Tutu asks clergy to eschew party politics
(NAIROBI) 24th January: Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu has asked pastors who wanted to contest political positions to resign from the ministry. Speaking in Nairobi at the beginning of the World Social Forum 2007, Archbishop Tutu affirmed that the church must be involved in politics, but not party politics.
"The two cannot go together," he told a press conference at the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). Kenya has in recent days seen a flurry of activities as several pastors have declared that they want to contest in the forthcoming general elections in the country both at Presidential and Parliamentary levels.
Catholic Archbishop, Zachaeus Okoth, who accompanied Archbishop Tutu, agreed that there is a level at which the church must be involved in politics.
"We have to say to Governments and the people that we must live morally and uphold the dignity of the human being," said Archbishop Okoth, adding that if politics derailed this dignity, then the churches had to speak out.
The press conference was organized by the AACC/Caritas Ecumenical Platform of the World Social Forum.
Archbishop Tutu said that despite all appearances to the contrary, people were living in a moral universe, where right and wrong mattered.
"Injustice cannot have the last word, he said, adding that it was, therefore, important to act morally.
On the achievements of the World Social Forum over the past six years, Archbishop Tutu said that despite the fact that there might be none that were tangible, "surely the most important of these was putting certain items on the global agenda, telling the world that we cannot go ahead and pretend that the world economic order was fair" among other injustices.
The former South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town called on Africa to wake up from its sleep and take up its rightful position in the world. He said Africa did not need to keep apologizing for its existence and that Africans should not think that God made a mistake in creating them.
"Africa has tremendous legacy and tradition. We will recover our glory," said Archbishop Tutu.
The Archbishop warned that the world on terror would never be won as long as injustices remained in the world.
"There is no way anybody is going to win the so called war against terror as long as there are conditions in so many parts of the world that drive people desperate and lead them to acts of desperation because of poverty, diseases and ignorance," he said.
He further told the Western world that a more equitable world was actually in their favour, adding that the ecumenical voice would be at World Social Forum to champion Africa's issues.
"It is to your benefit if we begin to have a more equitable international economic order and we want to add our voices to those who are saying we have only one world, this planet earth. If it is treated gently for the sake of those who are alive today and those who will be alive tomorrow, then it will take good care of us," the Archbishop added.
Archbishop Tutu said there was no reason there should be so much conflict in Africa, most of it based on religious strife. He urged churches to speak out against such conflicts. He said the Church must always speak up on behalf of the down trodden.
On corruption, Archbishop Tutu said there was no dignity in stealing because one was poor. He said poverty was not a certificate to engage in corruption. "There is no reason why even if we are poor, that we should be corrupt as well."
The Archbishop told governments to remember that they did not exist for their own sake but for the sake of others. Those in government, therefore, should not just think of self aggrandizement.
Archbishop Tutu also condemned the recent hanging of former Iraqi president, the late Saddam Hussein, terming it a dehumanising act to all human beings.
Archbishop Tutu said he was generally opposed to capital punishment, and this particular hanging ashamed "all of us as human beings, whether one liked him or not, whether he was guilty or not".
On conflicts, Archbishop Tutu said the people who suffer most were women and children. He observed that women were very vulnerable. The South African prelate rebuked men for the mess they have created through conflicts and suggested it was time women led a social revolution, kicked the men out of the way and took over leadership. However, he said some women were not really feminine in character and therefore such women should not be considered as they would act just like men.
The Archbishop said if women were to take over and let their feminine characteristics take over, the world would see the peace it wanted.
"I think they are our hope, we men have made a mess and we ought to get out of the way and let women who are truly feminine take over," the Archbishop quipped. AACC General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Mvume Dandala, said that the AACC/Caritas Ecumenical Platform represented more than 300 million Christians in Africa. He noted that the church was always in the frontline whenever people experienced problems, and so walked with them every step of the way.
Ends.
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