By Jenipher Changwanda
Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS) in Malawi, has commended Radio Maria Malawi (RMM) for taking a leading role in promoting missionaries activities in Malawi and beyond.
Director of PMS in Malawi, Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa, made the remarks during an orientation meeting, which his office organized for RMM volunteers aimed at orienting them about the forthcoming World Mission Sunday.
Father Mwakhwawa said Radio Maria Malawi is doing a recommendable job in sensitizing the Catholic faithful about the societies under the Holy Father in the Congregation of the Evangelization of People, hence the training.
“Radio Maria Malawi is helping us a lot to reach out to many Catholics and people of goodwill with correct information regarding missionary activities and celebrations. Even now, whereby everyone is overwhelmed with Covid-19, Radio Maria, with its countrywide coverage will be able to teach people fundamentals of this day,” Father Mwakhwawa said adding “That’s why we are here today again to woo people’s support for this year’s World Mission Sunday.”
Fr. Mwakhwawa added that the charisma of Radio Maria Malawi also helps PMS to fit in easily with its messages on programming.
“Radio Maria Malawi programming aims at spreading the word of God. So, it becomes easy for us to work together in various activities we conduct at the national level. Prayer comes first at Radio Maria. This also instils conviction in volunteers’ minds and as a result, they share the messages with love and conviction,” he said.
On his part, the Director of programmes for Radio Maria Malawi, Father Joseph Kimu, hailed PMS Malawi for creating visibility of the Holy Father in the Congregation of the Evangelization of People in and through the media.
“As a Catholic media house, we benefit a lot from the trainings by PMS. They help us to boost our content, as well as working in line with the PMS calendar of events in the Catholic Church. We have several programmes, which these two parties produce hand in hand,” said Father Kimu.
He urged the participants to use the knowledge gained during the training to make this year’s celebration memorable amid the Coid-19 pandemic.
“Due to Covid-19, people are depending on us to stay informed; so, let us keep on updating the masses about the significance of this special day in the Catholic Church,” he said.
One of the participants, Linda Nyundo, said that the training has helped her to gain knowledge of World Mission Sunday.
“This is an eye opener. The knowledge I have gained will help me to deliver correct messages pertaining to the Word Mission Sunday on the radio,” Nyundo said.
World Mission Sunday, is a special Sunday set aside in the Catholic Church as the highest day in the month of October. It was established in 1926 by Pope Pius XI to promote solidarity in mission work.
Among other things, the day aims at teaching, praying and contributing money for universal missionary work and proclaiming the good news of salvation.
This year’s World Mission Sunday will be celebrated under the theme ‘We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard’.