Mugabe died last Friday in Singapore. He was 95

Father Richard Mushukua opened Sunday's Mass paying tribute to Mugabe and asking congregants to forgive him.

"He did a lot of positive things for our country but not everything that he did was right. We should learn to forgive for all the wrongs he may have committed. May God grant him mercy," Mushuku said.

Mugabe dominated Zimbabwean politics for almost four decades from independence in 1980 until he was removed by his own army in a November 2017 coup.

Revered by many as a liberator who freed his people from white minority rule, he was also vilified by others for wrecking one of Africa's most promising economies and ruthlessly crushing his opponents.

He was calculated and pragmatic, using the church when it suited him, said Oskar Wermter SJ.

Wermter said Mugabe was inclined to appear at Masses that would attract publicity and always expected to address the congregation.

Father Frederick Chiromba, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference, said the news of Mugabe's death "is met with much sadness."

Father Kennedy Muguti, who is the vicar-general of the archdiocese of Harare, said

"Being a Catholic, he tried his level best to live according to Christian values and I know people have mixed feelings in the way he practiced his Christian values".

A parishioner, added to this, saying "current leaders must learn from his mistakes."

The Zimbabwean government has told embassies it planned to hold a state funeral for Mugabe in the National Sports Stadium on Saturday, with a burial ceremony on Sunday.

Just where Mugabe will be buried is still being finalised.

His family is pushing back against the government's plan to bury him at the National Heroes Acre monument in Harare and wants him to be buried in his home village instead.

Catholic-educated, Mugabe trained as a teacher, he taught at Catholic schools in Zimbabwe before leaving for Ghana.

He and his first wife were married in a Catholic church in Harare in 1961.

He had an apparently positive relationship with the Church until a 1997 report - compiled from witness accounts - listing over 7,000 cases of killings, torture and human rights abuses by Zimbabwe government troops.

This report changed Mugabe's relationship with the church, which until then had been cordial, and he started to call the bishops "sanctimonious prelates."

Source

• Reuters
• AP News
• Angelus
• America Magazine
• Image: Fox News

They are imploring the new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to put in place inclusive transitional mechanisms to level the political playing field ahead of next year's watershed elections. Read more

Mnangagwa has been chosen to succeed 93-year old Robert Mugabe as head of a transitional government.

He is the African nation's former vice-president.

Mugabe was ousted following a military coup.

Accusations of economic mismanagement and violating the constitution during elections surrounded his departure.

During the past week, Zimbabwe's bishops have said they are concerned about the future of the country.

"The Church has keenly and prayerfully followed the recent tense events in the country," they wrote in a Pastoral Letter dated 19 November.

"We, your Shepherds, encourage those central to these delicate processes ... to work tirelessly for a peaceful end to the crisis and to a speedy return to normalcy and Constitutional order.

"Let us be mindful of the fact that ... the entire population is concerned about the process as well as the future of the country."

Mnangagwa has responded positively to the bishops' pleas, promising an era of "unfolding democracy".

His selection as the country's new transitional leader appears to be popular with the people.

His motorcade was cheered as it made its way through Harare to the ruling Zanu (PF) party headquarters on Wednesday.

He was sworn in as president yesterday.

During the transition of power and governance, the Catholic bishops are encouraging the development of "free and fair elections, referenda and consultations."

They are also prioritising a nationwide respect for life.

"All life is precious. The preservation of lives must be paramount and for that, it is essential that peace, law and order be maintained especially in these most delicate times," the bishops said.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• The Zimbabwe Mail
• Crux
• Image: The Independent

The army is targeting an operation against "criminals" in his entourage, a senior political source claims. Read more

Mr Mugabe, said to be a practising Catholic, told a Chinese television interviewer that he resents Western aid because it always depends on conditions like accepting homosexuality.

He praised Beijing for being "very constructive" in its assistance towards Zimbabwe, the Telegraph reported.

"Whereas Europe and America, when they give little funding assistance to countries they always attach conditions," he said. "And that is our objection."

Earlier this year, at his daughter's wedding, the Jesuit-educated Mr Mugabe reportedly told guests: "We don't accept homosexuality here. God made men and women so they can bear children."

Mr Mugabe also recently said that Zimbabwe would not allow any gay diplomats into Harare, and regularly refers to gay people as "pigs" and "dogs".

The Zimbabwean leader went to China to try and bail out his country's bankrupt economy.

He returned home without any cash or even soft loans, but signed a handful of expensive deals to support ongoing infrastructural repairs and power generation as well as a pledge for a new coal mine.

During his TV interview, Mr Mugabe told viewers that China went into African projects using joint ventures whereas European businesses would not share their profits and had colonial attitudes.

At the end of last year, Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party unveiled a five year economic blueprint to create more than two million new jobs with investments of up to NZ$30 billion.

Economists say the latest deals with Beijing would be very expensive, as Chinese insurers rate Zimbabwe as extremely high risk.

Late last year, Zimbabwe's Catholic bishops issued a pastoral letter calling for their country to engage more with the international community and lamenting how polarised it is.

Despite being blessed with abundant natural resources and highly skilled people, there were no signs of improvements in Zimbabwean life that could improve people's prospects, they said.

Zimbabwe was once one of the most prosperous of African nations, but it is now one of the poorest, with policies said to redistribute land and natural resources leaving them in the hands of a ruling party elite.

Sources

• The Telegraph
• Ecumenical News
• Image: Huffington Post