Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi says government will meet with the Vatican representative to understand whether Catholic bishops who accused it of human rights abuses and cracking down on critics were speaking on behalf of the Holy See.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Ziyambi said the foreign affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo would meet the local Vatican representative.
Ziyambi described a pastoral letter written by the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference last weekend as “inappropriately prescriptive and grossly disrespectful”.
Ziyambi said authorities took offence to the bishop’s description of the government, headed by Emmerson Mnangagwa, as lacking the knowledge, skill or emotional stability to resolve Zimbabwe’s political and economic problems.
“The statement constitutes an outright insult on the person of President E.D. Mnangagwa and his entire government, and is couched in language decidedly unbecoming of an institution such as the Catholic Church,” said Ziyambi.
“Government is compelled to engage the Vatican in order to ascertain whether or not such statements reflect the official attitude of the Holy See towards Zimbabwe’s leadership or whether these are merely the views of the various individuals concerned.”
Ziyambi denied claims made on the letter that there is a political crisis in Zimbabwe and said it was all social media hype.
