Racist Dictator

Daily life in Zimbabwe, a country blessed with natural resources and an energetic population, goes from bad to worse. The average life expectancy for women is 34; for men 37. Inflation is at 8,000 percent. As the people suffer and as African neighbor states seem disinclined to intervene, pressure has come upon the British government to act. The Anglican Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has urged the prime minister to impose sanctions and mount campaigns to remove President Robert Mugabe and end the humanitarian disaster. Archbishop Sentamu, born in Uganda, likened Mugabe to the late Idi Amin Dada: Enemies are tortured, the press is censored, the people are starving and meanwhile the world waits. Mugabe is the worst kind of racist dictator. Having targeted the whites for their apparent riches, Mugabe has enacted an awful Orwellian vision, with the once oppressed taking on the role of the oppressor and glorying in their totalitarian abilities.

The Catholic Church has long deplored and called attention to the worsening human rights situation in the country. The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, led by a Mugabe supporter, has come under criticism for being silent. So it is all the more significant that Sentamu has added his powerful voice to those of fellow churchmen who have called for strong and immediate action. It is to be hoped that their cries will not fall on deaf ears.

Getting Higher Marks

With a presidential election approaching, the churchs role in U.S. society will be on many bishops minds and may well appear on the agenda of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in November. A less predictable agenda item, however, is the role of women in the church, which the This article appears in October 8 2007.