Various publications; Bulletins, magazines
Here is a lovely Christmas Song written by Don Murdock from Colborne, Ontario, a little community just down the road from Ottawa on the 401. It is not a Holiday song, it’s a CHRISTMAS song. This Ontario singer battles “political correctness” in his latest song. Kudos to him! Massage sent by Michel Meunier, M.Afr
Lets stop all the silly political correctness around Merry Christmas. This is a song that says it all. Merry Christmas to all! Don Murdock
Chers amis, Juste pour vous souhaiter à tous une bonne fête de Noël et une heureuse année 2015. Dear friends, Just to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy new year 2015. Sylvain Yaméogo, Missionnaire d’Afrique
To all the members of the SAP and especially the members of the Zambia Sector: I wish you all a Merry and Holy Christmas and Happy New Year. I have been happy to read the last Motomoto, especially to read what happens in Zambia and still happier to hear what concerns the diocese of Chipata. And I want to say thanks to Bernard Udelhoven and the Finger of Thomas for the seminar held in Lumimba Parish during the month of October (They must have sweated a lot!!!) Thanks also to the community of Kalongwezi: I can see that Jo, as a good fellow with good legs, is putting life and true joy in Navutika. I thank also the other members of Kalongwezi community for keeping on working in the Vinyard: Henk, Dave (my tween brother), Jean-Luc and others. I am happy to hear that a Preparatory Center is under construction near Chipata: sign of hope for the future.
As for me, poor exile in Paris, my heart is still in Zambia, as you can guess, though I try to put my heart in the little I do here.
When I pray the rosary, the last decade is always said in Tumbuka or in Nyanja for Zambia. And I am always delighted when I receive news from one or the other confrères still in Zambia.
Chiuta wamutuwiskeni mose…Mulungu akudalitseni inu nonse… God bless you all Edouard Morisson, M.Afr
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR
I hope these few words will find you in a good health. I am always very happy to be able to read the news from SAP and also some news from Zambia through few friends. That help me to keep in contact and help me also in my prayers.
Here in Paris, I means in rue Friant, where I am since almost three years now, I am fine following my heart operation even if there is a few problems, but we do with them and I thank the Lord for all.
Here at rue Friant we have a small Zambian community with our students: Stanislas and Jones and Edouard and myself. Most of our visitors are from West Africa, very few from East.
Even in retirement I am still busy as responsible of the reception at our house. We are three or four cooperating in this work every day from 7 o’clock in the mourning up to 21 hours in the evening and this asked coordination. I am also secretary of the meetings of this community. I have also some other activities as for example the mass in the home for elderly and sick people, or the mass for the surrounding people in our chapel.
Another activity is, every Sunday evening from 17.30 hours to 20.15 hours, we are a small group of about 10 volunteers distributing food to poor people and strangers. Last Sunday we had nearly 400 meals to be given, a very substantial meal. But this start to be difficult for me because it is too long standing serving those people.
My best greeting to all and once more Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and may my prayers be a blessing to you from our Lord.
Père Edgar Pillet, Missionnaire d’Afrique
Dear Confreres,
In a few hours time, we shall be celebrating the feast of Christmas. I was wondering why this year I have taken till now without writing something special to you the confreres.
But now I realize that I can as well share or pass on the reflections of Pope Francis with the Roman Curia as they prepare for Christmas. Find in attachment the examination of conscience which Pope Francis used with the Roman Curia yesterday. It is a must read. I have sort of made a summary to make the reading easy for our own use and reflection.
I saw this last night and read up to ailment number two, only to find that it was speaking about me, on my desk around 22 hours! I am sure that many of us will begin by seeing our leaders out there, the Curia, the Generalate and the Provincialate; but looking closely, we soon realize that these 15 ailments are indeed about all of us as a Church.
As we move towards this Joyful day of His birth, let us simply acknowledge our brokenness. As in any ailment acceptance almost immediately brings about healing. Acceptance puts any ailment in place. We have seen how even the worst health condition such as cancer, AIDS, even Ebola can be contained once they are met with acceptance. So too with each of these ailments in our ways of living Church and Faith today.
I wish you all a Happy and Joyful Christmas!
