Ninth Plenary Assembly – 2010
The ninth plenary assembly of IMBISA took place in Pretoria, South Africa from 6 to 13 December 2010. The theme of the Plenary was Fostering good work ethics for the promotion of self-reliance, good governance and sustainable development in Southern Africa.
Opening mass in Sacred Heart Cathedral
Archbishop Stephen Brislin (Photo: Southern Cross)
Cardinal Wilfrid Napier presided at the opening mass of the plenary in the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town preached the homily, noting that a poor work ethic is merely symptomatic of a much deeper problem of changing and a breakdown of human relationships. He said
This breakdown has its roots in problems of which we are all well aware: a hedonistic society, rampant materialism and greed which has enslaved many people, individualism, a society that increasingly appears to be the survival of the fittest and where the vulnerable become more and more at risk.
Let us be bold
At the dinner reception after mass, the Apostolic Nuncio to South Africa, Archbishop James Green called on the bishops to “be bold, courageous and joyful in their vocation”, at the same time making every effort to know well the people in their care.
Archbishop James Green (Photo:Wikimedia Commons)
He challenged IMBISA and its member episcopal conferences to “assist individual bishops in their pastoral efforts, especially by coordinating common initiatives.”
Jesus was ready to get his hands dirty
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba (Photo: thabomakgoba.online)
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, said in his remarks that Jesus’ life and ministry teach us what it means for God to be with us:
alongside humanity in all our mess and struggles, our imperfections, our failings, as well as our woundedness, our brokenness, our suffering. In Jesus we find God prepared to ‘get stuck in’, so to speak, rolling up his sleeves alongside us, ready to get his hands dirty. He ate with prostitutes and sinners, touched the unclean, he healed the servant of an office in the oppressive occupying army. It seems there was no-one with whom he was not prepared to engage – no one whom he wrote off.
Good work ethic
Dr. Ranga Zinyemba, an organisational development consultant, led the bishops in their reflecting on the plenary theme.
At the end of the first working day, Archbishop Stephen Brislin summed up the discussions, saying among others, that many of the reports from the different bishops’ conferences in discussion of the presentation referred implicitly to some of the social teachings the Church.
This reminds us, he said, “that the theological foundation of a good work ethic must incorporate the social teachings of the Catholic Church.”
IMBISA speaks up
In her presentation, Alice Zinyemba mentioned that the Church should speak out “against bad governance and poor work ethics.”
She noted that, in fact, the Church in the IMBISA region “has not been quiet”, issuing statements against bad governance and corruption.
The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference, for example, said in An ethos of service in 1989 to public servants:
You have not just chosen a career which ensures the livelihood of you and your family. You have undertaken to render a service which is vital for the wellbeing of the whole country.
Getting down to core business
On day 4 the plenary discussed IMBISA business in terms of the President’s and Director’s reports on IMBISA and its Secretariat, which included its finances, according to President Archbishop Gabriel Mbilingi, in the Zimbabwe context of “a devastating, economic, social and political crisis, so severe that many institutions in Zimbabwe could not produce credible audit reports for 2007/2008, due to the collapse of the economy.”
Fr. Richard Menatsi
To demonstrate the reality of what the President said, Fr. Richard Menatsi, Director, described the Secretariat’s dire financial situation, which left nothing to the imagination of the stark crisis.
At the time, it had a staff total of 16, with five departments, namely Justice & Peace, Social Communications, Biblical Apostolate/Theological Exchange & Reflection, and Care of Refugees, and the Translation Desk. The latter was vacant then for a lengthy period.
IMBISA, to be or to not be?
A provocative move was made when one of the bishops, overwhelmed by the negative conditions at the Secretariat and its financial troubles, invited “a vote on whether or not we should continue having IMBISA” (Minutes, p. 8).
The nuncio pointed out how unfair it would be to new bishops “who do not know what IMBISA is and are now asked to vote for or against its continued existence.”
The President suggested that it should be a standing order that new bishops are introduced to the nature and operation of IMBISA.
Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier in Rome, Italy on October 2008 (Photo by Eric Vandeville/ABACAPRESS.COM)
Cardinal Napier was invited to share his experience of the value of IMBISA as the most senior bishop. He noted, among others, that IMBISA provided a platform of brotherhood among bishops of the region, given the political conditions of the time, with apartheid in South, and Angola, Mozambique and Namibia being involved in war.
IMBISA will continue
The intervention of the Cardinal and senior bishops appeared to have toned down the suggestions of disbanding it. In the whole discussion, the desirability of having IMBISA, both from a theological and practical point of view, appeared to be accepted by all. The focus was now on its economic viability.
Among the suggestions to bring that about, were:
- Reduce the staff
- Transfer some functions of IMBISA to episcopal conferences to avoid duplication
The minutes sum up the discussion in the following way:
As part of the quest for finding lasting solutions to the financial problems of IMBISA, it was suggested that the new Standing Committee evaluate the core work of IMBISA and present the findings to the various conferences.
Elections
Bishop Frank Nubuasah (Photo: Southern Cross)
- President: Bishop Frank Nubuasah, SVD of Francistown, SACBC
- Vice President: Bishop Lucio Andrice Muandula of Xai-Xai, CEM
- Secretary General: Bishop Angelo Floro Martinez of Gokwe, ZCBC.
Bishop Floro Martinez (Photo: catholicchurchnewszimbabwe.blog)
Sources
IMBISA. 2010. 9th Plenary of IMBISA Minutes: Fostering good work ethics for the promotion of self-reliance, good governance and sustainable development in Southern Africa. Pretoria, South Africa, 6 – 13 December 2010. Harare: IMBISA.
IMBISA. 2011. 9th IMBISA Plenary Assembly: Special Issue March 2011. Harare: IMBISA.
On synodal journey for 50 years
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