A Pastoral Letter on the Elections in March 2018
JOURNEYING TOWARDS PEACEFUL AND CREDIBLE ELECTIONS :: A Pastoral Letter on the Elections in March 2018
Introduction
We greet you in the name of the Risen Lord; and pray that we may all pass over
from death to life and that raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too
might, live a new life (cf. Rom. 6:4).
We, the Catholic Bishops in Sierra Leone, upon prayerful reflection, issue this
pastoral letter in view of the parliamentary, local and presidential Elections
scheduled to take place on 7th March 2018.
As your Bishops, we have a responsibility to lead souls to greener pastures. It
is our duty to engage in the dialogue over our country’s future and the Sierra
Leone we want for all. Pope Paul VI reminds us that “It is up to Christian
communities to analyze with objectivity the situation which is proper to their
own country, to shed on it the light of the Gospel’s unalterable words and to
draw principles of reflection, norms of judgment and directives for action from
the social teachings of the Church.” (Octogesima Adveniens no. 4).
Sentiments of Gratitude
We express our sincere gratitude to the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, for
announcing in good time the date for elections, thereby allaying all fears that
the elections might be unduly delayed or even postponed. This, in our view, is
a major support to the promotion of peace and stability and a boost to our
young democracy.
We also appreciate the support given by the International Community to this
country and its people, especially in moments of dire need.
In a special way we acknowledge the tremendous efforts and sacrifices of Sierra
Leoneans both at home and abroad in ensuring that progress is made in our
nation that has suffered for far too long. Our nation was brought to her heels
as a result of the Ebola epidemic that claimed thousands of valuable lives. Our
resilience as a people and a nation was tested severely. However, it was at
that very difficult moment when the nation united to fight a common enemy. The
words of St. Paul to the Corinthians were a great consolation during our
desperation: “We are in difficulties on all sides, but never cornered…we have
been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down but never killed” (2 Cor.
4:8-9). We therefore encourage all those who stood by us during those
challenging moments to accompany us again towards free, fair and credible
elections.
The Risen Christ Our Light and
Strength
The Risen Christ remains our light and guides us to a new and better life; he
leads us to a new way of seeing, judging and making decisions. This light
shines in the dark and the darkness cannot overpower it. The Risen Christ calls
us to die to sin and live for God. You too must consider yourselves as dead to
sin and living for God in Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 6:3-11).
We can only build better families, communities and our country when Christ
leads us with his light and when he becomes the propelling force of our
decisions and actions. And so we ask for forgiveness for the many times we have
allowed our darkness to overcome the Light that has been given to us. The
darkness of our sins – our pride, our selfishness, tribalism, nepotism,
corruption, greed – has tried to put out the Light in us. We pray that the
light of Christ rising in glory may dispel the darkness of our hearts and
minds.
Dead to Sin and Living in the
Newness of Christ
We are dead to sin when our old self was crucified with Christ. We died to sin
when Sierra Leoneans were able to overcome their differences and negotiated
peaceful resolution to the ten years of civil war. So many innocent lives were
lost. The terrible war was as a result of the many wrong decisions made without
the guidance of God and the common good of our brothers and sisters. “Usually
war is a funeral procession of violated human rights” (Catholic Bishops of
Angola 1993). Greed, corruption, moral decadence, indifference to the common
good took over us. And there was darkness all over the land. To use the words
of our predecessors during the civil war: ‘while war spells misery and untold
sufferings for thousands of people, for others it seems to be ‘good business’
(Sierra Leone Bishops Lenten Message 1993).
The outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) showed the best and worst in us
as a nation. On one hand, it revealed quite shockingly the poor state of our
medical services. On the other hand, patriotic medical practitioners and other
health workers endeavoured to fill in the gaps by making immense sacrifices and
some paid the ultimate price with their lives to defeat the virus. The Ebola
epidemic is remembered as one of the darkest moments in our history. The twin
tragedies in our nation, the civil war and the Ebola epidemic, brought Sierra
Leoneans together from all walks of life to fight for a common purpose. Our
ethnic, cultural and religious differences were put aside in order to achieve a
higher good. Such desirable attitudes that we manifested so clearly at critical
moments in our history should be shown again as we move towards the national
elections in 2018 that will define the next phase of our country’s history.