Frateranlly yours,
Christopher Chileshe, M.Afr – Provincial SAP
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis listed 15 “ailments” of the Vatican Curia during his annual Christmas greetings to the cardinals, bishops and priests who run the central administration of the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church. Here’s the list.
1) Feeling immortal, immune or indispensable. “A Curia that doesn’t criticize itself, that doesn’t update itself, that doesn’t seek to improve itself is a sick body.”
2) Working too hard. “Rest for those who have done their work is necessary, good and should be taken seriously.”
3) Becoming spiritually and mentally hardened. “It’s dangerous to lose that human sensibility that lets you cry with those who are crying, and celebrate those who are joyful.”
4) Planning too much. “Preparing things well is necessary, but don’t fall into the temptation of trying to close or direct the freedom of the Holy Spirit, which is bigger and more generous than any human plan.”
5) Working without coordination, like an orchestra that produces noise. “When the foot tells the hand, ‘I don’t need you’ or the hand tells the head ‘I’m in charge.'”
6) Having ‘spiritual Alzheimer’s.’ “We see it in the people who have forgotten their encounter with the Lord … in those who depend completely on their here and now, on their passions, whims and manias, in those who build walls around themselves and become enslaved to the idols that they have built with their own hands.”
7) Being rivals or boastful. “When one’s appearance, the color of one’s vestments or honorific titles become the primary objective of life.”
8) Suffering from ‘existential schizophrenia.’ “It’s the sickness of those who live a double life, fruit of hypocrisy that is typical of mediocre and progressive spiritual emptiness that academic degrees cannot fill. It’s a sickness that often affects those who, abandoning pastoral service, limit themselves to bureaucratic work, losing contact with reality and concrete people.”
9) Committing the ‘terrorism of gossip.’ “It’s the sickness of cowardly people who, not having the courage to speak directly, talk behind people’s backs.”
10) Glorifying one’s bosses. “It’s the sickness of those who court their superiors, hoping for their benevolence. They are victims of careerism and opportunism, they honor people who aren’t God.”
11) Being indifferent to others. “When, out of jealousy or cunning, one finds joy in seeing another fall rather than helping him up and encouraging him.”
12) Having a ‘funereal face.’ “In reality, theatrical severity and sterile pessimism are often symptoms of fear and insecurity. The apostle must be polite, serene, enthusiastic and happy and transmit joy wherever he goes.”
13) Wanting more. “When the apostle tries to fill an existential emptiness in his heart by accumulating material goods, not because he needs them but because he’ll feel more secure.”
14) Forming ‘closed circles’ that seek to be stronger than the whole. “This sickness always starts with good intentions but as time goes by, it enslaves its members by becoming a cancer that threatens the harmony of the body and causes so much bad — scandals — especially to our younger brothers.”
15) Seeking worldly profit and showing off. “It’s the sickness of those who insatiably try to multiply their powers and to do so are capable of calumny, defamation and discrediting others, even in newspapers and magazines, naturally to show themselves as being more capable than others.”
Press Release 11th December 2014
Fuel Pump Price Reduction Insignificant Says the JCTR
The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection has dismissed the recent fuel pump price reductions in the country as being insignificant and too marginal. Whereas the price of crude oil on the international market has dropped significantly around 27 Percent during the last half of the year on account of oversupply originating from international stock build-up from the steady increase in fuel self – sufficiency of the United States as the highest international consumer.
By Serge St-Arneault, M.Afr
Witchcraft and sorcery are words impossible to define satisfactorily. Hundreds of books, thousands of articles, endless reports in newspapers make it challenging to streamline the topic.
In the traditional African perspective, the question of whether or not witchcraft exists is irrelevant. It is a ‘reality’ as much as the earth is moving around the sun. There is no need to believe in it. It is ‘there’ as an intrinsic part of a global worldview whereby a common vision is shared. In this vision, an ancestral spirit can reside in the body of a descendent and through the descendent perform powerful deeds.
