ALMOST two decades after his world seemingly collapsed, following a sex scandal that shook the entire country and the whole Roman Catholic Church congregation, former Bulawayo head of the church, Archbishop Pius Ncube, has broken his silence.

Now Archbishop Emeritus, which is a Latin word for "retired", Ncube's world spectacularly collapsed in July 2007, following adultery allegations after his amorous relationship with a married member of his congregation, Rosemary Sibanda, now late, was caught on camera.

Following the incident, Archbishop Emeritus Ncube had kept his silence and left the country to the Vatican, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, before coming back home later to start life afresh at the Marist Brothers Seminary in Dete, Hwange District, Matabeleland North province.

Our Bulawayo Bureau caught up with the 78-year-old clergyman at Magoli Catholic Church in rural Dete last Thursday, where he was chairing a congregational meeting.

"I am still doing the Lord's work as you can see," said Archbishop Emeritus Ncube.

He said after the 2007 scandal, the church asked him to "lie low" and be away from the hustle and bustle of the city and posted him to Dete to start afresh.

"My life has not changed for the worse. I have been here in Dete, where I do a lot of things for the community, especially the elderly who may be having various life challenges. I counsel them and sometimes assist them financially," said Archbishop Emeritus Ncube.

He would not be drawn to comment on the 2007 events or politics, saying the church has gagged him from such publicity.

"I have my views about the political situation in the country, past and present but the church ordered me not to say anything, which I am obliged to follow as a loyal servant, even though I would want to have my views known," Archbishop Emeritus Ncube said.

Before the day's work, the slow-talking clergyman said he wakes up at around 4am to conduct prayers together with seminaries, student priests and the prayers take almost an hour before undertaking the usual morning chores like bathing and then breakfast.

Being in a rural set-up, Archbishop Emeritus Ncube has tried to venture into small-scale potato farming but the project did not yield much hence he abandoned it.

"I only managed to harvest about three buckets, which I felt wasn't a good business model looking at the cost of production, especially water charges hence I abandoned that," he said.

Archbishop Emeritus Ncube said together with other priests, they have also successfully translated the Catechism of the Catholic Church into iSiNdebele, a project, which took them almost three years and the book is now awaiting formal presentation to the public by the church leadership.

The Catechism is a collection of the basic fundamental beliefs of the Catholic Church that cover the doctrine of the Trinity, that is, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It also teaches a lot, like the need to embrace God's kingdom and His presence and that the church plays a role in this mediation, as well as the need for unity of humanity and personal union with God.

"We realised that some members of the church may not have received enough education for them to be able to read and understand the English language but are eloquent in iSiNdebele," he said.

"So, this translation will assist them greatly. The book is done, its about 800 pages, what is left now is just to include indexes and also acknowledge our various sources.

"I must emphasise that our church leaders will present the document to the public as per protocol," said Archbishop Emeritus Ncube.

Looking into the future, he said that he was contemplating penning his life story but was still sceptical on how it will be viewed by what he said were political players in the country, before revealing that his church gagged him against speaking to the media about anything political or involving the 2007 events.

"I hope one day, when I eventually write my memoirs, the world will have my own story but not now."

Archbishop Emeritus Ncube embraced Catholicism at St Patrick's Primary School in Bulawayo, with a then Dominican nun from Germany having a huge influence in that decision.

After Ordinary Levels, he attended Chishawasha Seminary, where most Catholic priests are trained and he trained for seven years, leaving in 1963 where he went to a number of postings in and around the country, first landing at St Joseph's in Kezi, (then) Empandeni Mission in Plumtree.

At independence he went to study in Rome at the Lateran University for a two-year Master's in Theology; came back and taught for a year at Chishawasha. In 1984 Bishop Henry Karlen asked him to animate the Christian community, assisting shepherds and priests to get together. Then he was a pastoral vicar, an assistant to the bishop, based at Bishop's House in Bulawayo.

In 1985 he went back to Embakwe Mission, where for a year he was in charge of the mission and some stations. The following four years, from 1986 to 1989, he was at St Patrick's in Makokoba and between 1990 and 1997 he was pastor at the Cathedral of St Mary's in Bulawayo. Archbishop Emeritus Ncube was ordained a bishop at the end of 1997, a position he held up to 2007.