(Adds fresh Mugabe quotes paragraphs 6,7; edits)

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE, May 4 (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe has dismissed criticism from the country's Catholic bishops as "nonsense" and warned that his government could start treating the clergy as political foes.

In a pastoral letter last month, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference said economic hardship and political repression by Mugabe's government had led to widespread anger, leaving the nation in "extreme danger".

In his first public response to the criticism, published by the official Herald newspaper on Friday from an interview he had with London-based New African magazine, Mugabe said the bishops had turned political and warned this was a dangerous path.

"If I had gone to church and the priest had read that so-called pastoral letter, I would have stood up and said nonsense ... the bishops have decided to turn political," said Mugabe, a Catholic who attends church regularly.

"And once they turn political, we regard them as no longer being spiritual and our relations with them would be conducted as if we are dealing with political entities, and this is quite a dangerous path they have chosen for themselves," said Mugabe.

On Friday Mugabe told members of his ruling ZANU-PF party's central committee that the bishops were treading on dangerous ground and rejected their calls for a new constitution.

"They have gone wrong, sadly, very sadly. This is an area we warn them not to tread. It was a sorry letter, a disgraceful piece of work, an error, a disastrous error and we shall tell them when we meet them," Mugabe said in remarks broadcast on state television.

Critics say Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, has ruined the once prosperous country and point to a deep economic crisis marked by the world's highest inflation rate of above 2,000 percent, which has left families struggling to feed themselves.

The crisis coincided with Mugabe's controversial seizure of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to blacks, which some say has accelerated the collapse of commercial agriculture and led to food shortages since 2001.

Mugabe also criticised one of Zimbabwe's most senior Catholic clergymen, Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, who has long been one of the veteran leader's staunch critics.

The bishops' group last month accused Mugabe and his officials of running a bad and corrupt government and condemned the brutal crackdown on anti-Mugabe activists on March 11, which left main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and others hospitalised.

In that Easter weekend letter, the bishops also said black Zimbabweans were fighting for political rights in almost the same way as during British colonial rule and that Mugabe had adopted unjust and oppressive laws inherited at independence.

Mugabe admitted severe hardships among Zimbabweans but said his government had maintained a solid education and health system and blamed drought for the food shortages.

"We have said the church and State must work hand in hand but if this is going to be the partner the Catholics want us to have, then obviously they must know that we will reciprocate as politicians," he added.

The veteran 83-year-old leader, who is seeking another five-year presidential term next year, denies mismanaging the economy and accuses the West of working with the opposition to plot his downfall as punishment for the land seizures.

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