Crisis of Conscience

Can the government of a Christian country survive the defiant opposition of its churches? Rhodesia is about to find out. The churches have never condoned Prime Minister Ian Smith's white supremacist policies. Now, on the eve of a critical general election on April 10, the Roman Catholic Church has directly challenged them.

In a pastoral letter entitled A Crisis of Conscience, Salisbury's Archbishop Francis Markall announced that the Catholic Church would refuse to obey Rhodesia's race laws because they are "contrary to the Christian faith." The letter, read at church services throughout the land, quotes the Apostles: "We must obey God rather than men."

The main issue is a controversial land tenure act, part of Rhodesia's newly adopted constitution, that assigns separate living areas for Africans and whites. Under the act, churches must register as "voluntary associations" in each area and obtain government permits for their activities. The Roman Catholic Church refuses to register because to do so would limit its freedom to deal with all people, irrespective of race.

Real Terrorists. People may be forbidden to worship in churches of their faith or educate their children outside their own prescribed racial areas, the pastoral letter warns. It adds: "We may be forced to refuse hospital beds to anyone not of the race approved in that area. Priests and nuns may have to be segregated in their communities according to their racial origins. The whole future of the church in Rhodesia is thus at stake." The stakes are high. The Catholic Church, with 450,000 members, is the second largest denomination in Rhodesia. It runs 34 hospitals and 1,000 elementary schools.

Catholic rumblings against the Smith regime have been heard for at least two years, but only recently has discontent broken through. Last month Bishop Donal Lament of Umtali, head of the Catholic bishops' conference, openly branded those responsible for the race laws "the real terrorists of Rhodesia." When a priest was expelled from the country for his anti-regime views, the outspoken prelate recalled the fate of priests in Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. He was chiefly responsible for the pastoral letter, signed by all four Roman Catholic bishops in Rhodesia.

The controversy has become an issue in the elections, with unforeseeable consequences. Smith is doing his best to prevent, or at least postpone a showdown between church and state. He has promised to face the problem raised by the Catholic hierarchy "in the cool, calm atmosphere of the post-election period"--when he hopes to have a new five-year mandate to do as he pleases.

From Rome, Pope Paul VI lent powerful support to his bishops. During his pre-Easter audience, the Pope singled out such "ignoble leftovers from the past" as racist intransigence and discrimination. Most other churches are expected to follow the lead of the Catholics. The Anglican bishop of Salisbury has praised the Catholics' courage, and the African head of the Methodist church, Andrew Ndhela, came out in unqualified support. He is chairman of the Christian Council of Rhodesia, whose 16 denominations plan to meet on April 26 to decide what action to take.

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