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Catholic priests petition Sata over deportation of Fr Banyangadora

Catholic priests petition Sata over deportation of Fr Banyangadora
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Wed 08 Aug. 2012, 11:30 CAT

FIVE Catholic Priests on the Copperbelt, who were in the seminary with the deported Lundazi-based Rwandese priest, Fr Viateur Banyangadora, have asked President Michael Sata to seriously consider revoking his deportation.

In an interview yesterday before celebrating mass for their 8th anniversary in priesthood, Fr Augustine Mwewa who spoke on behalf of Fr Eddie Mubanga, Fr Christopher Chowa, Fr Epimaque Rafiki and Fr Evaristo Chisenga said the manner in which Fr Banyangadora was bundled and deported to Rwanda like a criminal without any explanations and without any due regard for the Catholic leadership in the country, was unacceptable.

Fr Banyangadora, 40, a priest of Rwandese origin, was last week on Monday picked up by a combined team of security wings from his residence in connection with a homily he delivered on Sunday which was seen to have been inciting people to rise against the government.

But Fr Mwewa said the government had an obligation to tell the nation why Fr Banyagandora was deported without even consulting the authorities of the Church.
He said the rush by the Ministry of Home Affairs to deport the Lundazi-based priest had raised a lot of questions by the public and the faithful who had a right to know why he was deported.

"We met our colleague Fr Banyagandora in 1994 in the seminary; we did philosophy together in Mpima, a very down to earth man of God, very humble with a heart for serving the poor. They have no right to deport our priest for unknown reasons. That is unbecoming, a grave violation of human rights and abrogation of priestly privileges,"he said.

Fr Mwewa said President Michael Sata must come out in the open and revoke the deportation if it was true that the priest was deported for merely playing his role of questioning government on the gap between the rich and the poor.

Fr Mwewa said President Sata's government managed to win the elections because of his consistency on matters that affect the nation and it would be a grave mistake to deport a priest who was merely playing his prophetic role of being a voice for the voiceless.

"The voice of the prophet which exists in the clergy should not be intimidated, the social teachings of the Church and our political philosophy emphasises being the voice for the poor; it will be extremely unfortunate if the government deported our priest on those grounds," said Fr Mwewa.

Labels: AUGUSTINE MWEWA, CATHOLIC CHURCH, RWANDA

posted by MrK @ 3:03 PM