Month: March 2013 Page 1 of 3
By Claudio Zuccala, M.Afr
Our students from Lechaptois Formation House in Balaka put up a good show at the Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe on March 26th. In front of a small but very keen audience our candidates presented two plays: “Cheap Labour” and “The Changes Identity of Slavery”. The first depicts a plantation owner in the States who is convinced to buy slaves by an unscrupulous slave trader but who is then convinced by a missionary into looking at them as human beings and eventually granting them their freedom. The second tackles the problem of modern day human trafficking: it’s the story of two young people, brother and sister, who are allured by promises made by an agent based in America only to be savagely exploited once they get to their destination.
After that we had a lively discussion on the broad issue of modern forms of slavery in Malawi with a panel made up by our confrere Jos Kuppens, Sister Florence Mwamba, the director of the Tikondane project (street children), Habiba Osman Norwegian Church Aid Programme Coordinator on Human Rights, and Raphael Sandram, voicing the concerns of the Malawi tobacco tenants. Leading the debate and weaving together the different parts of the evening was TV moderator and journalist Wisdom Chimgwede who did an excellent job.
The only disappointment was the late arrival of Luntha TV. There was some serious hiccup and the TV crew only turned up half way through the show so I don’t really know what will happen to the DVD which they were supposed to produce. Pity really for an otherwise well prepared event. A few minor details can be improved on but certainly not the enthusiasm, hard work and good will of our candidates (plus the staff at Balaka and another couple of confreres) who have given their best.
-
- Panel: Raphael Sandram, Habiba Osman, Jos Kuppens, M.Afr and Sister Florence Mwamba, MSOLA.
-
- Jos van Boxel, M.Afr, member of the General Council – Rome
Picture sent by Claudio Zuccala, M.Afr
New Website of St. Lawrence Home of Hope
St. Lawrence Home of Hope is a centre for the homeless children and youth where we receive and give shelter to the homeless that are found on the streets of Lusaka.
It has a dual purpose:
1. A rehabilitation centre where we offer a new home and a new start for the children.
2. It is a “half-way home” where we intend to re-integrate the children back in their families, back to their real” homes and main stream society.
The centre was founded in 1998 by the Catholic Women’s League of Lusaka at the request of the then Archbishop of Lusaka. R.R. Medardo Mazombwe. The project was put in their hands in order to respond to the growing numbers of “street children” in Lusaka. They are in charge of advocacy, sourcing funds, developing infrastructure and taking care of the running costs. From its inception the Catholic Parish of Good Shepherd was involved in its establishment, development and running of it as it was within the boundaries of the parish. The first basic structures were built within the property of St. Lawrence Community Centre which was part of the Good Shepherd Parish which, in turn, is in the hands of The Missionaries of Africa.
Our goal is to rescue children from the vicious circle of homelessness (street-drugs-abuse-crime), rehabilitate them and their families and to re-integrate them back into their home environment (when and if possible).
The Website includes:
Why?
How do we do it?
Programmes
Children’s Stories
Galeries
Africa Must Not Forget
No discussion about the abolition of the African Slave Trade in the 19th century can make much sense without recalling the entire four or five hundred year history of the phenomenon itself. What seems to be a widespread, deliberate, though subtle, effort towards collective amnesia in this matter – the inclination to erase out of consciousness
and from common memory the experience of slavery, particularly in Africa – makes the obligation to remember a fundamental one. Given the extent and depth of the experience and its consequences on the African continent and its peoples right up to the present, and definitely, as evidence seems to indicate, for the future as well, it baffles the mind, and is actually immoral, that people would suggest that the Slave Trade was merely as “an incident in history,” and that the quicker it is forgotten the better it will be for the continent. On the contrary, it appears much more logical and ethical to insist that the reality of the slave trade and slavery be accorded a more prominent part than has been the case so far, not only in the African civic education system, but also in the process of Christian evangelization and catechesis. READ MORE
by Laurenti Magesa, Hekima College Jesuit School of Theology
and from common memory the experience of slavery, particularly in Africa – makes the obligation to remember a fundamental one. Given the extent and depth of the experience and its consequences on the African continent and its peoples right up to the present, and definitely, as evidence seems to indicate, for the future as well, it baffles the mind, and is actually immoral, that people would suggest that the Slave Trade was merely as “an incident in history,” and that the quicker it is forgotten the better it will be for the continent. On the contrary, it appears much more logical and ethical to insist that the reality of the slave trade and slavery be accorded a more prominent part than has been the case so far, not only in the African civic education system, but also in the process of Christian evangelization and catechesis. READ MORE
by Laurenti Magesa, Hekima College Jesuit School of Theology
This new interview with Sarah Augustine opens our eyes to the current and historical harms fueled by the “Doctrine of Discovery”. We are invited to break the chains of all the oppressed, in this case the Indigenous Peoples. Sarah unveils with profound honesty how the Church, perhaps inadvertently, paved the way for the creation of unjust social structures still very much active in today’s world.