Moreover, anything distracting from the bitterness and to the boring burden of daily life, from the anxiety of the unknown to uncontrolled changes, from deprivation to sickness or accident, from unfulfilled dreams to anger or resentment towards a neighbour or a family member, anything which is unusual, uncommon or simply inexplicable, all this is associated to witchcraft. The rationale is to know WHO among the living and the dead, meaning the ancestors, is responsible for the disorder or the pain inflicted. For instance, if a tyre bursts in a curve leading to a bridge provoking the accident of a mini-bus plummeting into the river and leading to the death of 20 people, the question remains; WHO sent a curse? Rationally, one can guess that the tyre was run out. Still, WHO made it burst at that specific place and time? Why not before or after the bridge? Therefore, someone is responsible for the accident to occur right ‘there’.
Anything related to witchcraft is primarily emotional. Witchcraft dies out like a plant without water if ignored. On the contrary, like an addiction, witchcraft rises or increases by itself when it starts nourishing lives through endless stories of flying planes baskets and flesh eaters. Actually, there is an appetite for witchcraft stories as much as of real food. There is an overall search, a social desire, a common will to eat endlessly in order to ease physical and emotional hungers.
In Malawi, food means ‘nsima’, which is the staple food made out of maize. Even though people are eating rice, sweet potatoes or beans, they will complain of hunger is there is no ‘nsima’ on the table. Similarly, desires are concomitant to witchcraft. Strange enough, it brings some kind of safety and safeguards. This is why children are being taught about witchcraft as a way to maintain a grip on the evolution of the society at a time of rapid changes imposed by modernity. Witchcraft is a way to regain or remain in control by using fear as a tool.
A lady who had a pretty nice house was accused of being a witch by her mother-in-law. She was also successful in business. Her children were doing well at school. As for the mother-in-law, she was living in a dilapidated house due to lack of maintenance. She was not able to move around easily, feeling neglected. Suddenly, the accusation brought some kind of life in this dull surrounding. Everyone was commenting with some laughter about this event. Then, the local chief intervened and asked the lady:
Do you agree to be a witch?In the mind-set of the witnesses, this lady cannot deny to be a witch. She is so by simply being accused of being one. To deny it is a waste of time. How to prove the contrary anyway? Then, she took advantage of this accusation to overrun this critical moment for her benefit.
Ironically, the accuser became herself a witch, something she could not deny either. This true story brought some entertainment for a little while. It gave also to the mother-in-law a chance to be remembered as being part of the community. Sociologically speaking, this event shows that those mutual accusations were a sign of a rupture or a blocking of personal relationship.
Nowadays, witchcraft has also become a way to take advantage of confusing reports and rumours. For instance, on July 02, 2014, in Zambia, Ndola residents rioted over ‘missing pupils’. Hundreds of citizens fought running battles with the police after word went round that 14 students from different schools were abducted by unknown people to be used in rituals (witchcraft). They burnt to aches four vehicles, set on fire the police posts and blocked the roads. Tear gas was dispersed but the residents were unruly and stoned the police. Then shops belonging to those suspected to be behind the ritual killings were damaged. “We have decided to take the law into our own hands, said a women, because the police have not done anything since we reported them about the killing of our children.”
Ritual murder rumours is enough to make people mad. It turns out to be an opportunity to revenge, to let the steam of anger out of the chess. Desperate people, having it hard to survive or move out from abject poverty, take advantage of this confusion to steal. At this level, witchcraft is being used to push down the personal responsibility of wrong doing by making the guilt collective.
Accusations of sorcery based on dreams are also an important channel to reveal the unconscious as a sort of safety device or as protection against some weakness of character in oneself. Like riots, dreams are being used to bring hostility between people to cover up feelings of helplessness.
In this particular world view, everyone is a witch by using the ability to make others frightened. As everyone fells physically and emotionally hungry, witchcraft can easily be instrumental in fulfilling this hunger at the expense of others.
Nonetheless, despite the burden of cultural mind set whereby witchcraft is a profound ‘reality’, it is still possible to make it obsolete, or at least inoffensive, through the conviction that progress in life can be done without fearing anyone or anything, through honesty, hard work and faith in God. Witchcraft being a ‘reality’, the true question is rather more to choose the type of life people want to share; with or without anxiety. In this regard, the words of Jesus are quite relevant: “Do not be afraid!”… to ease broken relationship and to make dialogue part of reconciliation to counteract witchcraft. “All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth”, said again the Lord Jesus. The Christian who believes in that will never fall a prey to human forces, including sorcery or occult powers, for Christ has conquered them.
