Author: Missionaries of Africa - Southern Africa Province (SAP) Page 41 of 113
The Catholic Diocese of Solwezi invited the Zambian National Joint Committee (NJC) for the Year of Consecrated Life to animate a day recollection and a workshop of two days. Father Serge St-Arneault, member of the NJC, and Sister Nsofwa Chanda accepted the invitation. Situated in the North-West part of Zambia, Solwezi is at 10 hours drive from Lusaka. Neglected over the years, the Government has signed recently a contract to rebuild the road between Chingola and Solwezi.
The workshop gathered about 60 priests and religious, women and men, who took time to read and comprehend the apostolic letter of Pope Francis dedicated to all Consecrated people. The article entitle “Consecrated Life in Africa: Chances and Challenges” written by the Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa, Father Richard Kuuia Baawobr, was also presented to the participants who got an opportunity to familiarise with the concept of unification as a way to bring together African and Gospel values whereby unity of Christian identity and African identity are manifested by the internal value of love made evident externally in acts of sharing.
As priests and religious, our joy is expressed in authentic fraternal communities of self-giving where service brings lifelong personal fulfilment.
Many thanks to Bishop Charles Kasonde who heartened this initiative.
On his last day, Father Serge took advantage of being in Solwezi to give an interview on Radio Kabangabanga (meaning the star) opened on June 28, 2014 belonging to Solwezi Diocese.
The Missionaries of Africa, St. Mary’s Parish, Mr and Mrs Mukuka’s family and relatives are inviting us to the Priestly Ordination of their son Deacon Humphrey Mukuka on 27th June 2015 at 9 hours at St. Veronica’s Parish (Kamushanga) Kabwe by his Lordship Clement Mulenga (S.D.B), the Bishop of Kabwe Diocese, Zambia.
The Missionaries of Africa, Mr and Mrs Mubanga and the intire community of St. Mary’s Catholic Church at Twatasha, Kitwe, are inviting us to the Priestly Ordination of Deacon John Chomba Mubanga by his Lordship Alick Banda, Bishop of Ndola Diocese on the 8th August at Christ the King Cathedral in Ndola at 9:00 hours.
Aujourd’hui, les Missionnaires d’Afrique de l’Ouest vous proposent de visiter de nouvelles pages sur leur site www.mafrwestafrica.net :
Dans la rubrique « Actualités » :
« Serment et diaconat, Nairobi 2015 », les 15 et 16 mai 2015, à Nairobi, 9 personnes se sont engagées définitivement dans la société des M.Afr. Quatre confrères ont aussi célébré leur jubilé. (lire la suite)
« Province d’Europe, avril-mai 2015 » les deux derniers bulletins « Eur-Echo » parus, donnant des nouvelles récentes de cette vaste province. (lire la suite)
« Ordinations 2015 », les dates et lieux des ordinations des jeunes confrères en cette année 2015. Ils sont 18, dont deux originaires de la PAO (lire la suite)
« Elections Province des Amériques » : les résultats de ces élections qui ont eu lieu en avril 2015 (lire la suite)
Dans la rubrique « Témoignages » :
« Maladies éventuelles des Missionnaires d’Afrique » : le Père Julien Cormier, qui était il y a peu de temps encore Provincial des Amériques, essaie de voir si les maladies de la curie dénoncées par le Pape François s’appliquent aussi aux M.Afr. (lire la suite)
« Au service de la communion fraternelle » Dans le numéro de mai 2015 du Petit Echo, le thème du “leadership” avait été proposé à quelques confrères. Voici les réflexions du Père Ignatius Anipu, présentement Provincial de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. (lire la suite)
« Fête de la Sainte Trinité » Cette fête est toute proche, le 31 mai 2015, et voici le texte de la récollection dont le Père Herman Bastijns est l’auteur.(lire la suite)
Dans la rubrique « Dialogue interreligieux » :
« La montée islamiste, où donner de la tête ? » les réflexions très personnelles du Père Marcel Boivin, canadien présentement à Québec, qui se dit lui même « observateur » et non pas « spécialiste » (lire la suite)
« Le dialogue est toujours d’actualité », comme le prouvent les quelques articles pris sur le site de l’ARCRE, Action pour la Rencontre des Cultures et des Religions en Europe (lire la suite)
« Proche Orient sous tension », ce n’est pas une réalité nouvelle… mais les événements récents nous parvenant de cette région sont loin d’être rassurants. (lire la suite)
Dans la rubrique « Justice et Paix » :
« Guérir ceux qui sont sans voix » un texte paru en février 2015 dans le Petit Echo, texte écrit par le responsable Justice et Paix du Ghana.(lire la suite)
« Justice et Paix dans la formation » : accès au programme de formation des jeunes au sein de la Société des M.Afr. dans le domaine de Justice et Paix (lire la suite)
Dans la rubrique « Vu au sud, vu du sud »
« Elections à venir, quel défi ? » un article paru dans le Petit Echo du mois de mars 2015, et qui invite à réfléchir à cette question fondamentale pour la démocratie (lire la suite)
« Une Afrique qui souffre et se lève », un article du Père Bernard Ugeux, paru dans le numéro 106 de la revue « Voix d’Afrique ». (lire la suite)
By Peter Mutasha
On 8th April, 2015, I attended a seminar on the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (DACB) at Justo Mwale University in Lusaka. The seminar was facilitated by the Director of the project (DACB) Professor Jonathan Bonk from Canada. The attendees were a variety of religious leaders from different Christian denominations, representatives of organisations, university Professors and students. The focus was mainly to present the Dictionary of African Christian Biography.
This dictionary, which is an international online database, is a biography of African Christian leaders (clergy, catechist and lay people) and Christians who have contributed to the laying of the Christian foundation, shaped the character and propagated for its growth in Africa. And the reason for doing this is to “advance a scholarly understanding of African Christianity” which in the paraphrased words of Professor Bonk is scarcely available in many universities in Africa but more especially in the western world.
The biographies of these African Christians are categorised according to their country of origin. And according to the database presentation of Zambia, few stories of those committed Christians were reflected and moreover little about Catholic African Christians has been written. The Professor appealed to the Catholic community that more should be written about those people who significantly participated in the evangelisation of Christianity in Zambia. For me the appear was sincere and besides the Catholic Church has been a mainline Christian church in Zambia since 1891; during this epoch there have been significant figures who have enhanced the expansion of Catholicism. Such are the people the seminar encouraged that we write about them.
We concluded our seminar with wonderful sneaks and though the group of attendees was small (at least 20), the presentation and participation from the audience created an enthralling intellectual discursive atmosphere.
For those who would like to contribute to this biography or want more information; you can visit: www.DACB.org
It is available in Français, Português and Kiswahili.
The Missionaries of Africa in Lusaka, Sisters, Brothers and Priests, gathered for a day recollection on Monday the 25th May 2015 under the theme: together in the eradication of modern slavery. Prayers, sharing from the Word of God of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 30-33) and the inspiring presentation of todays’ slavery in the world given by Jacek Rakowski, gave us the opportunity to remind ourselves that modern slavery is widespread all over the world. This form of abuse is incompatible with our dignity as children of God. The root causes are many; poverty, lack of education, corruption, conflicts, violence and criminality. The global scale of slavery is calling for a global answer whereby governments, business people, international organisations and so on have a crucial role to play in the fight against modern slavery. As Christians, we fight also for our common fraternity.
The recollection took place at Retreat and Renewal Centre of Assisi House situated on the compound of St. Bonaventure University College in Lusaka. This College offers Diploma in Psycho-Spirituality and Religious Studies under the care of the Franciscan Spiritual Family.
