Pretoria, South Africa, Jan 28, 2009 / 17:31 pm
The Catholic bishops of southern Africa have accused Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe of perpetrating genocide, saying: “We, the Catholic bishops of southern Africa, call on Mugabe to step down immediately.”
Their remarks came in a Tuesday statement from the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC). Presented by SACBC president and Archbishop of Johannesburg Buti Tlhagale, the statement resulted from a Praetoria meeting between the bishops of Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland.
According to the Catholic Information Service for Africa (CISA), the bishops called on regional leaders to cut ties with Mugabe, warning that a failure to do so would make them guilty of “passive genocide.”
“The appalling tragedy in Zimbabwe means that the time of talking is over,” the bishops said. They asserted that mediation and negotiations have failed, claiming that six months of talks have resulted in stalemate.