Church welcomes Zuma’s ‘soul-searching’

South African churches gave a cautious welcome (23/2) to President Zuma’s call for a
Church welcomes Zuma’s ‘soul-searching’national dialogue on morality. The National Church Leaders’ Consultation said President Zuma’s proposal to examine the soul of South Africa was ‘timely’. The ‘common values and principles’ that formed the country under the leadership of President Mandela had been ‘substantially squandered’, the leaders said. The president’s recent fathering of an illegitimate child provoked strong criticism and was seen as a sign of the country’s declining moral standards. President Zuma told South Africa’s Sunday Times there was a need to agree the ‘values that define a common South African identity’. South Africa’s church leaders are keen to clarify this and establish the ‘sacred’ and ‘inviolable’ value of all human life, regardless of ‘race, class, nationality, religion and political persuasion’.

Source: Church of England Newspaper (5/3)