Zimbabwe ? An outspoken Catholic archbishop urged Zimbabweans to fill the streets to protest a surge in state-orchestrated violence, saying Thursday he was willing to lead a campaign of peaceful resistance to force President Robert Mugabe out of office.

Mugabe’s opponents reported that a hospitalized activist had died of injuries suffered when police fired tear gas, live ammunition and water cannons to stop a March 11 prayer meeting protesting his rule. Police did not confirm the death of Itai Manyeruki, who would be the second activist to die as a result of violence. Gift Tandare, 31, was fatally shot as the meeting was dispersed.

Archbishop Pius Ncube told a gathering of clerics, pro-democracy activists and mostly Western diplomats in Harare on Thursday that, “We must be ready to stand, even in front of blazing guns.”

Ncube has long been an ardent critic of Mugabe, 83, and his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party.