Claudio Zuccala, M.Afr
The questionnaires were sent last year and each community was asked to work with them and to send back a report before 31st December 2012. Until now we have had no reply from anyone. Please try to do your homework during Lent so that by Easter, at the latest, we receive your findings. See below for the details:
In last year meeting of JPIC coordinators held at Kasisi, some practical decisions were taken. Let me just remind you of the following:
2.5. Two main areas of concern were identified:
2.5.1. Reconciliation (which is problematic per se and it becomes more so at the family level and in politics, compounded with witchcraft and the way the latter is perceived and dealt with).
2.5.2. Devastation of the ecosystem, consequences of discovery and exploitation of natural resources.
2.6. Action Plan
We agreed that our Centres (Kanengo and Fenza) should be directly involved and we proposed the following:
2.6.1. Fenza (in the line of what is said in #42-46 of Africae Munus) will spearhead a research that will provide us with methods/rituals of reconciliation and will also come up with the necessary tools to research and interpret stories of reconciliation.
2.6.2. Kanengo will do the same concerning the realm of Integrity of Creation.
2.6.3. These tools will be used by JP coordinators in the field, in their parishes and communities.
2.6.3. The results of the research will be sent back to Fenza/Kanengo who will then proceed to analyse the findings and send back their reports to the communities in the field.
There were plenty of people on Sunday the 3rd February to bid farewell to Father Evariste Some after being the parish priest for four years at the Parish of St. Peter in Serenje, Kabwe Diocese. In attendance were Christopher Chileshe, Oswald Mallya, who is the incoming parish priest, Faustin Kerumbe, Marc Nsanzurwimo, Emmanuel Mambwe, Everisto Mwelwa and the two stagiaires Fitiwi Abraha and Patrick Sebyera. Father Some will be going soon to Rome for studies in view of formation in his home province of PAO.
Father Some was the main celebrant for the Eucharistic celebration while the reception took place at the hall in town in the afternoon. A colourful send-off in which parishioners congratulated Father Some included a banquet, speec
hes and gifts. In his word of thanks, Father Some urged the Christians to support the new parish priest in the same spirit as they did for him. The SAP, and Zambia Sector in particular, wishes Father Some all the best and thanked him for his good apostolate. By Everisto Mwelwa, M.Afr
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- St. Peter
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- The church of St. Peter
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- Fr Some and parishoners
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- Fr. Some and parishoners
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- Blessing of Fr. Some at Mass
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- Hall in town
Sharing Trentaprile is published 4 times a year by the Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa.
Simply click on the picture to read the content.
Antislavery campaign updates
The followi
ng blog, by our confrere Yago Abeledo, is highly recommended by Claudio Zuccala. Two articles are available in Word format for those with poor internet connection. They can be requested on demand using the section “leave a comment” below. Those articles are: 1. Diarmuid O’Murchu, EMBRACING THE PAINFUL TASK OF DECONSTRUCTING SLAVERY, Insights from the New Cosmology, New Physics and the Historical Jesus. 2. Wolfgang Schonecke, STRUCTURES AND IDENTITIES IMPEDING THE “GREAT TRANSFORMATION”, The Wisdom of a Life’s Journey.
Erick Balderas Vega is originally from the State of Idalgo, close to
Mexico City. He grew up there together with three brothers and two sisters. Erick is the third child of the family and his parents are still alive. After his High School, Erick did his philosophy at the diocesan seminary. Then he spent a year at home before coming to our formation house in Guadalajara in 2006. He first met our confrere Sergio Villaseñor Salinas and saw in him what he was looking for, someone committed to missionary work in Africa. What really attracted him to the Missionaries of Africa is our international community lifestyle where he feels really at home. Erick spent a few months in Washington DC to learn English before going to Lua-Luo in Kasama for his noviciate. At present he is a stagiaire at the parish of Kabwata in Lusaka. Erick has to make efforts to overcome his shyness. He does not rush into things but takes his time to reflect before making a decision. His family will surely see in him a new person when he goes back home at the end of his stage. Erick has been recommended for further studies at Merrivale by his community of Kabwata. He is still waiting for his official appointment.
Justice & Peace in Mozambique
Our vocation in the Church is linked with our fight for more justice in society. Already the Second Vatican Council said explicitly that “the joys and hopes, the grief and the fears of the people of today meet an echo in our hearts” (GS 1). The Church feels intimately linked with the cares and needs of all people. The Second Assembly of the Bishops likewise emphasised the necessity of working for justice: “The task of justice is an integral part of the mission of evangelisation of the Church” (Justice in the world, 1971). Engagement in justice and peace is part of the missionary’s action in all Christian communities as it is prayed in the fourth Eucharistic prayer for various needs: may your Church stand as a living witness to truth and freedom, to peace and justice, that all people be raised up to a new hope.
In Sena Parish (diocese of Beira, Mozambique), the people managed to organise themselves for the protection of their land against a multinational that wanted 18 000 hectares of their land in order to grow sugar cane and produce ethanol for the european market. This multinational intended to expel the inhabitants to other areas lacking basic infrastructures like schools, hospitals, proper roads and stores. The person in charge of promoting justice and peace issues distributed documents explaining the Law of the Land to all churches and beyond. He was threatened at the Local Court, but people who don’t belong to our Church protected him. Then, with their Paramount Chief, people started to get involved. They finally succeeded to protect their land with the help of the Diocesan Commission of Justice & Peace. A lawyer assisted them too to be officially recognised as an Association. As a result, the multinational had to withdraw from the area. Sadness and fear were tr
ansformed into joy and hope for a better world. Seeing this success story other communities want to do the same. Together with prayer and worship in church the work of evangelisation means helping people to overcome powerlessness, ignorance and submission to the powerful. It is the will of Jesus to work against injustices and all inhuman conditions including slavery.
