Keeping the Faith

Mshanga calls me at half six in the morning saying I can meet ‘the Father’ this afternoon at four this afternoon. This presents two difficulties, first unlike most Zambians I don’t wake up until seven and secondly I will still be working at four. After some conferring we arrange to meet at six instead. Arranging a meeting with the local Catholic priest seems more complex than it should, with Mshanga who I have seen as a patient acting as go between.

Down at Katete Boma St John the Evangelists is a quaint church the outside painted in bright colours. The priests have a comfortable home behind. I greet Fr Lawrence and Fr Lazarus, they are both much younger than most priests at home, well spoken and intelligent. I firstly learn that in addition to St John’s the parish includes no fewer than 13 outstations some up to 80km away on rough roads. This might explain their elusiveness and why there is rarely actually a mass at St Martin’s at Katete Stores.

I ask the priests how they spend their time apart from Sundays when they are travelling around try to get a mass in in a few of the outstations. Fr Lazarus talks about some office work they have to attend to as well as visitations to schools and the hospital. He explains their role when called to see a sick person ‘at least we are able to talk, just like that, give a bit of hope to them, we don’t give the sacrament (to those that are not Catholic) but we will visit and pray for anybody’.

I am interested in the role the Catholic Church plays in life here. They explain that the parish is now fifty years old and Fr Lawrence adds ‘the Catholic church is one of those Churches with a lot of numbers. Everyone is expecting us to lead by example in a number of issues. We have a branch of home based care, an orphan’s programme that cares for everybody regardless of denomination’. They go on to outline the Church’s role in helping newly married couples as well as civic duties including helping people understand legislation, helping in community development and involvement in elections monitoring.

Having seen and experienced some of the vast number of new age Christian and Evangelical Churches around Katete ask the two fathers of their views on these ‘new’ churches. ‘We try to develop relationships and instil the spirit of ecumenism like during world AIDS day, even allowing those churches to use our premises, the choirs arranging choral festivals together’ says Fr Lawrence before he outlines challenges that arise for instance when a person passes away and there is confusion within that family as to which Church the deceased belongs.

This seems a little like a rehearsed Fr Jack ‘that would be an ecumenical matter’ type of response but it does seem that different Churches cooperate much more here than at home like recently when there was hospital Sunday and a number of Churches held a joint service at the hospital.

Maybe I can angle a better response by addressing the issue of funding. The priests explain the various ways the Church is funded here (entirely from parishioner donations with no outside funding). Firstly there is the Masika where each household gives some of the harvest to the Church. Then there is the Zambala (basket collection) people are expected to give 2,000kwacha (35cent) for this. There is the Yachitukuku a further collection for premises collection. Finally and most astonishingly to me there is the Mtulo which Fr Lazarus explains is a type of Church tax. Public employees and business people are expected to give 10% of their income and those not working 15,000 kwacha (€2.50) per year.

The only bit of criticism I get about the Pentecostal Churches, which I believe are heavily funded from outside is from Fr Lazarus ‘we are told they get money from America and Saudi Arabia’. He further tries to explain their increasing popularity ‘they have some leaders who are charismatic those sects, that people just get inspired by’. This point help emphasise some of the challenges these priests face covering a vast area and huge numbers of people ‘to have a greater impact where the place is today is difficult, some of the people they don’t know us, that physical contact is not there’ he adds. Indeed Zambia has over four million Catholics and just 382 diocesan priests.

Four million is a lot of people and religion is a big deal here so what role can the Church play in health promotion? ‘It has been very supportive we have three Catholic mission hospitals in the Eastern Province’ Fr Lawrence explains. Fr Lazarus talks about the role of the missionaries in health, education and agriculture. So what about HIV? ‘We have to accept this is a disease in our midst that needs full time support for those suffering, those that are not infected are affected through brothers, sisters or other relatives’ says Fr Lawrence. He outline the role of the Church in home based care, helping people get access to medications, some parishes have even set up their own VCT (voluntary counselling and testing) centres.

‘There shouldn’t be stigma because that kills fist he adds’ before explaining the Churches preaching on abstinence. This leads nicely on to my number one question that is the Churches attitude towards the use of condoms and other contraceptive methods. As a doctor I offer patients advice on contraception, prescribe contraceptives and encourage condom usage. As a Catholic I think the Church gets unfair criticism on the whole condom/HIV issue. Yes condom use needs to be encouraged and will help in the fight against HIV, but the church suddenly turning around and telling everyone to use condoms is unlikely to have a dramatic impact. Indeed people abstaining from sex out of wedlock would in theory have a dramatic impact.

I still try to develop the point and explain abstinence is an unrealistic expectation for most people ‘you are blocking out procreation, which is good in marriage, the Church doesn’t allow contraceptives’ Fr Lazarus intercedes. I further outline my view of the benefits of the option of contraception to a woman who has children and wishes to keep her family to a manageable number. ‘In that case now we say natural family planning’ he continues. I try to gently explain the massive unreliability of this especially in resource poor setting like Zambia (most households don’t have a thermometer) but he cleverly replies condoms don’t work if not used correctly either.

We talk a little about traditional beliefs in Zambia which the fathers feel is declining over time, though not judging by the vast majority of patients I see with traditional healer tattoos. They feel on of the biggest challenges facing the Church here is from poor relations with the government ‘the political powers are not pro-poor and the Church is pro-poor. The Church speaks out and the government says you should preach and not talk about life issues’ Fr Lazarus explains before Fr Lawrence recalls a recent event of a Bishop being threatened by members of the ruling party for speaking out. ‘Another challenge, there are Catholics in the government, we still have problems with corruption leave their Catholicism?’ he adds.

On other challenges facing the Church Fr Lazarus again speaks of HIV/AIDS ‘that is a big test on one’s faith, people ask how is God there’ they also talk about challenges from Satanism, those who covet money and material goods. They also speak of difficulties facing young people and feel there should be some spiritual counselling in schools.

They ask me is there anything that has surprised me in Zambia. I speak of things like the positivity of people in the face of adversity, how people go to Church and celebrate service even though there is no priest and the strength of faith in people here. I explain that poverty may partially explain this, Fr Lawrence agrees explaining a Marxist thought ‘religion is an opium of the poor’.

The conversation tails away, they want to know where in Ireland I am from, what I think of the Zambian work ethic. Unsurprisingly despite living all their lives in Zambia they have met several Irish priests and religious including an Irish priest 40km from here. They even bring up some mention of the Irish enjoying a drink or two. I am tempted to respond to this by asking if they have ever met a Fr Jack Hackett but I hold my tongue.