“RETURN TO GOD”, ARCHBISHOP TAMBALA EXHORTS THE CONGREGATION AT MAULA CATHEDRAL

Ash Wednesday Mass procession at Maula Cathedral

Fr Louis Chikanya proclaiming the Gospel

His Grace George Tambala delivering the homily

The Catholic church across the world has started a 40 days period of lent with Ash Wednesday.

In the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, His Grace Archbishop George Desmond Tambala presided over the Ash Wednesday Mass in Maula Cathedral.

In his homily, the Archbishop appealed to the congregation to consider areas which they have wandered to by citing Mark 5 which talks of a demon possessed man who was destroying himself. He urged the congregants to free themselves from demon possessions and return to God and he asked the faithful to let go all their burdens to Christ during the Lenten period by reminding them to show mercy to one another.

However, His Grace echoed Jesus Christ order to do charity work, prayer and fasting without trumpeting.

The readings were taken from the Prophet Joel Chapter 2 from verses 12 up to 18, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 from verses 20 to Chapter 6 from verse 1 to 2 and Mathew chapter 6 from verses 1 to 6 then 16 to 18.

Lenten period is a period when Christians commemorate the suffering of Jesus Christ, and at the same time commit themselves to repentance.

The Vicar General, Fr Vincent Mwakhwawa giving ashes to His Grace

His Grace giving ashes to the priests

One of the faithful receiving ashes from His Grace

BROTHER JEAN FLORENT TORO LAID TO REST AT LIKUNI

by Eric Norman Mkwaira

 

The body of Brother Jean Florent Toro of Missionaries of Africa has today 10th February 2023, been laid to rest at Likuni Cemetery in Lilongwe.

He died on the 6th of February 2023 in a road accident in Chezi after being ran over on his pelvis by the lorry.

He was appointed by the superior of the Missionaries of Africa to St. Charles Lwanga Catholic Parish in Chezi for a two-year pastoral experience.

Archbishop George Tambala at the funeral Mass

Archbishop George Tambala Presiding over the Mass

The Archbishop George Tambala of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe presided over the funeral Mass at Likuni parish where he among others gave his condolences to the family of the late Brother Jean Toro.

The Archbishop viewing the body

The congregation at the funeral Mass

 

Father Marceline Mubalan delivering the funeral homily

In his homily, Father Marceline Mubalan of the Missionaries of Africa paid his tribute by thanking God for the life He gave to the late brother. In his speech, he said the late brother was a prayerful, humble and kind to many people and that this should be a lesson to the laity. Father Mubalan urged the laity that they should always be prepared for death as it does not choose any person.

Clergy paying the last respect to Brother Toro

Father Turnbull speaking on behalf of the Missionaries of Africa 

Confreres carrying the remains of Brother Toro

At the cemetery, Vicar General for Archdiocese of Lilongwe Monsignor Vincent Mwakhwawa completed the prayers for the commendation.

The Vicar General, Vincent Mwakhwawa paying last respect

The Vicar General, Vincent Mwakhwawa laying the wreaths

The late Brother Jean Florent Toro was born on 31st December 1997 in the village of Fakouna, Burkina Faso and he joined the minor seminary in 2008 in the diocese of Dedougou. In July 2021, He made his Declaration of Intent to continue his formation with the Missionaries of Africa.

     

     

DIOCESAN PRIESTS ARE ALSO CONSECRATED – 2023 WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE REVEALS

By Sam Kalimba:

Sisters-of-different-Congregations-ready-for-Consecrated-life-Mass

The prelate of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, Most Rev. George Desmond Tambala took time to lecture the difference between Religious life and Consecrated life at the 27th world Day for consecrated life. The event took place on Saturday 4 February, 2023 at St. John’s Msamba Parish in the Archdiocese.

It all became clear that there was a problem when Diocesan priests were initially not recognised during the event as having formed part of the event. The director of ceremonies called for those congregations of men that were not mentioned on the list to come forward to introduce themselves. There was laughter when one diocesan priest stood up to introduce themselves.

“Next time include us on the list. We are also set aside during our ordination and therefore we are party to this day,” said Fr. Steven Chikhasu, Diocesan Priest.

The Chairperson of the National Association of Men in Religious Institutes in Malawi (AMRIM), Rev. Fr. Bill Turnbull of the Missionaries of Africa in his speech accepted the responsibility of the chaos in planning. He said that he took the blame because he chaired the preparatory committee that omitted very important stakeholders.

It took the Archbishop of Lilongwe to put records straight.

“Canons 573 to 730 talk about what consecrated life is all about. No where does it leave out either diocesan priests or the laity. Remember that to be consecrated one has to profess in public. This, diocesan priests do. And the public means the Church, where the laity belong. So, there was no need to exclude any one from this event. Being consecrated is not equal to being religious. This must be checked in the next celebrations,” taught Most Rev. Tambala during his speech.

He said this to clarify what he called misconceptions over the event which was stained with negligible participation from the diocesan community of priests and the laity in the Archdiocese.

When the prelate was making his homily, little did many congregants, listeners and viewers knew that it was directing to the same Church Teaching until it was said at speech time.

