Note from the webmaster of SAP Blog: We are pleased to share with you the editorial of Bishop Patrick Chisanga, OFM Conv. of Mansa Diocese published recently in their magazine. A special mention was given to the first missionaries who came to Zambia at Mambwe Mwela in 1891 as the Church of Zambia is celebrating its 125th anniversary. We are particularly touch with the aim of the diocese to enhance the faith and missionary spirit in the Youth.
Editorial of the Mansa Roundup magazine, volume 2, issue 6; “Ba Mishioni ba Lelo, Nifwe”.
By Bishop Patrick Chisanga, OFM Conv.
My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, complements of the season.
Christmas is a festive season that draws our attention to ‘the coming of the Lord’; a season of gratitude for the Lord’s manifold salvific interventions in human history; a time of awareness of God’s continued saving presence; an intense period of preparation and waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
We thank the Lord for all the graces we received during the Extraordinary Year of Mercy. As we open this new liturgical calendar, during which the Catholic Church in Zambia celebrates 125 years since the arrival of the first missionaries at Mambwe Mwela (1891) and nine years later (1900) at Lwali near Chibote mission. Let us give a fitting glory to the missionaries who planted the first seeds of faith that has gradually grown into the present day Mansa Diocese. Let us also pay tribute to the ancestors of our land for opening their hearts to receiving the Good News. It is now our turn to assume responsibility and be committed to the continued propagation of the Good News of Salvation, mercy, unity and embracing every one with Christ’s love.
Christ’s love is precisely the Vision we have set as a Diocese in the Strategic plan 2016-2021, entitled “Let down the nets for a catch” (Lk.5:4) which was launched on December 12, 2015, and expressed in terms of a commitment to promotion of spiritual, moral education, health and general empowerment of the people in the diocese through evangelisation using well-coordinated pastoral and integral human development programmes based on three thematic pillars, namely: Pastoral Care; Social Human Development; Financial Institutional capacity and Self sustainability. Thank you very much to all those who successfully realised the goals in their respective departments for the year 2016. Our general evaluation indicates that the Social and Human Development managed 75% of the planned activities, the Pastoral Care completed 54% while the Financial Institutional Capacity and self-sustainability area realised only 15% of the planned activities.
I strongly urge the departments in the third pillar to assess their poor performance and ensure that set goals are realised. I also ask all diocesan departments, institutions and parishes to:
- Familiarise themselves with the vision, Mission and Values of the Diocese
- Draw from the strategic plan activities which pertain to them and workout an implementation programme.
iii. Ensure that their own local plan realises and enhances the general orientation of the Diocese.
The implementation of the strategic plan will be done in the context of celebrating 125 and 116 years of Catholic Faith in Zambia and Mansa Diocese, respectively. The missionaries did their part; today the ball is in our court, ‘We are the Missionaries of Today’. ‘Ba Missioni balelo Nifwe’ is the theme I therefore propose to accompany the pastoral action of the Diocese with effect from Saturday 17 December, 2016 through to 25 November, 2017, during this period all parishes are expected to:
- Set up programmes of missionary formation and catechetical lessons on the history of the Catholic Church in Zambia, in Mansa Diocese and in their respective Parishes.
- Enhance the faith and missionary spirit in the Youth and Holy Childhood.
iii. Display banners of the Pastoral Theme and recite the prayer at the beginning of every Eucharistic celebration.
- Renovate and beautify the Church buildings and surroundings.
- Organise pilgrimages at local or deanery levels to the shrines of Divine Mercy (Lubwe) and or Santa Maria wa Mwelu (Chibote) in honour of missionaries.
As we begin the festive season, let us all be united, repeating with one voice the refrain of the early Christian Community: “Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus.” Let this be a year of life changing encounters with the Lord, deeper commitment to the vision, mission and values of our Diocese and indeed, a year of celebrating God’s Love and Mercy through the pioneer missionaries to our land. May we all pay heed to the Lord’s command to “Go therefore to the world and proclaim the Gospel to all creations” (Mk. 16:15), because “Ba Mishioni ba Lelo, Nifwe”.
I seek your prayers and wish each one of you the grace and peace of the Lord “so that you may have life in abundance” (Jn.10:10). May our blessed Mother accompany us on our journey of faith as a Diocese.
Below; PDF file of the magazine.
Communications Office Diocese of Mansa Plot 225, Cathedral Road Mansa, Zambia.
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Let us pray for Michael Mapulanga, Harrison Banda and Simon Mphana, O.M.I. who will be ordained this coming Saturday, January 28 in South Africa. Micheal and Harrison are Zambian who have joint the diocesan clergy in the Archdiocese of Bloemfontein. They will be ordained by 
Surrounded by hills and valleys, the monastery offers a beautiful natural environment elevating the souls by its beauty. Started in 2009, the construction of the facilities took five years to be completed. Auxiliary Bishop Benjamin Phiri, still Parish Priest at that time, trained the first three Sisters namely Srs. Benedicta Chanda from Lusaka, Mary Lourdes Mukosa from Kitwe and Stefania Banda from Lusaka. In 2003, they went to the island of Ste Lucia in the Caribbean’s (Central America) to the Mother House Monastery as postulants. Today, they are back to Zambia enjoying their ministry together with Sister Giovanna Mabunda from Livingstone and Sister Emmanuela Nadin from Martinique. Four more Sisters are in their formation years. The first profession of the first three Sisters took place at the Cathedral of the Child Jesus in Lusaka in 2006 when the decision to build a monastery in Zambia was taken by the Abbess Marianna Pinto.
