Churches should complement the Government’s development programmes and champion love, unity, peace among the citizenry, Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga said yesterday.
He was speaking at the Roman Catholic Church’s silver jubilee celebrations of St Augustine’s Church and the inauguration of the Holy Redeemer Parish and Centre in Glen Forest, Harare.
The church has plans for the parish and centre where it envisions a fully-fledged mission starting with a primary school, a church building and housing for staff among other facilities.
VP Chiwenga, himself a devout Catholic, donated US$10 000 to get the programme started.
“My presence here is testimony of Government’s appreciation of the role of religion in building a society that is God-fearing, disciplined, loving, harmonious and faithful,” said VP Chiwenga.
“As we celebrate St Augustine’s Silver Jubilee, we take pride in the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is one of the churches that has firmly stood with us since the colonial era.
“Government is delighted that the Church continues to embark on various socio-economic programmes and projects. It is gratifying that today we are also inaugurating the Holy Redeemer Parish and Centre.
“I am informed that plans are afoot to construct a fully-fledged mission comprising a school and housing for parishioners in Glen Forest. The school is indeed well thought out which aims to establish one of the first schools in the Glen Forest community, thereby minimising the walking distance to Hatcliffe schools.
“On behalf of Government and indeed on my own behalf I commend you for embarking on this project which dovetails with Government’s broad-based development thrust.
“I want to urge you all to fully acquaint yourselves with, and participate in Government programmes, in a way that engenders love, unity, peace and harmony in order to ensure sustainable socio-economic development.
“I implore you to work closely with Government ministries, departments and agencies as you implement these and other projects. This will ensure that we realise our aspirations through our national philosophy ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’.
“Let me express my deep appreciation for the work the Roman Catholic Church is doing for the generality of our people in Zimbabwe,” said VP Chiwenga.
The church had been working closely with Government in other areas such as health care, social welfare, food programmes and provision of access to clean water.
VP Chiwenga said these programmes have gone a long way in complementing Government efforts to ensure that no one and no place is left behind as Government strives to uplift the livelihoods of the general quality of life.
Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Dr Torerayi Moyo said the Roman Catholic Church had played and continued to play a huge role in the education sector.
“We want to applaud the church for providing quality, inclusive education. As a Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education we provided an inquiry on how many schools are needed in Zimbabwe, we have a shortage ranging between 2 800 and 3 000 schools,” said Minister Moyo.
“When we see and are invited by the Roman Catholic Church to this very special occasion leading to the construction of the school, I feel very happy because you would have contributed to the reduction of the deficit that we have.”
After attending mass and the groundbreaking ceremony in Glen Forest, VP Chiwenga proceeded to Braeside where he joined fellow Catholics in commemorating Saint Martin Deppores at St Martin’s Convent Primary School.
In his address at Braeside, VP Chiwenga counselled on the need to curb drug and substance abuse which he said was threatening to tear apart society’s moral fabric. Parishioners should remain guided by the Church’s values of prayer, integrity, participation and unity which should always be upheld.
He was aware that fellow parishioners went through racial discrimination during the colonial era, but assured that was now a thing of the past as Zimbabwe had now embraced a culture that knew no race or ethnicity.
“It is disheartening that we have children who are being negatively affected by drugs and substance abuse,” said VP Chiwenga.
“Let us join hands as Government, the church, the community and the family to fight this devastating scourge before it is too late. I want to commend the church for coming up with a committee that is responsible for raising awareness against drug and substance abuse,” said VP Chiwenga.
A former drug addict now working with the committee Mr Tapiwa Chandavengerwa talked on the downside of drugs.
Herald
