The Malawi Government Spokesperson, Moses Kunkuyu, who is also Minister of Information and Digitization says Government has received a Pastoral Letter that the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has issued to its flock today.
The Minister says Government appreciates the letter and has an invested determination to make use of the wisdom that has been offered.
“We have received it with appreciation and determination to make use of wisdom that has been offered. We will continue utilizing engagements with the clergy on matters affecting our country”, said Kunkuyu in an interview by the media.
On whether the Government wishes to respond to specific contents of the letter, the Minister stated that Government is “not going to engage in item-by-item response”, informing that rather the Government “will not get tired of utilizing the engagement with the clergy from time to time”.
The Pastoral Letter which has been issued today by the congress of Catholic Bishops is titled “The Sad Story of Malawi” in which all three branches of Government (Parliament, Executive and Judiciary) have been criticized with allegations of failure to provide services to the poor people.
The letter has further bemoaned reported acts of religious intolerance and violence, in an indirect reference to an incident that happened on Saturday in Mangochi where alleged Muslims destroyed business of a pork vendor.
“Recently, we have witnessed increased incidents of religious based physical and verbal attacks in some parts of our peace-loving country. Regardless of what triggered the said forms of violence and attacks, we condemn such attacks in the strongest terms possible. Such barbaric behaviour has no place in a democratic and God-fearing country which is based on the rule of law, love and a constitution which guarantees freedom of religion for all people in this country”, reads the letter in part, adding that:
“We call on all citizens to respect the religious beliefs of others and to allow them to practice their faith in freedom. We call upon law enforcements agents to act decisively wherever such evil and criminal acts occur without fear of favour. We call upon all religious leaders, Christian or not, to assist their fellow believers to translate their religious beliefs to love, peace, unity and justice as anything contrary to these values comes from the evil one, namely Satan.”
Random comments from the general public are criticizing the pastoral letter, calling it a product of Facebook rumours and zero genuine research on the ground.
