Maravi

Spilling Fr Bwalya’s blood over a press conference

Spilling Fr Bwalya’s blood over a press conference
Written by Editor

It is frightening that in today’s political plural Zambia, a citizen can be crucified, nailed to the cross for trying to hold a press conference. Fr Frank Bwalya has been threatened with death by Ndola MMD vice-publicity and information secretary Alex Mubanga if he goes ahead with his intended press conference. Mubanga made it very clear that they mean business:

“Fr Bwalya wants to see the colour red and on Monday, we are going to give him blood because on Monday, there is going to be bloodshed and no one is going to stop us, not even the famous PF and I’m talking on behalf of the MMD district. And we want the nation to know that we are not threatening but we are assuring anyone who is going to stand in our way that blood should be shed on Monday. We are tired of people insulting our President; he is our leader and should be respected by everyone. We have prepared ourselves adequately and we are ready for war. This Fr Bwalya should be taught a lesson because he has belittled our President. We have been trailing him and we know where he is and we are not afraid of him. Fr Bwalya is a small boy. He is a mosquito that has been troubling us and this time around, we are going to teach him a good lesson that he is not going to forget in his life. Fr Bwalya thinks that MMD is a party to play with. Fr Bwalya is a loud mouthed person who needs to be shut. He has been talking too much and it’s about time we put an end to it.”
Imagine if these words were from the mouth of a Patriotic Front or UPND official! Imagine how swiftly the police could have moved on him! These are frightening double standards. This is a clear violation of the rule of law, of the right to equality before the law, or equal protection of the law.

The position taken by the police on Fr Bwalya’s press conference is also frightening. The Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde asked our reporter: “…since when have you heard that a Catholic priest is supposed to hold press conferences?” But how many clergymen in this country have held or hold press conferences? What about those clergymen they always parade on television to support those in government?

The truth is Fr Bwalya is a human being like any other person and with the same human rights as every other human being. Fr Bwalya is not only a priest, he is also a citizen of this country. Priesthood has not removed from Fr Bwalya any of his human rights or constitutional rights as a citizen of this country. Fr Bwalya has every right to hold a press conference without any undue interference from anyone. What the police are encouraging is lawlessness. It’s unlawful for them to stop Fr Bwalya from holding a press conference. It is equally irresponsible for them to condone or turn a blind eye to those threatening Fr Bwalya with violence, with bloodshed.

And what do they think Fr Bwalya is? A disciple of Satan or of Jesus? Christ’s entire doctrine was devoted to the humble, the poor; his doctrine was devoted to fighting abuse, injustice and the degradation of human beings. And we would say there is a lot in common between the spirit and essence of his teachings and what Fr Bwalya is doing. There is no contradiction between the aims of Christianity and the struggles Fr Bwalya is today engaging in on behalf of the poor, the voiceless. And as we have always pointed out, we are living at a time when politics has entered a near-religious sphere with regard to man and his behaviour. We also believe that we have come to a time when a religion can enter the political sphere with regard to man and his behaviour.

Fr Bwalya is truly following Christ’s example, his teachings. We say this because when we follow Jesus’ teachings and example, we see that his spirituality was life in the spirit, within the historical conflict, in a communion of love with the Father and the people. This spirituality was the result of his opening to the Father’s gift and of his liberating commitment to the life aspirations of the oppressed. For Jesus, the world wasn’t divided between the pure and the impure, as the Pharisees wished; it was divided between those who favoured life and those who supported death. Everything that generates more life – from a gesture of love to social revolution – is in line with God’s scheme of things, in line with the construction of the kingdom, for life is the greatest gift given to us by God. Whoever is born is born in God to enter the sphere of life. At the same time, Jesus’ spirituality contradicted that of the Pharisees, which consisted of rites, duties, asceticisms and the observance of discipline. Fidelity was the centre of life for the Pharisees; the Father was the centre of life for Jesus. The Pharisees measured spirituality by the practice of cultural rules; Jesus measured it by filial opening to God’s love and compassion. For the Pharisees, sanctity is a human conquest; for Jesus it was a gift of the Father for those who opened up to his grace. Jesus’ spiritual vigour stemmed from his intimacy with God, who he familiarly called Abba – that is, Father (Mark 14:36). Like all those who believe, Jesus had faith and spent hours in prayer to nourish it. Luke recorded those hours in which Jesus allowed his spirit to be replenished by the Father’s spirit: “But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed” (Luke 5:16); “In these days, he went out to the mountain to pray; and he continued all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12); and “Now it happened that as he was praying alone” (Luke 9:18). In that communion with the Father, he found strength for struggling for the scheme of life, challenging the forces of death, represented particularly by the Pharisees, against whom the Gospels present two violent manifestos (Mtt 23 and Luke 11:37-57). And in this sense, all who struggle for life are included in God’s scheme, even if they lack faith. “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me’” (Mtt 25:37-40).