Work for the Common Good
We appeal to all Sierra Leoneans to work for the common good. We have to assume
responsibility for our own development and not to wait for others to do it. Our
progress must be borne on our shoulders and then others will follow us. When
adversity affects us we all suffer. Ebola, civil war and conflict did not have
a party colour. All Sierra Leoneans suffered. Our commitment brought an end to
the civil war and the Ebola epidemic; it renewed our democracy and peace and
brought infrastructural growth. We need this same dedication and commitment to
address poverty, illiteracy, food insecurity and corruption. Let us put
communities at the heart of development and then our country will experience
true prosperity that benefits everyone.
The Present Political and
Economic Landscape
We note with deep regret that the present political landscape does not promote
unity among us. Politically we are divided into North-West and South-East. We
have promoted a politics of regionalism. In 2007, we breathed a sigh of
relief for the peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections and the
emergence of the then opposition party, All Peoples Congress (APC) as the
victor. Ten years on we have not attained the united and peaceful Sierra Leone
we all dreamt of. Many citizens continue to stomach grievances and on many
occasions peaceful demonstrators have been treated with heavy hands and some
brutally killed. How fast our hopes and aspirations have diminished!
We are aware that significant gains were made in economic growth, especially
between 2012 and 2014. Our nation was rated as one of the fastest growing
economies in sub-Sahara Africa. But we were told that the twin shocks of Ebola
and the fall in iron ore prizes worldwide led to austerity measures. But is it
austerity only for a few; the poor, helpless and vulnerable?
Expressing Unity as a People and
Freedom to Exercise Electoral Franchise
As a Church we should not afford to shy away from political participation but
our involvement cannot be partisan. In no way can we as a Church champion the
cause of any political party. Our cause is a noble one; namely to defend our
country and its citizens from political manipulators and to educate all
citizens to vote wisely and responsibly. Ours is therefore an advocacy role. We
inform, instruct and educate our youth and indeed all citizens to stay away
from violence and anything else that might cloud the election process.
We call our leaders to attention about the dangers of youth unemployment. We
challenge them to make genuine efforts to stamp out corruption and put an end to
impunity. We call on the political class and especially political parties to be
responsible in shaping the political culture of our nation. Divisiveness,
political bickering and infighting do not augur well for the consolidation of
our young democracy. After many years of independence, our political parties
should have, by now, institutionalized tolerance, ethnic diversity, respect for
the rule of law and the rules of the game leading to trust and confidence by
the general populace in the democratic process. We call on the Government to
resist the temptation of political manipulation and to do everything possible
to create a level playing ground for all political parties. No attempt should
be made by anyone to change the will of the electorate. All Sierra Leoneans who
have reached the required age have a right and a duty to register and vote. Do
not turn your back to the political process.
Recommendations and Conclusion
In the light of the foregoing considerations:
We call on all Sierra Leoneans,
especially those who are of voting age, to strongly reject all acts of
violence, unnecessary provocations, various forms of fraud that distort
results, as well as anything that can lead to destabilization and disorder.
We encourage all political parties
and their supporters to accept the results or outcome of the elections, should
the latter be declared free and fair by the competent authority.
We urge the Law Enforcement
officers to safeguard honour and loyalty to this country and its institutions,
the protection of lives and property, and to maintain political neutrality in
the execution of their duties.
We persuade political parties and
presidential candidates to respect the electoral process, to preserve peace, to
uphold the interest of the Sierra Leonean people and to see themselves in this
pluralistic election as competitors, not adversaries. In fact, Pope John Paul
II said, “an authentic democracy, which respects pluralism, is one of the
principal routes which the Church travels together with the people. Being engaged
in the democratic struggle according to the Spirit of the Gospel is a sign of a
Church which participates in the promotion of the rule of law everywhere in
Africa” (Ecclesia in Africa no. 112).
We, the Catholic Church, make a
commitment to uphold, teach and preach all the tenets contained in this
pastoral letter. We strongly enjoin our priests, religious and lay faithful to
promote a spirit of unity, reconciliation, tolerance and peace in their
sermons, homilies, conferences and pastoral engagements.
In conclusion, we pray that Mary,
the Queen of Peace, continue to intercede for us so that her Son may grant us
the grace and the strength to follow the light and walk to newness of life in
Christ.
Given in Freetown, on the fourth day of June in the Year of Our Lord Two
Thousand and Seventeen; the Solemnity of Pentecost.
………………………………….
Bishop Charles A. M. Campbell
Catholic Diocese of Bo and President of Conference
………………………………..
Archbishop Edward T. Charles
Archdiocese of Freetown
...………………………………
Bishop Patrick D. Koroma
Diocese of Kenema
………………………………..
Bishop Henry Aruna (Auxiliary)
Diocese of Kenema
……………………………….
Bishop Natale Paganelli, SX.
Diocese of Makeni