ZAMBIA: Statement of Bishop of Zambia on Deportation of Fr Viateur

DO NOT LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED (John 14:1)

A Statement to Catholics on
the deportation, by the Zambian Government, of Fr. Viateur Banyangandora to
Rwanda

To Priests,
Religious Sisters, Brothers and the laity of Chipata Diocese

To all Catholics
and men and women of goodwill in Zambia!

2.
Let me from the outset express my deep appreciation to all of you
who have sent messages of solidarity to me and to the Diocese of Chipata on the
unfortunate deportation from Zambia of our beloved Parish Priest of Lundazi
Catholic Church, Fr. Viateur Banyangandora by the Zambian Government. I am
particularly grateful to messages of solidarity from my Brother Bishops in the
various Catholic Dioceses of
Zambia.

3.
I first learnt of the
abduction of Fr. Viateur on Monday, the 30th July around 17:00hrs
when he, himself phoned me. He asked for permission to meet me in Chipata
before proceeding to Lusaka where he was being taken. I met him at Chipata
Police Station where I had a brief chat with him. He told me that the security
officers who took him did not clearly explain to him the reasons for his arrest
except that it was in connection with Sunday Homily in which he spoke about
cotton prices. He assured me that he never attacked government in any way. His
message was about the have sharing with the have nots as the readings of the
day were saying. On the day before his abduction, Fr. Viateur spoke
passionately about the plight and poverty of his parishioners and the people of
Lundazi. He was exercising his prophetic ministry as any Catholic priest would
and should (2Kings 4:42-44; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15). He shared this with
me in the presence of police officers.

I asked him as to whether he had eaten something before leaving Lundazi
to which he said no. We then prepared something for him to eat. After his meal,
he was on that very night driven to Lusaka. I informed Bishop Benjamin Phiri
who was by then in Lusaka and Monsignor Joseph at the Nuntiature about this
issue and asked them to pursue the matter and establish two things: (1) Why he
was picked and (2) his destination because the Commissioner and her deputy here
in Chipata expressed ignorance about the whole thing. They said that they were
simply obeying orders from Lusaka.

4.
In Lundazi, I am reliably
informed that Fr. Viateur was interrogated on Monday 30th July, 2012
by various officials, including the District Commissioner (a politician!). Fr.
Viateur was later that day brought to Chipata where he was further interrogated
by a combined team of Immigration, Police and Office of the President (OP)
agents. During his interrogation and traumatising ordeal, he was not availed a
lawyer and not a single diocesan official was present nor notified of Fr.
Viateur’s arrest. Without being charged, Fr. Viatuer was later that very
evening, driven to Lusaka in the night. From then on there is a black-out of
information. Where was Fr. Viateur taken? Was he beaten, tortured? Was he being
fed? What did they do about his Diabetic medicine? His BP medicine? What really
did the State do to Fr. Viateur? We will need answers. What crime did Fr. Viateur
really commit? Has preaching the Gospel in a so-called Christian Nation become
a crime?

5.
When Fr. Viateur was being
held by the security wings, my colleagues and I at the Diocesan administration
of Chipata Diocese made several and frantic attempts to secure the release of
Fr. Viateur. We spoke to politicians, heads of the various security wings both
in Chipata and in Lusaka. In most cases the people we spoke to were
tight-lipped and did not want to give us any information. Most of them, their
overzealousness notwithstanding, were clearly afraid for their jobs. All in
all, we did not get a satisfactory answer from anyone we spoke to on the
Tuesday of 31 July 2012. I personally even phoned and spoke to the Republican
President on the issue. He only promised that he would get back to me

6.
In a desperate move, and
working with our staff at the Catholic Secretariat in Lusaka, we engaged a
lawyer, Mr. S. Mambwe and associates to
comb all Lusaka Police cells and find Fr. Viateur. All was in vain. We have
been kept in the dark about the safety and the whereabouts of Fr. Viateur for
four days until the announcement after the deportation by the Zambian
Government on the evening of Thursday 2nd August 2012 by the
Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Edgar Lungu who finally confirmed, through the
media, of his deportation from Zambia to Rwanda. The reasons given were that
our beloved priest was deported for violating the laws of Zambia and that
his conduct was found to be a danger to
peace and good order in Zambia contrary to Section 39(2) of the Immigration and
Deportation Act, No. 18 of 2010. Even after this confirmation, there was no
courtesy on the part of government to inform me about the plight of our priest.
I too, heard it through the media.

