Anglican Communion News Service

(ENI)The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) wants Zimbabwe declared a Christian nation. The council will make a formal request to Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, in the next few days.

ZCC's general secretary, Densen Mafinyane, told ENI this week that Zimbabwe needed to have "one religion which is official". (The ZCC represents Zimbabwe's mainstream Protestant churches.)

"For Zimbabweans, it would only be proper and logical to declare the nation a Christian country. Other countries have declared themselves Muslim countries, and why should we not be proud to declare our country a Christian nation?" Zimbabwe, which became independent in April 1980, is at present a secular nation with freedom of worship enshrined in the Constitution.

"For how long can we continue to exist without an official religion? When a policy is not officialised there is no focus. We have to have an official stand," said Mafinyane.

For most of Zimbabwe's 12 million citizens, he said, indigenous religion was integrated with Christianity. He said that "harmonious" links between African religion and Christianity meant that it was inevitable that the nation would officially become a Christian state.

Mafinyane said, however, that the declaration of Zimbabwe as a Christian nation should allow for the continued existence of other religions. He estimated that 65 per cent of the population was Christian. Zimbabwe also had more than 5000 Jews and more than 200 000 Muslims, he said.

However, the director of a leading Roman Catholic organisation in Zimbabwe told ENI that declaring Zimbabwe a Christian country would not be a true reflection of the religious affiliations of the most Zimbabweans.

"Traditional religion is still a strong force in the minds and hearts of the majority of Zimbabweans," said Mike Auret, of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace. "I think it would be very unfair to force Christianity on them." Auret said that only half the population was Christian, of whom a million were Catholics.

Interfaith relations have recently experienced difficulties in Zimbabwe. In the early 1990s, the government accused Islamic governments of spreading Islam under the pretext of food donations during a severe drought in Zimbabwe. Nathan Shamuyarira, who was Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time, declared that the government would not tolerate any attempts to spread Islam.

The ZCC call comes as Zimbabwe hosts the 4th meeting of the World Islamic Call Society of East, Central and Southern Africa. The meeting was officially opened by Vice President Simon Muzenda. Representatives of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, and of the ZCC, were present at the opening ceremony.