South Africa’s Bishops issue prayer ahead of 2024 elections

With the 2024 General Elections in South Africa just around the corner, Catholic Bishops in South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini, have issued a collective pastoral letter, appealing to the faithful to vote, consult the Bishops’ Conference’s made-available guidance and resources, and to also recite their proposed election prayer.

In the pastoral letter, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) urge believers not to take for granted their having maintained the democratic right to go to the polls and choose their leaders.

Likewise, the SACBC also requests that all parishes and communities, every Sunday, and at “every opportunity,” recite a 2024 election prayer they have issued for the occasion.

In the text, the Bishops encourage the faithful to vote according to their experience and conscience, and stressed that they have an indispensable role in building a better world, where there is justice, peace, and non-violence.

They also say the power of prayer must not be overlooked. “Holding free, fair, and peaceful elections,” the Southern African Bishops insist, “requires prayer.”

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The Bishops go on to thank God for the right to determine the outcome of the elections, as they “commend” their “beloved country” to Christ and the Blessed Mother, and pray, “May the Holy Spirit continue to heal what is broken in our hearts, families, and nations, as we respond to God’s call to build a more just and humane, a more united and peaceful South Africa.”

“May the Holy Spirit continue to heal what is broken in our hearts, families, and nations, as we respond to God’s call to build a more just and humane, a more united and peaceful South Africa”