Karonga Diocese Hosts CWO 37th AGM
Catholic Women from all the eight dioceses in Malawi last December held a meeting in Karonga for their 37th Annual General Meeting (AGM) where among others they will tackle issues that affect their day to day spiritual and body life.
The AGM was officially opened with a Holy mass on Thursday at Miracle, Chaminade in Karonga where His Lordship Bishop Martin Mtumbuka of Karonga diocese and Vice Chairman for the Episcopal Conference of Malawi presided over as the main celebrant along with His Lordship Peter Musikuwa of Chikwawa diocese and Chairman for the Pastoral Commission where CWO falls under.
Other notable faces that attended the Eucharistic mass included wife to the State Vice President, Madam Mary Chilima who is also a member of CWO from Lilongwe Archdiocese, Monsignor Denis Chitete, Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa, Director for Pontifical Missionary Societies at ECM, CWO diocesan Chaplains from all the dioceses, religious men and women and the lay faithful.
In his homely, Bishop Mtumbuka in line with this year’s them “Faithfulness in Marriage” Challenged Catholic women to be true Catholic faithful by among others follow the Catholic Social teachings and honouring the Sacrament of Marriage.
He said it’s high time the Catholic women embraced the spirit of love, faithfulness and forgiveness within their families and elsewhere.
According to Bishop Mtumbuka, there are many Civil Society Organisations and other individuals advocating for contravening family related issues like the same sex unions hence Catholic women should ignore such practices rather should stick to their Catholic Social teachings which do not tolerate that.
“The Catholic Church recognizes family as a Marriage sacrament hence no one can facilitate divorce, even the Pope himself cannot. However, despite all the challenges that we face in family we need not to disown our families. We must realize that we can’t do everything on our own but we through Jesus Christ so that we bear fruitful fruits,” he said
The national chairlady for CWO, Bernadette Chiwaya said during their five days meeting which ends today (Sunday),delegates will discuss the marriage, same sex unions ,transgender and the Church’s stand; and also receive reports from all the dioceses.
Taking her turn, Madam Mary Chilima who at the function was the Guest of Hounor said Catholic women should realize that there are always good things and challenges in marriage life but the most important aspect is perseverance in times of challenges.
She said as Catholic women, they should strive to care for their families by doing small scale businesses that eventually will promote development in their families and the nation at large.
“Fellow Catholic women, lets realize that the sacrament of marriage is a gift from God. We should realize that marriage is made up of a man and a woman not vice versa hence we need to stick to our Church’s social teachings,” she said.
Chilima also challenged the youth to bless their marriages before getting into marriage so that they are guided by the Holy Spirit throughout their marriage life.
She also urged all Catholic women to be united and fight gender based violence, child abuse and any form of discrimination toward women and children in the country.
CWO Annual General Meetings are on rotational basis and in 2015 the meeting was held in Mzuzu diocese whereas Chikwawa diocese will host it next year.