**3. Whither Mainstream Churches: Negative and Passive Peace-Making**

Against the deteriorating socio-economic and political environment, the historic mainstream churches and their apex bodies, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference (ZCBC), the Zimbabwe Catholic Churches (ZCC) and the Evangelical Fellowship Zimbabwe (EFZ), attempted several times to facilitate behind-the-scenes talks between the main political parties, ZANU PF and the MDC. In the language of social movements, the mainstream refers to a set of authoritative institutions that can and do maintain public order, dominate economic activity and justify exercising power and authority. Cases in point include upper layers of governments, corporations and religious institutions (Lofland 1996). The backchannel e fforts by the mainstream church leadership are necessary to initiate political peace-making processes upon which social peace-making builds. While political processes may stop direct violence, that is, the physical violence that can be observed with the naked eye, such as bombs exploding or people being physically attacked with machetes, they do not address societal transformation. The mainstream churches were also rocked by divisions and ambivalent positions regarding their response to the crises. "Because of the lack of strong ecumenical cooperation, the ZCC,

<sup>1</sup> At the time of writing these laws are set to be replaced by new ones, under the guise of political reforms.

ZCBC and EFZ and other church bodies have not been influential in the formulation of governmen<sup>t</sup> policy" (Makwasha 2011, p. 236).

This is not to sidestep some of the initiatives mainstream churches have undertaken in civic matters in the country. They participated in the constitutional process of 1999 and have issued fearless pastoral statements, which irked the ZANU PF governmen<sup>t</sup> (Chitando and Manyonganise 2011, pp. 83–86; Ruzivo 2008). Such pastoral letters include "God Hears the Cry of the Oppressed", in which the Catholic bishops were "blunt and to the point" (Chitando and Manyonganise 2011, p. 84) regarding the crisis of leadership in the country. The pastoral letter provoked a ferocious response from President Mugabe. The ZCC issued a statement following the formation of the inclusive governmen<sup>t</sup> in 2008, bemoaning the manipulation of democratic space and selective application of the law. The grouping Heads of Christian Denominations issued a statement in 2005 asking for people's freedoms to be observed (Chitando and Manyonganise 2011, p. 85). The point is that these bodies are not grassroots-based. They are far removed from the people. Their offices are located in big cities and inaccessible to ordinary people (Dube 2006, p. 46). Besides, the extent to which the pastoral letters trickle through to the common people in the workplace, families and even the local Christian communities is very limited (Chitando 2005, p. 143). By preferring backchannel negotiations, and issuing ritualistic pastoral letters, mainstream churches distance themselves from the people. They only realize negative peace, understood as the absence of direct violence rather than an affirmation or achievement of fairness, justice and social redistribution, the latter of which represents positive peace (Galtung 1996, p. 3). Peace incorporates feelings of well-being and a sense of flourishing (Wolterstorff 1983).