“Initially, the Messianic belief among Israelites was meant to be a secret, known only to them. But look at how Jesus was born in a manger!  I wonder whether there was privacy there. Joseph, Mary, shepherds and all kind of figures were there, wasn’t that making it public? Now you come to the moment of Epiphany, that should have been a family kind of activity. Look at who came with gifts, doesn’t that represent universality of salvation? The wisemen from the East came.  And today this presentation of the Lord we are commemorating, we find two people waiting for the Lord, Simeon and Anna. To me these two represent the Church, very gender sensitive for that matter. The Gospel of Luke does not forget women here. A man and a woman are waiting for the baby. And today in this presentation, every Catholic experiences it through baptism. The baptism of consecration is a root of all consecration. It is through baptism that we are linked to the body of Christ. And alongside with the baby Jesus, we are presented the Father. The baptism of consecration is enjoyed by all of us the people of God,” reflected Tambala.

He further taught that the life of baby Jesus has elements that are repeated in the professional consecration or priestly consecration.

“The first thing is the presence of the Church around the consecration or setting aside of the baby Jesus. The second one being the offertory Joseph and Mary made for Jesus in the temple. Look at the two turtle doves as resenting poverty in our consecration life. Lastly, let us look at Anna the prophetess. This lady must have been a widow at 22 years of age and lived in the temple until when she was 84 years. This was total submission to the Lord. This should remind us the value of fidelity, let’s not leave our consecrated life,” Preached Tambala.

Earlier on before Mass, Rev. Sr. Elizabeth Nampota gave a reflection on consecrated life as a life of professional lovers of God and humans. She reminded the gathering that Christ is the one who established consecrated life by example and his words, come and see. She said that renewal of consecrated life is the constant return to Christ denoting constant following.

She also advised that the Gospel must be the soul which gives life and strength to the constitutions as the supreme rule of all institutes.

There are 17 parishes being led by missionaries while 29 parishes are being led by Diocesan priests in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe.

END.

CLERGY MUST PARTICIPATE IN SYNODALITY

By Sam Kalimba:

Let us all participateVicar General of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe, Very Rev. Fr. Vincent Fredrick Mwakhwawa has called upon the clergy and the religious in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe to take part in the on-going min-synod of the Archdiocese.

Fr. Mwakhwawa said this on the occasion of the 27th world day of consecrated life in Lilongwe on 4 February, 2023. He lamented that the first phase had shown that most clergy and the religious did not take part in answering the questionnaires that were sent to all parishes and institutes in the Archdiocese.

“I would like to take this opportunity to report that we just concluded the first phase of our journey of helping our Shepherd to govern the Archdiocese according to the will of God. What we have observed so far is that most of us clergy and the religious did not take part in responding or helping the laity responding to the questions. We left it all to them. As we move into the next phase, let us all take part. Our Archbishop needs your views as well on how this metropolitan see can be governed,” he told the consecrated men and women who gathered at St. John’s Msamba Parish.

According to the Communications Secretary of the Archdiocese Rev. Fr. Louis Chikanya this min-synod is a third one of its kind.

“Prior to the first synod, the diocese was under the administration of Rt. Rev. Joseph Fady prelate of the diocese from 1951 to 1972. Rt. Rev. Patrick Kalilombe took over from Bishop Fady in 1972. It was then late Bishop Patrick Kalilombe just like his immediate predecessor, a Missionary of Africa who foresaw the type of church that we would have if no action regarding self-reliance was taken. A year after being elected as the Local Ordinary of Lilongwe, Bishop Kalilombe convoked the first synod from 24 November, 1973 to 24 August, 1975,” he said.

He further said that the synod was mainly aimed at empowering the faithful to own the church; to take active role in the activities of the church. He said that this is why there are ideas such as the self-ministering church, self-propagating church and self-reliant church.

He also said that the second synod was convoked in 2004, almost 30 years after the first synod, then under the episcopacy of late Rt. Rev. Felix Mkhori.  This ran from 2004 to 2006.

“I believe it was worthy commissioning another synod. I can suggest two key reasons apart from the fact that it is now 17 years since the second one was done. One reason being the fact that this is the first synod after elevating Lilongwe into an Archdiocese status. Second reason being the fact that the prelate was new in the Archdiocese so combining the two, a synod was paramount,” said Chikanya.

In his statement during his investiture of a Sacred Pallium, Archbishop George Tambala connected the synod of the Archdiocese to the global synodality.

“In wanting to make sure there is continued listening in the synodality of Pope Francis, the Archdiocese is undergoing own min-synod as a means of engaging the faithful in giving what they want the Church to be like in accordance with the Church Teachings and canons,” he said.

Archbishop Tambala also echoed the sentiments made by his Vicar General during the celebrations of consecrated life at Msamba. He asked the consecrated men and women to ensure that they take part in the process.

END.             

Archbishop of Lilongwe Meets Catholic Men Organisation

 

The Archbishop of the Lilongwe archdiocese of Lilongwe George Desmond Tambala has called on the catholic men organisation to be active with the aim of developing the archdiocese.

His Grace expressed a concern of poor participation on church activities among men which he cited that needs to be improved.

