Sam Kalimba and Stella Zulu
The Catholic Church in Malawi inaugurated the celebration of four missionary anniversaries at Dedza Parish in the Diocese of Dedza on 5th February 2022.
According to the National Director for the Pontifical Mission Societies(PMS) in Malawi, Rev Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa, the Catholic Church in 2022 celebrates in thanks-giving to God for the gift of the four institutions and persons that helped the spread of the Catholic faith to other continents and countries including Malawi despite financial and human-personnel challenges.
Therefore, the Church will this year pray and thank God for the 400 years for the establishment of the Congregation for the Propaganda Fidei also known as Evangelisation of Peoples by Pope Gregory XV in 1622; 200 years of the foundation of the Missionary Society for the Propagation of Faith by Pauline Marie Jaricot in 1822; 100 years of the establishment of Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) by Pope Pius XI in 1922 and 150 years of the birth of Blessed Paulo Manna, Born in 1872, founder of the Pontifical Missionary Union (PMU).
The Eucharistic celebration for the National Launch was presided over by the local ordinary of the Diocese of Dedza, his Lordship Bishop Peter Adrian Chifukwa, together with Priests and the Religious men and women of the Diocese of Dedza who also rekindled their consecrated life as one way of fulfilling the desire of serving the Church in unity as encouraged by Blessed Paulo Manna who according to Fr. Mwakhwawa, perpetually prayed for the unity of priests and the religious all over the world even on his sick bed.
Bishop Chifukwa called on the religious and their superiors to translate the philosophy of the Propaganda Fidei initiated by Pope Gregory XV by making themselves available in the Church to proclaim the gospel and teach Catechism to children and the youth as well as those willing to join the Church.
“To you Superiors of different congregations, I appeal to you to consider training some of the Sisters in Catechetics so that apart from your Charisms and doing your apostolates in hospitals and schools, you should also do pastoral work in parishes and engage yourselves in evangelizing our youths before they get ‘false teachings’ elsewhere. We have a lot of work in our parishes and we need your hand. This may be required only once in a week. I know you can manage to put to practice what we are being called to do this year as we celebrate the missionary anniversaries,” said Bishop Chifukwa.
Fr. Mwakhwawa encouraged his counterparts in the vine yard of the Lord to take the celebrations to their parishes and small Christian communities and make sure Christians understand the importance of these anniversaries, as we move towards the climax of the celebrations on 23 October 2022, when the Church will be commemorating the World Mission Sunday,
“It is my humble appeal to you all fellow priests, religious and the laity to take these activities home. You are not expected to make complicated programs and not to spend much money to celebrate these four anniversaries and you should not organize specific functions for the same. All what you need to do is simply to follow your ordinary pastoral plans and programs and include offering of thanksgiving prayers to the Lord, to teach and reflect on historical and missionary experiences over the past years and to do missionary awareness and pastoral plans for the future of the Church in Malawi and beyond for the coming 50 years, 100 years and 500 years,” Said Fr. Mwakhwawa.
The Church in Malawi shifted the initial plan of holding the launch in the Diocese of Chikwawa to Dedza due to road damages caused by the Cyclone Ana disaster that has badly affected Southern part of Malawi.