To the parishioners and people of Lundazi.
You have been unjustly deprived of your pastor. As your Shepherd, I grieve
with you at this great injustice that has been done to one of our own by
our Government. We all know and have lived with Fr. Viateur. He is a good
priest and a man of peace and integrity. No amount of explanation will
ever convince us that he would behave in a manner that would cause a
breach of peace of this country. Despite this injustice done to him, I
still appeal to you all to remain calm and peaceful.

Fr. Viateur was ordained in 2004 and thus he
became our priest. He became a priest of Chipata Diocese. He chose to
remain in Chipata as one of the diocesan priests till his death.

I, like the rest of the members of the
Catholic Church, are still in a state of shock that such a thing can happen
to him and government does not care to explain as to why he was abducted,
where he was taken. We urge the government to seriously consider revoking the deportation order for the sake of
unity.

I further wish to remind the Patriotic Government
(PF) that; You were voted into government on a popular platform of
correcting the injustices of the past and entrenching good governance and
a democratic culture where the rule of law would reign supreme. The manner
in which Fr. Viateur was abducted and deported has not only perplexed us
but has shocked us to the bone. We never thought we would see the day in
this current government when the freedom of expression, let alone at the
pulpit, would be criminalized in Zambia. We earnestly urge the government
to address the real issues that are today affecting the poor people.

Notwithstanding the fact that Fr. Viateur
holds a Rwandan passport, his human and constitutional rights have been
grossly violated by the state. The way he has been treated flies in the
face of natural justice. He was not given opportunity to be heard; he was
not allowed legal representation of his choice and he was detained in
secret location.

To the priests of the diocese, religious men
and women, parishioners of Lundazi and Catholics in general, I appeal for
calm. It may take one week, one
month or many years but we will not rest until justice and truth are
served in this matter. We believe that justice and truth will be served
one day! Fr. Viateur will one day return to us.

A special appeal to our Catholic priests: Do
not be intimidated by anyone. You were ordained to preach the Gospel and
this must be done even in the face of persecution. In doing so, you will
be carrying out the prophetic role of being the conscience of society. As
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill
the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both Soul and body
in Gehena” Matt. 10:28. No one shall be allowed to silence our priests.

14. In conclusion, I commend you all
to pray for Fr. Viateur Banyangandora, his family and also the Rwandan refugee
community resident in Zambia. In the January 2012 Pastoral letter, we the Catholic
Bishops highlighted the plight facing the Rwandan refugee community in Zambia.
Could the deportation of Fr. Viateur signal the start of worse things to come
for this community and for our priests? Only God knows.

United in prayer, for the unity of our Diocese and beloved country, Zambia.

“That they have life and life in
abundance” (John 10:10)

Rt. Rev.
George Cosmas Zumaile Lungu

Bishop of Chipata Diocese

c.c. Most Rev. Ignatius Chama, Archbishop of
Kasama Archdiocese and ZEC President.

c.c. Most Rev. Telespore G. Mpundu,
Archbishop of Lusaka

c.c. Most Rev. Julio Murat, Apostolic Nuncio
to Zambia and Malawi

c.c. Rt. Rev. Benjamin Phiri, Auxiliary
Bishop of Chipata Diocese.

c.c. Rt. Rev. Bishop of Ruengeni Diocese,
Rwanda.

SOURCE: ZEC Communication Office