Churches' protest gives Africans new hope

FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
ALTHOUGH last week's ALTHOUGH referendum in Rhodesia was an overwhelming victory for the Smith regime, the fact that the Catholic bishops had condemned the proposed Constitution as "irreconcilable with God's law" has given Christians in the rest of black Africa new hope for their own churches.
They have gained new confidence that Christianity is not an "imperialist import" in Africa. The Smith proposals were condemned by all the Rhodesian Churches except the Dutch Reformed Church.
Mr. Garfield Todd, a former Prime Minister of Rhodesia, said: "The Christian Faith has become more credible in Rhodesia and the whole of Africa. This is especially due to the hold statement of the Catholic bishops of this country.
"Their pastoral message has cleared the air and opened up a new future for the Church in Rhodesia,"
The first reaction of Rhodesia's white Catholics to the pastoral was a numbed
silence. Many first had to recover from the shock. Gradually, the abusive letters appeared in the daily Press, in which Catholics publicly disapproved of their bishops "meddling in politics". Letters were also sent to individual bishops in which Catholics announced their "resignation" from the Church. One morning, the base of the large crucifix which stands in front of the Catholic cathedral in Salisbury was covered with 18 election posters of the Rhodesian Front party. proclaiming "Rhodesia First: Vote Yes."
LOYALTY TEST The bishops' pastoral certainly put Rhodesia's white Catholics to a test of loyalty on referendum day. After the clear statement that "the proposals for the new constitution are in many respects completely contrary to Christian teaching," the white Catholic voter had to decide between party allegiance — most of them belong to Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front and the loyalty toward their bishops and their Church.
In the Protestant Churches, the referendum led to open
splits and divisions. The Dutch Reformed Church came out with hostile words against the Catholic bishops' pronouncement.
But the African congregations of the DRC in Salisbury soon complained that members and elders of the African Reformed Church had never been consulted and issued a statement that ''as Africans in Africa, we support the petition laid down by other Christian Churches."
Open division also has plagued the Presbyterian Church. The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Mashonaland signed the "Message and Appeal From Church Leaders," but his colleague in Bulawayo publicly dissociated himself from it.
In the Anglican Church there now exists a breakaway group that calls itself "The Church of England in Southern Africa," Their stronghold is the small farming town of Fort Victoria, where they hold their services in a Dutch Reformed church. Their leader, the Rev. B. H. Wright, openly supports separate development and the Rhodesian Front.