Paynesville-The Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia (CABICOL) has begun its 2017 plenary assembly with a commitment to buttress the government’s effort in promoting sustainable peace and development in the country.
In his opening remarks on Sunday, April 23 at the St. Kizito Parish, the Bishop of Gbarnga and President of CABICOL, The Most Rev. Anthony Borwah, thanked the government and its international partners for their contributions toward upholding the peace.
“The Catholic Church remains committed to complementing government’s efforts for sustainable peace and development in our country,” he said.
“Last year, as part of our strategy, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Liberia (CABICOL) through her partner CAFOD inaugurated a legislative office whose function is to liaise with our lawmakers, members of the Judiciary and executive branches of government and other stakeholders to see how best we can collectively find solutions to our challenges and harness our opportunities.”
Bishop Borwah: “We remain committed to this dialogue approach, rather than confrontational approach in which we sometimes see each other as opposition or enemies.”
The President of CABICOL stressed that although the nation and its people have made tremendous strides, there is still an urgent need to protect, safeguard and nurture the peace.
Speaking on wide range of issues concerning the church and the state, Bishop Borwah outlined that in the forthcoming legislative and presidential elections, ritualistic killings, taxes, corruption and reconciliation are matters which need urgent attention.
He asserted that it is an open secret that the peace and stability of Liberia depend, to a large extent, on the forthcoming elections since it will be the nation’s first in many years that a democratically elected president will turn over power to another elected president.
He expressed hope that the elections would be free, fair, transparent and void of violence, disclosing that the Church’s thought on the elections would be published soon.
Speaking further, the Bishop of Gbarnga intimated that ritualistic killing is another burning issue that is closely associated with the pending elections.
“In our Lenten Letter of 2016, we denounced in no uncertain terms this barbaric and superstitious practice.”
“One cannot get elected to office through these satanic acts which unfortunately are becoming headlines in our local dailies,” he intoned.
On corruption, the clergyman noted that the lack of integrity is becoming a social menace to the Liberian society and it requires the collective effort of every Liberian to curb it.
“In her state of the nation address this year,” the Bishop said, “Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf did not fail to acknowledge this festering wound, mutating from enemy of the state to a vampire. Let it be clear that if we must stop this multi-headed dragon, the effort of each and every one is needed,” he averred.
Describing the taxes levied items brought into the country as exorbitant, the Catholic prelate noted that while the Church recognizes the need of every citizen to contribute to the national developmental agenda through the payment of taxes, there is a need to review the method and procedures of the tax code as shown in recent demonstrations and sit-in actions by entrepreneurs.
He further disclosed that in a recent survey conducted by the Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) with support from the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), it was gathered that reconciliation remains a challenge to post war Liberia; as evident by what he called the multiplicity of political parties.
He thanked the clergy, religious and laity of the church for the effort and commitment in the promotion of “God’s Kingdom of peace, justice, love and reconciliation.”
He noted that the plenary assembly of CABICOL is a unique occasion in which all the Bishops of Liberia gather to deliberate on matters of paramount importance to the church and the nation.
Since CABICOL formation in 1998, Bishop Borwah averred that the church has been the hope of the hopeless, the strength of the weary, the solace of the afflicted , the moral conscience of the depraved and the voice of the voiceless; just as desired by CABICOL founding fathers.
However, this year’s CABICOL Plenary Assembly kicked off in Monrovia amid staunch criticism from some quarters of the public that the Church is no longer speaking against the ills of society as it used to in the past.
But the Archbishop of the Diocese of Monrovia and head of the Catholic Church of Liberia, His Grace Rev. Lewis Zeigler, in his homily at the St. Kizito Catholic Church in Paynesville, said the Church is speaking today as it has done through the ages.
“Today we hear people say, the church is not speaking out. The church is silent on the ills of society.
The Church is saying nothing. And I want to take this time to say this is not a true statement.
The church is speaking the louder today as it has done through the ages.
The Church speaks to people who are here, people who are followers of Christ, people who are committed to the teaching of Christ and people who are witnesses to Christ,” he said.