MALAWI: ECM Leads Inter-Religious March Against Same Sex Marriages
Archbishop Tambala with Muslim Leaders at The Peaceful March
Sam Kalimba
The Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has led an inter-religious march on Thursday 13 July, 2023, aimed at voicing out religious-based position on same sex marriages in the country. Initially, the Conference announced that it would go on the streets across the country to protest against the efforts that are being made to legalize same sex marriages through a court case and other religious mother bodies joined along the process.
It was until Wednesday, 12 July that it was clear that the Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM), Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), Muslim Association of Malawi and the Quadria Muslim Association of Malawi appeared and ECM organized press briefing that took place at Maula Cathedral Hall of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe.
At the press briefing, Very Rev. Fr. Alfred Chaima, ECM’s Secretary General represented the ECM with Most Reverend George Tambala represented the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, in the presence of other religious mother bodies’ representative.
Fr. Chaima said that Catholic Bishops in Malawi are concerned with the issue of same sex marriages because it touches not only on the culture and tradition of the people of Malawi but also that it poses a threat to the sanctity of life, the Sacrament of Matrimony and family and a unit.
“The Bishops have vowed to continue preaching the good news and the will of God through various means including marching in the streets until every one hears. We are happy that our fellow religious mother bodies have joined the cause. We are not interfering with any process by doing this but we only share what the Scriptures say on matters of human sexuality,” said Fr. Chaima during the press briefing.
During the day of the demonstrations that begun from the Sacred Heart Parish in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe to the country’s parliament buildings, Archbishop Tambala said that delivering the petition was not the end of it all but the beginning.
“We have delivered our petition to the Malawi Parliament through the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament and we expect that the process has just begun. We will make follow ups to this petition until we safeguard what is enshrined in our Constitution that marriage is between a man and a woman only, which also speaks to the will of God as read in the Bible and Quran. Our message is simple, we are protecting the family, the source of our society and at the same time we are protecting the sanctity of life,” said Tambala at the Parliament buildings in Lilongwe.
In Lilongwe, the Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Malawi Parliament Hon. Yusuf Nthenda received the petition and promised Malawians that it will undergo all the processes that every petition of that nature takes and that action to it will be communicated back.
The marches were also organized and carried out in other dioceses led by their prelates save for the Catholic Diocese of Dedza that is yet to hold its protests on 17 July, 2023, due to logistical reasons.
According to information made available to this reporter through the Minister of Information who also attended the march, there are no issues of this nature being discussed by both the legislature and the executive arms of government. However, it is well known in the country that there is a constitutional court case moved by other foreign citizens due for ruling. It is evident that, probably, the religious mother bodies might have wanted to send a signal of notice to powers that be that Malawians are not ready for a constitutional review using the courts.
General Secretary of the Church of Central African Presbyterian, Rev. Vasco Kachipapa said in the mentioned press briefing that the only option they would give to hear out Malawians is through either the parliament or referendum.
In all the routes the demonstrations took, there were members of the mentioned religious mother bodies who are Christians, Moslems and the Rastafarian community.