Sources:
Abigail Chaponda, Ndola residents riot over ‘missing pupils’, The Post, Zambia, Thursday July 3, 2014, page 4.
Mubanga Nondo, Ndola residents riot, Zambia Daily Mail, Zambia, Vol. 18, No 132, Thursday, July 3, 2014, front page.
Joseph Chakanza, Sorcery: Pastor Unresolved Issue, The Lamp Magazine, Malawi, No. 71, May-June 2008, pages 20-21.
Catholic Information Service for Africa (CISA), Ancestor Religion and the Christian Faith, Pastoral Statement of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Issue No. 742, Monday, August 14, 2006.
Input given by Bishop Patrick Kalilombe at the General meeting of the Missionaries of Africa. Theme: Pastoral care and witchcraft, Bethany House, Lilongwe, Malawi, 17th October 2006
DREAMS. Where do Biblical, Zambian, and Western Approaches Meet? First book published by FENZA (Faith and Encounter Centre Zambia), Lusaka. January 2013. With contributions from Gotthard Rosner, Bernard Udelhoven and Patrick Mumbi.
St. Gabriel’s Parish, Namushakende, Mongu, Zambia
Wednesday the 19th of November was a memorable day for our Namushakende Parish. That was the day when we had organized a visit to the Queen of the Lozi kingdom, the female Litunga or as she is refereed to, the Litunga of the Southern Lozi land, at her palace in Nalolo, across the great Zambezi River. Litunga means the owner of the land. We the staff of St. Gabriel’s Parish, Namushakende, accompanied by Fr. Venerato Babaine who was visiting at that time, two religious Sisters working in the parish, a few leaders of the Parish, and a group of the Catholic Women’s League from some Parishes in Mongu and some from the Centres in our parish. We were all together 36 people.
We started off from Namushakende around 07:00 hours, drove to Machapa Centre just at the edge of the Zambezi plains, and from there drove 15 km through the Barotse flood plains to the bank of the Zambezi. The boat “driver” took us in 3 loads across the river, and from there we walked to Nalolo village and the palace of the Queen amidst great jubilations and excitement.
The Manduna (the traditional elders and council of the palace) and the staff of the palace received us well and organised the place where we could celebrate Mass with the Queen, in front of her royal palace. It is interesting to note that almost all elders (Manduna) and the court of the Queen are not Catholics. In the presence of the Queen, our choir was mainly made up of the Catholic Women’s League who offered us a good and prayerful liturgy. The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Robert Lavertu who was to offer his farewell greetings during the same visit, and he was accompanied by Fr. Alfred Awogya. We seized the opportunity of our visit to introduce to the Queen Fr Christian Muhineza and Joseph Kakule who have arrived to work in Namushakende,
After the Mass, we were allowed inside the palace to meet the Queen in two groups, first the Priests and the Sisters, then the CWL and the other lay people. It was a warm welcome that was offered to us, and the Queen offered us delicious snacks of her own. In our conversation, the Queen, who is a committed Catholic, emphasized how much she appreciates to be visited and to pray with groups like ours; she invited us to visit her again. After a long time at the Palace, we made our way back to the river to be taken across in 3 trips as previously.
The whole ceremony and visit was coloured by deep cultural reverence and display. For us as missionaries working here, it was a great lesson on culture and insertion in the rich and profound deposit of the Lozi cultural heritage. We had a great day, and all the participants expressed their joy and satisfaction, and their desire to repeat the visit some time later.
Aujourd’hui, les Missionnaires d’Afrique de l’Ouest vous proposent de visiter de nouvelles pages sur leur site www.mafrwestafrica.net :
Happy feast day! Mary Immaculate Conception. JPIC-ED sends to you greetings on this special day for us Missionaries of Africa. 8th December the Feast of the Mary Immaculate Conception, our Patron Feast day. We also share you very interesting news from JPIC-ED desk through the attached newsletter. May God bless your work.
Clenerius M. Chimpali
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