Cultural Counsellor In Ground Breaking Meeting With The Roman Catholic Church In Zimbabwe

Relations between the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe and the Islamic Republic of Iran this Friday June 14, 2024, received a major boost following a groundbreaking meeting between the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), Father Tryvis Moyo and the Cultural Counsellor of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr Hamid Bakhtiyar in Harare.

14 June 2024

Relations between the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe and the Islamic Republic of Iran this Friday, June 14, 2024, received a major boost following a groundbreaking meeting between the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), Father Tryvis Moyo, and the Cultural Counsellor of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr. Hamid Bakhtiyar, in Harare.

This was the first meeting between the church and the Cultural Centre in decades.

Mr Bakhtiyar, who is on whirlwind tour of meeting mainline Christian churches in Zimbabwe, welcomed the gesture extended to him to meet the Roman Catholic Church top administrator.

He told Father Moyo that the Cultural Centre of the Embassy of Iran intends to collaborate the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe in all future interfaith dialogue sessions that the Cultural Centre would be organizing.

He said the interfaith dialogue sessions enables both sides to have a clear and full appreciation and understanding of each other.

Mr Bakhtiyar said as Zimbabwe and the Islamic Republic of Iran enjoy very cordial political relations, it is also important to entrench deep cultural relations between the two countries.

The Cultural Counsellor said in in an effort to establish more binding relationship between the two countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to open its educational facilities to Zimbabwe by offering some postgraduate scholarships to Zimbabwe in various fields of study beneficial to the country.

Mr. Bakhtiyar also called on the Roman Catholic Church to take a proactive stance on the Palestinian – Israeli conflict by condemning the brutal killing of innocent people in Palestine.

The Cultural Counsellor noted that it is the responsibility of religious leaders, through interfaith dialogue forums, to take a united stand on various global issues like the Palestinian conflict and, if need be, take a condemnatory stance.

He said Iran supports the Palestinians, who are reeling under intense Israeli attacks.

He said the church in Zimbabwe has the responsibility of condemning any heinous acts as well as to call for peace, tolerance and peaceful coexistence.

Mr. Bakhtiyar called on the Roman Catholic Church to condemn the double standards portrayed by the Western governments whose stance is biased towards Israel.

The Cultural Counsellor asked the ZCBC Secretary General to facilitate a meeting between him and the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Zimbabwe. He said the meeting would help to renew the friendly relationship between Iran and the Roman Catholic Church.

He informed Father Moyo that the Cultural Centre would be organizing and hosting a Three-day Interreligious dialogue conference to be held in Harare in September 2024 to which he also invited the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church and his clergy to participate in.

Mr. Bakhtiyar said the last Interfaith dialogue seminar was held at Arrupe Jesuit University in Harare in 2022.

Mr. Bakhtiyar asked Father Moyo about the relationship between his Church and the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe and other local churches, to which Father Moyo said his church was an all-encompassing church, as it collaborates and consult with all the churches in Zimbabwe through the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations.

Father Moyo noted that the Roman Catholic Church supports the struggling people of Palestine, and that the Head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, had spoken about the immediate need to establish peace in Palestine and that the church condemns the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel.

He said his church would want to partner the Cultural Centre in all its interfaith dialogue seminars, conferences and other programmes.

The Secretary General urged Mr Bakhtiyar to also encompass the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations in the dialogue processes. The Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations is made up of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe (UDACIZA) and the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference.

The Cultural counselor stressed that it was important for religious bodies to converge together.