral letter, said reports on Friday.

The 83-year old president, himself a Roman Catholic, dismissed as nonsense the pastoral letter released last month that said the crisis gripping Zimbabwe was a crisis of governance and leadership.

"If I had gone to church and the priest had read that so-called pastoral letter, I would have stood up and said nonsense," said Mugabe in comments carried in the latest edition of the British-based New African magazine and reproduced on Friday in the official Herald newspaper.

Mugabe said: "It (the pastoral letter) is not something spiritual, it is not religious, the bishops have decided to turn political

"And once they turn political, we regard them as no longer being spiritual and our relations with them would be conducted as if we are dealing with political entities, and this is quite a dangerous path they have chosen for themselves."

In their hard-hitting letter, which was distributed in all Roman Catholic parishes on Easter Sunday, the nine bishops said a new constitution under which free and fair elections can be held was needed to avoid bloodshed and a major uprising.

Confrontation 'reached flashpoint'

They also accused the government of maintaining and enhancing unjust laws adopted from former colonial governments.

Many people in Zimbabwe are angry, and their anger is now erupting into open revolt in one township after another.

The confrontation in our country has now reached a flashpoint, the bishops said.

In the interview, Mugabe said he would speak to the bishops, but warned that he would be giving them a piece of his mind.

"A bishop can go to hell while an ordinary person goes to heaven depending on the character of the person. Well, I don't want to say much about the bishops now, I will say much when I meet them," he said. - Sapa-dpa

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