Norbert Angibaud, M.Afr
The Antislavery Campaign was officially launched in Rome on 9th November 2012. Each Province/Sector was asked to organize its own calendar of events already at the time of Richard Nnyombi’s visit which took place about a year ago. Though we got off to a somehow slow start, it doesn’t mean that nothing has been done yet.
In South Africa Michel Meunier had a calendar and a book mark printed for the occasion, gave an interview on Radio Veritas and a talk in Pretoria. In Malawi, as Bill Turnbull told us, “at the 8th December celebrations in Balaka, our students presented two excellent plays and a poem. The topic of the plays was human trafficking. They were lively, humorous, educative and straight to the point”. There is now a plan to repeat the performance in Lilongwe in front of a wider audience. In Zambia, on 26th November, our confreres in Kasama combined our Founder’s Day with their own little opening of the year of anniversary for the Antislavery Campaign. As part of their celebrations, they had an input on the Antislavery campaign of Lavigerie and its place within the history or our Society by Paul Johnston. FENZA centre is planning a conference on the topic in the next few months. At the moment we are also preparing a leaflet explaining a few basic facts about the campaign. It should be distributed in parishes at the beginning of Lent. I am sure that more initiatives were taken by others which I am not aware of. Please let me know directly or use this forum to share them.
Maybe this is the time to set aside a few commitments and concentrate more on this strong appeal that is coming from the Society. All of us are asked, as individuals and in our communities, to continue praying, sharing, reading and being up-to-date on the event.
For those in parish work is just a question of using the various means already at their disposal: talking about the campaign and its meaning in homilies, talks, Parish councils meetings and newsletters. Lent is coming soon: we received from Rome the Stations of the Cross adapted to what we are celebrating; if we are not happy with them let’s come up with something new but let’s make the most of this opportunity!
On a different level, in our countries we can easily go into schools, give interviews on the radio and have articles printed in the local newspapers. Our candidates in the different houses of formation are also warmly invited to give their creative contribution. Balaka has shown us the way, let others follow the example!
Following in the footsteps of the Cardinal who was capable of dropping everything and started touring the capitals of Europe to deliver his message, we are also asked to show some enthusiasm and determination in order to make known the slogan of the campaign: Let’s break the chains!
Finally, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the way we will close this year’s celebrations which should happen in September or thereabouts. The grand finale with the bus tour seems to be losing support by the day and surely it will not make sense if there isn’t an adequate preparation in the months leading up to it. Maybe the project was not properly presented and/or understood but it is becoming increasingly evident that it will be difficult to pull it off. Malawi has already withdrawn and Zambia will take a decision in the next few days. But even if this particular project does not get off the ground it does not mean that we should give up all.
In February, March and April I will be visiting the communities in South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi and I hope that such
occasion will present us with an excellent opportunity to find out where we are at, to clarify some issues and to share ideas and plans for the coming months.
Best wishes in all your endeavours, Claudio Zuccala, M.Afr
A Pastoral Statement. To the Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill. Grace, mercy and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
“This is what Yahweh asks of you, only this: to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
On the occasion of our January 2013 Plenary, we want to take this opportunity to raise pertinent issues on the state of our nation.
READ MORE
How Customs and Popular Sayings Contribute to 
the Discrimination and Violence Against Women
by Evans K. Chama, M.Afr, Printed by Montfort Media, Balaka, Malawi, 2011
Contents: 1. What is Gender Equality? 2. Can there be Gender Equality in Marriage? 3. The Image of Women and Their Work 4. Raising a Female Child Today 5. I Will Marry a Woman Like Mum 6. How Much Does Your Daughter Cost? 7. My Wife, A Maize Field? 8. Women’s Dependence on Men 9. Love Potions, Are Women Just Nasty? 10. Romance 11. If Your Husband Does Not Beat You… 12. Why The Silence When Abused? 13. What Does Being a Widow Entail? 14. Property Grabbing: A Mere Criminal Act? 15. Approach to Gender Equality.
The wind of change is blowing, sending waves tossing up and down stirring up what has existed undisturbed for centuries. In this rousing the world is being hatched from its centuries-old shell to new birth. We are in the time of awakening, maturing too perhaps. Once again we are challenged to take distance from our own cultures and traditions, our own identity, in order to reflect in a disinterested way on our society and on ourselves. Certainty we marvel at our beauty that often overflows unnoticed, yet still, we also realise there is some mopping up to do somewhere. (…)
Books for sale at Woodlands House, 1 Mwapona Road, Lusaka, at the cost of ZR 30
Priest takes on the inequality of women in African tradition
A WOMAN LIKE MUM: Reviewed by Mphuthumi Ntabeni
Zambian-born Fr Evans Chama’s book, A Woman Like Mum: How Customs and Popular Sayings Contribute to the Discrimination and Violence Against Women, is apt for our country and times.