On this, His Grace has set a committee which will lead a two months research aimed at finding factors leading to men not to be active in church activities.

Among others the Archbishop cited the need for CMO membership to grow in their spiritual life.

On the other hand, Archbishop noted that among the men there are many skills and expertise that the church can tap from for example, financial knowledge.

 

On his part CMO chairperson in the Archdiocese Gibson Mkanda assured His Grace that the research will be done within the stipulated period of time.

Participants came from all the seven deaneries in the Archdiocese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CMO chairperson Gibson Mkanda at the podium

 

 

               

 

               

 

ECM Safeguarding Policy Launched in Lilongwe

The Episcopal Conference of Malawi on 03 February 2023 launched a child and vulnerable adults Safeguarding Policy at the Episcopal Conference of Malawi headquarters in Lilongwe.

The event was graced by all the bishops of Malawi and other stakeholders in the church.

In a keynote address, the chairperson of the conference His Grace George Tambala said the church is serious and committed in protecting the children and vulnerable adults from any kind of abuse in the country.

“Our children are the roots and seeds of future generation; we must continue to build in the youth.”

Abuses of children and vulnerable adults include beating, bullying, accusations of witchcraft etc.

Bishop Peter Adrian Chifukwa, bishop chair for Safeguarding Policy distributed the policy documents to all the bishops and other stakeholders from different dioceses in the country.

The policy in line with United Nations defines a child as one who is below 18 years of age.

His Grace George Tambala handing over the Safeguarding Policy document to Bishop chair for ECM Safeguarding Policy, Rt. Rev. Peter Chifukwa

 

Bishops and students from catholic schools around Lilongwe

  

   

OUTGOING NUNCIO LAUDS UNITY AMONG BISHOPS

By Sam Kalimba:

The outgoing Papal envoy to Malawi and Zambia His Excellence Archbishop Giafranco Gallone expressed satisfaction with the unity that the College of Bishops in the Episcopal Conference of Malawi showed during his tenure of office. Nuncio Gallone said this on Saturday 28 January in Lilongwe on the occasion of installing a Sacred Pallium on the Metropolitan See of the Ecclesiastical Province of Lilongwe, His Grace Archbishop George Desmond Tambala.

“When I account for my nunciature visits in this Conference, I come up with a general observation that the Conference is united. The speeches here in the Cathedral, reminds me of my first day to arrive in this country. I was welcomed by dances from the airport all the way to the Catholic Secretariat. All the bishops were there and seemingly indicating to me of their unity. I have been to almost all the 8 dioceses except on of Chikwawa in the ecclesiastical province of Blantyre. Specifically, I was here to consecrate Right Rev. Peter Chikuwa of the Diocese of Dedza, I came to the funeral ceremony of late Archbishop Tarcisius Gervazio Ziyaye and again to install Archbishop George Tambala in Lilongwe. I was also in the Catholic Diocese of Karonga last year and in the Archdiocese of Blantyre when I presented my letters of credence to the then President of the Conference Archbishop Thomas Msusa. In these few occasions I learnt a lot about the unity of the Conference and as I leave, I implore that you maintain the standards,” said Gallone.

He also reminded the faithful in Malawi that when he arrived, he found the Catholic Diocese of Dedza without a Bishop and he assisted in filling the gap, when Archdiocese of Lilongwe lost a prelate, he worked hard for the replacement and that by the time he will be leaving this part of Africa he will have finalised the replacement of local ordinary for the Catholic Diocese of Zomba in the ecclesiastical province of Blantyre.

“I should say even the work to get a prelate for Zomba where the Archbishop Tambala left a gap is done. By the time I will be completing my work in this part of Africa, I shall have left all the dioceses with their shepherds in place,” said the Papal Envoy.

He also told the congregants in the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe that he was surprised that his tenure started in 2019 with an investiture of a Sacred Pallium of the Archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia and that it is ending in 2023 with a similar function in Lilongwe, Malawi.

He also revealed that the Holy Father Pope Francis appointed him to take up the same diplomatic role in Uruguay.

“I tell you it is not my program. I met the Holy Father in December last year and I expressed my surprise on the new appointment. I thought I would remain here just as most of my predecessors stayed six, eight and others ten years. I thought I would stay longer but life of a nuncio is like that of our father in faith, Abraham. You leave your place and go where God shows you and count on His mercy.”

His Excellence Most Rev. Giafranco Gallone was working on having a Nunciature House in Malawi situated near the Catholic Secretariat in the capital Lilongwe.

In another development His Excellency Most Rev. Gianfranco Gallone bid farewell to the Republican President His Excellence Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera at his state residence in Lilongwe on Tuesday 31st January, 2023. The State President was monitored to have said that the two agreed to consolidate cordial partnership between the Roman Catholic Church and government in order to improve lives of Malawians in all spheres of human development.

His final pastoral task in Malawi was to officially open the first 2023 Plenary of Bishops on Monday 30th January, 2023 at the Catholic Secretariat. Among others, the Catholic Bishops are to discuss matters pertaining to resolutions passed at the 20th AMECEA Plenary held in Dar es Salaam in July, 2022.

End.