Just one month ago, African theologian Laurenti Magesa gave a prophetic conference at Tangaza College (Nairobi) on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Charles Lavigerie’s anti-Slavery Campaign. In his speech Magesa said that “except for rare cases such as Cardinal Lavigerie, much of Christian evangelization within Africa itself was reluctant to pronounce and declare unequivocally that the Slave Trade and slavery were “intrinsically evil.” Magesa documents the words of Pope John Paul II recognizing and acknowledging this historical oversight in the history of the Church. In John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter of 1994, Tertio Millenio Adveniente (TMA), he openly apologized for what he describes as the “sinfulness” of the Church’s children on this matter. The Pope further noted that “acknowledging the weaknesses of the past is an act of honesty and courage which helps us to strengthen our faith, which alerts us to face today’s temptations and challenges and prepares us to meet them” (TMA 33). It is in this spirit that this interview takes place. We are invited to strengthen our faith as we openly name the “force without a face” behind the “Doctrine of Discovery.”
Sarah invites us to choose life. She says: “To choose Life is to decide with one’s whole being to work on the side of Life, promoting human dignity over financial gain, standing in the way of a juggernaut of endless growth at any cost that Western society defines as mundane, conventional, necessary. To choose life is to stand on the side of the oppressed day after day, even if it means becoming oppressed, because this is what will enable us to retain our humanity, or perhaps experience it for the first time, since all of us are dehumanized by the machines of death.” READ MORE
-
- Getting ready for Mass.
-
- Sunset at 18 hours
-
- Opening prayer
-
- First reading: Exodus 12.1-8, 11-14
-
- Father Toon van Kessel, Parish Priest presiding Mass
-
- The washing of feet
-
- Proclamation of the Gospel by Deacon Constantino Mulenga, Mansa Diocese
-
- Acting the Gospel of John 13, 1-15
-
- Preparation of the gifts
-
- Offerings
-
- Blessing of bread and wine
-
- Beginning of the procession of the Blessed Sacrament
-
- Reading of the Word of God using a candle – meditation and prayer
-
- Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament – prayer and blessing
Being part of Mansa diocese, Kasamba was started as a parish in April 1997 with 28 outstations. Before it, Kasamba was periodically visited by three confreres who resided temporarily in Lubwe: Jean-Louis Godinot, Bernhard Udelhoven and Martin Grenier. Between 2001 and 2009, pastoral life saw ups and downs due to the lack of personnel. This is the reason why Father Nicolas Mumbi, diocesan priest, was appointed to Kasamba to boost the pastoral team from September 2009 to January 2011. The Missionaries of Africa arrived in Kasamba in 2010.
Jules Roy was Parish Priest up to recently when he moved to Ndola. At the moment, we have two confreres ministering in Kasamba; Dieudonné Rizinde and Patrice Sawadogo. Two stagiaires are also helping the community; Emmanuel Rulinyuma, who is ending his second year, and Jean-Paul Basikaba Evi. All of them are Congolese except Patrice who is from Burkina Faso.
-
- Kasamba community house
-
- Church of Kasamba
-
- Father Jules Roy
-
- Inside the church of Kasamba
The procession of Palm Sunday started from the UCZ Church within Misisi compound to end at St. Lawrence Parish. Thousands of Christians from eight Churches attended the prayer and followed the procession moving through the main but narrow street of the slum of Misisi. The final blessing ended an improvised choir festival from various choirs, some of which gathered 30 singers.
