Catholic Bishops in South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini have, in a Pastoral Letter, called on eligible voters “to keep working for a better future.”
In their February 8 Pastoral Letter For 2024 National and Provincial Elections the members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) call on fellow Catholics and all South Africans “to keep working for a better future in (South Africa),” and to “not give way to paralysing disillusionment and despair.”
“These only lead to more hopelessness, discouraging our youth, in particular, from taking their rightful place in the democratic institutions, which are the pillars of our democracy for which so many have sacrificed so much,” they add.
In their collective pastoral letter signed by the SACBC President Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, the Bishops “strongly appeal to all eligible voters to go out and vote and send a message to incoming parliamentarians.”
“Nobody should remain at home,” they affirm, and add, “For the good of the country, vote according to your experience and your conscience, not according to unquestioning loyalty to one or another political party. Consider what is important for the whole nation, not just what is good for you personally, your political party, and its alliance partners.”
They continue, “Since the elections may result in coalitions, consider how your vote may contribute to the formation of a coalition government. Coalitions must not reproduce the divisive and even toxic situations that we have witnessed in some places.”
In their pastoral letter, the SACBC members call on parish priests and pastoral councils to ensure that parishioners are informed of the resource materials for eligible voters, developed by the Justice and Peace Commission and the Jesuit Institute.
The Bishops also highlight the SACBC Pastoral Plan which “emphasises the indispensable role of the lay faithful who “by their vocation, seek the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God.”
In conclusion, the SACBC members pray for “those tempted to commit acts of violence in efforts to manipulate the elections or even the results when the votes are being counted.”
The Bishops “pray that all forms of violence may be hindered by the responsible use of our democratic right to elect the persons of our choice,” and commend South Africa to the care of “Christ, the Good Shepherd, and Mary, our great Patroness.”
