| Mission Report: Lesotho: May 2011 |
 |
 |
 |
 On February 20, 2011 I arrived in Lesotho for a week-long and much awaited HLI training in Maseru. At the airport, I was welcomed by the Secretary General of the Lesotho Catholic Bishops Conference, Fr. Emile Tsasane, of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), who drove me to Mazenod Conference Center, where the training was to take place. In the evening, Fr. Emile drove me to the Bishops’ Conference Center, and I was able to attend the evening Eucharistic Celebration in the Cathedral. INITIATING PRO-LIFE LESOTHO The pro-life training program began on Monday evening with an opening speech from His Grace, Gerard Rerotholi, OMI, Archbishop of Maseru. In his opening speech, the Archbishop welcomed all participants and expressed his gratitude to HLI for its effort and dedication to the cause of human life and family. Then the Archbishop shared his insights into the pro-life ministry, highlighting the various threats to human life and family. He particularly noted how language has been manipulated to achieve a cultural revolution that is hostile to human life, faith and Christian moral values. He reflected on the misery and cultural confusion currently facing the Sotho people. He lamented that Western anti-life propaganda has adversely affected the beautiful traditional cultural values that are based on the precious gift of life. The message of the Gospel of Life, which HLI has brought, must permeate into the lives of our people and help them change in favor of life and family. The Archbishop concluded his introductory speech by asking participants to be good students during the entire training session and stating that at the end, he wanted to see a pro-life movement born. The Archbishop was present throughout the training as a participant. This was great blessing for HLI and the people of Lesotho Besides the Archbishop, the Secretary General also attended the entire training session and provided an inspiration to all participants. In attendance were 5 priests, 15 religious nuns representing 4 religious congregations, and 13 lay representatives from the four dioceses. There were 35 participants in all, 10 participants more than originally expected. On the first day, I devoted my talk on the sacredness of human life and the need to defend, protect and promote it. I discussed the stages of pre-natal development, pointing out the salient features that manifest and the role and responsibility of the biological parents at this stage of human development – a harmonious marital relationship and a good diet for the mother. I emphasized that the way a child behaves and thinks after birth is connected to the way the father and the mother related to the child in womb. I showed Baby Steps, the excellent film produced by American Life League, and participants were able to watch 4-D ultrasound images of a preborn baby moving in the womb. They witnessed the baby as it grew in the womb, smiling, squinting and yawning at different stages. Group discussions and reports proved that the Sotho people have deeply rooted cultural values and traditions that protect life and, if preserved, could help promote human life and the family. 
Emil Hagamu (left) Archbishop Gerard Resotholi and Fr. Augustine.
OPENING EYES TO THE REALITY OF ABORTION Abortion is still illegal in Lesotho. However, a recent court case, which ruled in favor of allowing an abortion for a 12-year-old girl who was impregnated by a 45-year-old man, sets a favorable condition for possible legalization of abortion in the country. Despite being illegal, abortion practices are a common reality among many women. The nurses were stunned when I told them that abortion is “killing an unborn baby.” To them, they would tolerate an abortion of a young fetus before it is two months old. I showed them the films The Silent Scream and Slaughter of the Innocents. These two films had a great impact on the participants. The Archbishop admitted that it was his first time watching the barbaric process of abortion. The other participants, especially the nuns and nurses, said they did not know that abortion was such a horrible and cruel experience to the baby and the mother. They confessed to me the following day that the abortion film they saw changed their attitude on human life and abortion and that they will work hard to educate the people of Lesotho on the need to protect human life and to campaign against abortion. On the last day of the training, I presented two talks: one on language manipulation and another on HIV/AIDS. The presentation on language manipulation was based on the booklet, “The New Global Ethic: Challenges for the Church,” by Marguerite A. Peeters. In this booklet, Marguerite argues how “experts” at the United Nations have radically revolutionized culture and ideology, such that new concepts and terminologies that favor an anti-life ideology have been invented. The radical Cultural Revolution, she argues, silently took place in the 1960s and 70s and has had an impact on every sphere of life. We have all been affected; no one today questions the hidden meanings behind the use of such words: reproductive health; gender equity, gender equality, gender mainstreaming; sexual health; good governance; capacity building, safe sex, rights of women, rights of children, sex workers, etc. THE NEED FOR ABSTINENCE AND FIDELITY IN MARRIAGE My talk on HIV/AIDS was again made at the request of participants who wanted to know the position of HLI on contraceptive use by discordant couples. Using Church teachings on this topic and HLI’s booklet, A Pro-life Pastoral Handbook, I guided them to see the beauty of abstinence and fidelity in marriage. Where separation could be the only possible option, I asked them to consult with their pastors. Given the failure rate of condoms, and given the HIV infection rate of 40% in Lesotho, I told them that the condom option is tantamount to committing suicide. Studies of the condom failure rate were discussed, and they responded affirmatively that, indeed, fidelity in marriage and abstinence, a message normally directed at young people, were the only true option in our fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Lesotho is a dying kingdom. The Secretary General revealed that, at some point in the past, Lesotho boasted a population of over 2.5 million people. Today, standing at below 1.8 million, the population of this small Kingdom is steadily declining. There are a number of reasons to account for this. One: Western anti-life influence has penetrated deeply into the hearts of the people – the small family model of two children has terribly shaken the foundations of traditional family structure. Two: The contraceptive prevalence rate, now at a record high of 40%, and even more in the urban centers, is creating an anti-procreation mentality among many men and women. Three: Abortion. On my second trip to this country last year, I realized abortion is being advertised even in some newspapers. One such advertisement read: Abortion: safe, cheap, easy and painless. Some women cross into neighboring South Africa to seek abortions. Four: The Sotho traditional and cultural values that favor life and family, though still in existence, are radically being replaced by values that are opposed to life and family. So today, the Archbishop admitted, free sex campaigns are replacing age-old values of virginity and chastity; openness to procreation is being replaced by the radical value of barrenness through contraception and abortion; sex education instruction in schools is replacing the traditional way of raising children when sexual morality was a key factor before marriage; while a girl who has had an abortion was punished in the traditional setting, today campaigns on abortion are being waged in the name of women’s freedom; while barrenness was a curse in the old traditional way of life, today, barrenness is promoted through contraception including condomization. 
Participants of HLI training in Lesotho.
Despite being a Christian country, Christian witness is far from being a common practice. The government, whose employees are mostly Christians, controls everything, including the media, education and health. Christians in the governmental and non-governmental sectors do not show their witness as Christians when deliberating national policies. A NEW PRO-LIFE ORGANIZATION After an intensive, three-day HLI pro-life training, Pro-Life Lesotho, the name of the new pro-life organization in Lesotho, was born. It was a great and successful event, largely due to the good planning and organization done by the Archbishop of Maseru, Gerard Resotholi, OMI, and the Secretary General, Fr. Emile Tsasane, OMI. I was informed that the Archbishop personally sent invitations to the religious congregations, who each sent three representatives. The presence and active participation of the Archbishop throughout the training period enormously enriched the training and signified that the Church in Lesotho has accepted the presence of HLI in the country. And the fact that participants represented all four dioceses shows that the newly formed organization, Pro-Life Lesotho, is standing on solid ground, with the support of the laity, the religious and the clergy, especially the bishops and the Bishops’ Conference. At this point, I am obliged, with a humble heart, to thank HLI for the financial support that enabled me to travel and the training to take place very successfully. I want to let you, the HLI donors and supporters, know that your financial assistance is helping greatly to build the Culture of Life in Africa, and the Gospel of Life is becoming a daily living reality. |