Zimbabwe is "undergoing a very difficult patch, economically, socially, politically and spiritually," church leaders said.

"I think all the churches want to save this church because here Jesus was born," Giammarco Piacenti said.

"I made the mistake of being too trusting," the archbishop wrote in a letter.

The basic questions are: Who is in need of God's mercy and how does that mercy reach people, he said. The answer is that all people "are called to beg for mercy, to desire conversion."

The attack showed the challenges of church-state relations in a country plagued by polarized politics and violence and suffering through shortages of everything from food to medicines to Communion wine for celebrating Mass.

The church should adhere to the same business practices expected of institutions and governments worldwide, conference participants said.