Catholic Church would have continued to control 90% of schools

Prof. Dr. Louis Benjamin and John Serapion Cabrita pored centrefold in the Mozambique Channel from August 15, 2012 on the subject of church and state in Mozambique.

This came because they wanted to challenge some elements contained in the interview that I gave the same newspaper last month.

I appreciate the contribution of these two intellectuals and appreciate the debate that thus emerges in the pages of your publication. I would, however, clarify, in the following lines, some of my positions that seem to have been misrepresented as bringing some additional contributions.

To begin with, Prof.. Dr. Serapion advances the argument that there would have been in the history of Mozambique two Catholic churches, one colonial and other national / prawns. I agree with this analysis in general and I think that is an important point to understand well the history of the church in the country and the strength she had before, and even after independence. For if there had been only a colonial church, as the church would have been able to continue to exist after 1975?

That said, I disagree with Professor Serapion against the idea that the break between the colonial church and the national church would have been absolutely perfect and with the advent of independence in 1975. It may be a good argument educational and political might, but the truth is much more subtle and complex. There were many disruptions with independence, particularly in relations of power within the Catholic institution, but there were also many continuities, whether they be personal, the way you operate, or the ideas and theology.

So it does not seem appropriate to say that the colonial church disappeared in Mozambique in 1975 and only became a national church that did not enjoy "privileges of any political system in the country." This statement gives the impression that the national church was a new church without any connection to the past. Now the national church developed within and under boost, the colonial church, she kept elements of this church after independence (including any personal colonial and colonial), and she wanted to save all the properties that the church had received from the colonial Portuguese power .

In his text, Cabrita John goes even further to argue that the Catholic Church had no dominant position before independence and reject the idea that there was competition between religious institutions before 1975 - he says it was "something missing." Ignore thus the Concordat and Missionary Agreement, in force until 1975, which meant that the colonial state to pay salaries to all Catholic missionaries, deliver free land to the Catholic missions and paid travel to Metropolis to staff Catholic, among other benefits. It also ignores the concomitant political and reverse opposition to all other religious institutions in the country - Protestant, Muslim, ziones, etc.. - Whom the government refused legal personality and did everything to prevent its progress.

To argue that there was no competition between monopoly Catholic religions, Cabrita gives the example of the Muslim community that the Portuguese government attempted to attract to its sphere of influence before independence, and the example of Jehovah's Witnesses in Malawi who were welcomed by the Portuguese government in the late 1960s, when pursued by President Banda.

These two examples are very selective and partial presented so far. For if some Muslims were actually co-opted by the colonial power in the late 1960s (after years of discrimination), the truth is that while others were arrested, and some killed by police colonial policy, including some Sheiks. [1] In As regards the Jehovah's Witnesses, the shelter given by the colonial power can not be used as an argument for equality of religions in Mozambique. First because the refuge was given to them in the border areas in order to create a buffer zone against the Frelimo entry in Zambezia, since Jehovah's Witnesses refuse (as always) to enter into politics. Second, this development happened while the colonial power continued to repress JWs Mozambique that were seen as subversive by refusing to support the Portuguese, do military service, and salute the national flag, not wanting to get into politics no. [2]

If the colonial period was not all pretty, without inequality and competition between religions, the post-independence period was not all bad. It was not like Cabrita states, years where Frelimo had only a "draft totalitarian nature." Whether we like it or not, Frelimo only triggered a full and open struggle against churches since 1978. It is true that there was some fighting religious institutions before that, but it was not full and was very specific and limited - the Nazarene Church because of links to the PIDE and imperialism, Jehovah's Witnesses for being used by the Portuguese military, etc.. There was no ban on wearing religious clothing in public, no churches closed in mass, and there was no campaigning in favor of atheism as was the case between 1978 and 1982. The turn of 1978 has to do with the III Congress where the Party and State and merged with the removal of religious practitioners elements within the leadership of Frelimo, withdrawal without which the shift would not have been possible. [3]

Finally, Joao Cabrita states scandalized by the fact that I have stated that the religious situation in the country today is positive. In fact, he believes that saying that, I would have said that the fight against religions would have been positive. There is a misunderstanding here, because what was said and written, and I confirm once again, is that the current religious situation in the country is positive and nationalization contributed to this (not repression!). We see that because, if there were nationalizations, the Catholic church would have continued to control 90% of schools in the country as in colonial times (controlled 89.3% of schools in the country in 1964), and this would have created problems in a country where nearly independent 20% of the population is Catholic, 20% are Muslim, 30% is non-Catholic Christian, and most adept, partial or total, of traditional religion.