Pope John Paul II on Thursday sharply criticised Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s controversial land reform programme as an ”error” which could only create tension and discord.
”It is an error to think that any real benefit or success will come simply by expropriating large landholdings, dividing them into smaller production units and distributing them to others,” the pope said.
Agrarian reform may be necessary in many countries, the pope said, ”but it is also a complex and delicate process.”
”Justice must be made available to all if the injuries of the past are to be left behind and a brighter future built.”
The pontiff was addressing diplomats to the Holy See as he received the credentials of 12 new ambassadors, including Harare’s envoy Kelebert Nkomani.
Since introducing the reforms three years ago, Mugabe’s government has so far seized 11-million hectares of farmland from whites and redistributed it to 320 000 black families.
The land reforms have partly been blamed for Zimbabwe’s grave food shortages.
The president has ordered a review of the scheme after his government admitted in March that the exercise has some ”irregularities”.
The 82-year-old pontiff said due weight must be given ”to the various claims of land ownership, the right to land use and the common good.”
He said that when values of democracy, good government, human rights, dialogue and peace were neglected or violated, ”social and political violence will eventually increase, the gap between rich and poor will grow ever wider…”
He told Nkomani that if land redistribution in a given country was to offer a sustainable response to economic problems, it ”must continue to develop over time and must ensure that the necessary infrastructures are in place.”
”Feelings of disenfranchisement or of being unjustly treated only serve to foment tension and discord.”
The leader of the Catholic Church added that any agrarian reform ”should be in full accord with national policies and those of international bodies”.
The pope pledged the ”full support” of the Catholic Church for efforts ”to construct a culture of dialogue rather than confrontation, of reconciliation rather than conflict.”
Nkomani is also ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the European Union. – Sapa-AFP