It is your fellow man, and especially the one who lacks life and needs justice, in whom God wishes to be served and loved. They are the ones with whom Jesus identified. Therefore, there is no contradiction between the struggle for justice that Fr Bwalya is engaged in and the fulfillment of God’s will as a human being and as a priest. One demands the other. All who work along that line of God’s scheme for life are considered Jesus’ brothers and sisters (Mark 3:31-35). This is the best way to follow Jesus, especially in Zambia’s present situation. We prefer to say that Jesus had a spirituality of the conflict – that is, a vigour in his commitment to the poor and to the Father who granted him immense internal peace. True peace is not obtained by stopping others from speaking their minds, from sharing their views with others; it is the result of trust in God, it is a result of respect for the rights of others.

And for this reason, we say to Fr Bwalya: fight on brave priest. It is said that courage is not the opposite of fear, faith is. That faith gave Jesus the necessary will for carrying out the scheme of life, even by sacrificing his own life in confrontation with the forces of death, such as oppression, injustice, and religion made by sclerotic by rules and rites.

There is great coincidence between Christ’s objectives and the ones Fr Bwalya is seeking, between Christ’s teaching of humility, selflessness and loving thy neighbour and what Fr Bwalya is today doing. And moreover, what is a Catholic priest?

Jesus’ way of fulfilling God’s will was through a commitment to the scheme of life. This is made very clear in this account of Saint Mark: “One Sabbath he was going through the grain fields; and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God, and when Abi’athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?’ And he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath’” (Mark 2:23-28).

The account shows a conflict between Jesus’ group and that of the Pharisees. Jesus and his disciples picked the ears of corn, which the law of God forbade on the Sabbath, which was considered a holy day when no work was allowed. Jesus knew this, but as usual he didn’t apologise. Instead, he referred to the testimony of David, whom the Pharisees respected greatly and who had apparently behaved much worse than Jesus and his disciples, respecting neither the Sabbath nor the very house of God, the temple. He didn’t pick mere heads of grain; he took the Host, as we would say today, ate some and gave some to his comrades. Jesus knew that David’s behaviour also went against the religious rules. What strong reason led Jesus not only to justify David’s behaviour but to behave in the same manner? The answer is in verse 25: “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him?” That is, man’s material need, the basic foundation of life, was the most scared thing for Jesus. For Jesus, it was impossible to speak of spiritual life apart from the material conditions of existence. There is nothing more scared than man, the image and likeness of God. The hunger of that man was an offence to the Creator himself. A religion that cares for the supposed sacredness of its objects but turns its back on those who are the real temples of the Spirit is worthless. To Jesus’ way of thinking, there is nothing more sacred than the right to life, therefore, a church that places its patrimonial interests ahead of the demands of justice, life and the people among whom it is inserted is certainly a church that considers man less important than the Sabbath and, like the Pharisees, reverses evangelical priorities.

In his practice, Jesus didn’t separate spiritual needs from the material demands of human life. This is made very clear in the parable of the multiplication of the loaves (Mark 6:34-44).

It is in this light that we see the efforts that Fr Bwalya is exerting. He may be a small boy, a mosquito, but he is doing his work and the people he is serving appreciate it and respect him. And this is what really matters. The mosquito size of his body is not an issue.

We can only ask those in government, those in control of the police to get back to the rule of law because it is fundamental to any just and democratic society. Whether political ally of those in power or opponent – all are entitled to equal protection of the law. We don’t expect those in power to guarantee that life will treat everyone equally, and they have no responsibility to do so. However, under no circumstances should those in power impose additional inequalities; they should be required to deal evenly and equally with all the citizens of this country. What is happening now is embarrassing: we have two laws – one for those who support those in power and another for the opponents of those in power. The supporters of those in power can get away with anything, with murder while their opponents are subjected to unending persecutions. This is dangerous. This is what leads to dissention in a nation and all the negative things that accompany or follow it.

Labels: ALEX MUBANGA, CADRES, FRANK BWALYA, MMD

posted by MrK @ 2:56 AM