FROM THE
BISHOP’S DESK…
Banabahesu,
In the last edition of Drumbeat, I presented to you a summary of the last Lenten message of Pontiff Emeritus Benedict XVI. It was a way of honoring what he has stood for in the Church- a Teacher. Let us continue praying for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In this edition I present to you a brief biography of His Holiness Pope Francis as presented by Libreria Editrice Vaticana. As we read this biography, let us keep the Holy Father in our daily prayers so that he will shepherd the Church according to the will of God. May the Easter celebration in the Year of Faith be a journey that will renew our faith Happy Easter.
Banabahesu,
In the last edition of Drumbeat, I presented to you a summary of the last Lenten message of Pontiff Emeritus Benedict XVI. It was a way of honoring what he has stood for in the Church- a Teacher. Let us continue praying for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. In this edition I present to you a brief biography of His Holiness Pope Francis as presented by Libreria Editrice Vaticana. As we read this biography, let us keep the Holy Father in our daily prayers so that he will shepherd the Church according to the will of God. May the Easter celebration in the Year of Faith be a journey that will renew our faith Happy Easter.
+Evans Chinyama Chinyemba, OMI
Bishop of Mongu
Biography of the Holy Father Pope Francis
The first Pope of the Americas Jorge Mario Bergoglio hails from Argentina. The
76-year-old Jesuit Archbishop of Buenos
Aires is a prominent figure throughout the continent,
yet remains a simple pastor who is deeply loved by his diocese, throughout
which he has travelled extensively on the underground and by bus during the 15
years of his episcopal ministry.
“My people are poor and I am one of them”, he has said more than
once, explaining his decision to live in an apartment and cook his own supper.
He has always advised his priests to show mercy and apostolic courage and to
keep their doors open to everyone. The worst thing that could happen to the
Church, he has said on various occasions, “is what de Lubac called spiritual
worldliness”, which means, “being self-centred”. And when he speaks of social
justice, he calls people first of all to pick up the Catechism, to
rediscover the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. His project is simple: if
you follow Christ, you understand that “trampling upon a person’s dignity is a
serious sin”.
Despite his reserved character — his official biography consists
of only a few lines, at least until his appointment as Archbishop of Buenos
Aires — he became a reference point because of the strong stances he took
during the dramatic financial crisis that overwhelmed the country in 2001.
He was born in Buenos
Aires on 17 December 1936, the son of Italian
immigrants. His father Mario was an accountant employed by the railways and his
mother Regina Sivori was a committed wife dedicated to raising their five
children. He graduated as a chemical technician and then chose the path of the
priesthood, entering the Diocesan Seminary of Villa Devoto. On 11 March 1958 he
entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus. He completed his studies of the
humanities in Chile and
returned to Argentina in
1963 to graduate with a degree in philosophy from the Colegio de San José in San Miguel.
From 1964 to 1965 he taught literature and psychology at Immaculate
Conception College
in Santa Fé and in 1966 he taught the same subject at the Colegio del Salvatore
in Buenos Aires.
From 1967-70 he studied theology and obtained a degree from the Colegio of San
José.
On 13 December 1969 he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Ramón
José Castellano. He continued his training between 1970 and 1971 at the
University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and on 22 April 1973 made his final
profession with the Jesuits. Back in Argentina, he was novice master at
Villa Barilari, San Miguel; professor at the Faculty of Theology of San Miguel;
consultor to the Province of the Society of Jesus and also Rector of the
Colegio Máximo of the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology.
On 31 July 1973 he was appointed Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina, an
office he held for six years. He then resumed his work in the university sector
and from 1980 to 1986 served once again as Rector of the Colegio de San José, as well as
parish priest, again in San Miguel. In March 1986 he went to Germany to finish his doctoral thesis; his
superiors then sent him to the Colegio del Salvador in Buenos
Aires and next to the Jesuit
Church in the city of Córdoba as spiritual director and confessor.
It was Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Archbishop of Buenos Aires,
who wanted him as a close collaborator. So, on 20 May 1992 Pope John Paul II
appointed him titular Bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires. On 27 May
he received episcopal ordination from the Cardinal in the cathedral. He chose
as his episcopal motto, miserando atque eligendo, and on his coat of
arms inserted the ihs, the symbol of the Society of Jesus.
He gave his first interview as a bishop to a parish newsletter, Estrellita
de Belém. He was immediately appointed Episcopal Vicar of the Flores district and on 21 December 1993 was also
entrusted with the office of Vicar General of the Archdiocese. Thus it came as
no surprise when, on 3 June 1997, he was raised to the dignity of Coadjutor
Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Not even nine months had passed when, upon the death of Cardinal Quarracino, he
succeeded him on 28 February 1998, as Archbishop, Primate of Argentina and
Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina who have no Ordinary of
their own rite.
Three years later at the Consistory of 21 February 2001, John Paul
ii created him Cardinal, assigning him the title of San Roberto Bellarmino. He
asked the faithful not to come to Rome
to celebrate his creation as Cardinal but rather to donate to the poor what
they would have spent on the journey. As Grand Chancellor of the Catholic
University of Argentina, he is the author of the books: Meditaciones para
religiosos (1982), Reflexiones sobre la vida apostólica (1992) and Reflexiones
de esperanza (1992).
In October 2001 he was appointed General Relator to the 10th
Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Episcopal Ministry.
This task was entrusted to him at the last minute to replace Cardinal Edward
Michael Egan, Archbishop of New York, who was obliged to stay in his homeland
because of the terrorist attacks on September 11th. At the Synod he placed
particular emphasis on “the prophetic mission of the bishop”, his being a
“prophet of justice”, his duty to “preach ceaselessly” the social doctrine of
the Church and also “to express an authentic judgement in matters of faith and
morals”.
All the while Cardinal Bergoglio was becoming ever more popular in
Latin America. Despite this, he never relaxed
his sober approach or his strict lifestyle, which some have defined as almost
“ascetic”. In this spirit of poverty, he declined to be appointed as President
of the Argentine Bishops’ Conference in 2002, but three years later he was
elected and then, in 2008, reconfirmed for a further three-year mandate.
Meanwhile in April 2005 he took part in the Conclave in which Pope Benedict XVI
was elected.
As Archbishop of Buenos Aires — a diocese with more than three
million inhabitants — he conceived of a missionary project based on communion
and evangelization. He had four main goals: open and brotherly communities, an
informed laity playing a lead role, evangelization efforts addressed to every
inhabitant of the city, and assistance to the poor and the sick. He aimed to
re-evangelize Buenos Aires,
“taking into account those who live there, its structure and its history”. He
asked priests and lay people to work together. In September 2009 he launched
the solidarity campaign for the bicentenary of the Independence of the country. Two hundred
charitable agencies are to be set up by 2016. And on a continental scale, he
expected much from the impact of the message of the Aparecida Conference in
2007, to the point of describing it as the “Evangelii Nuntiandi of Latin America”.
Until the beginning of the recent sede vacante, he was a
member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments, the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Institutes of
Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Pontifical Council for
the Family and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
News
from Rome
Greetings from Rome, with a new Pope! You know it was such
an experience to be in St. Peter
Square among thousands, first under a pretty heavy
rain and then nice cool breeze as the white smoke appeared, to a thunderous cry
of joy.
As the name was announced, everyone was
taken by total surprise and confused.
And a period of quiet and inquisition
into who he was followed. Then he came out and touched our hearts when he bowed
low and asked for our prayer and blessing. Indeed we serve a God of surprises.
Everyone is now convinced we have a God-given choice in place, someone never
thought of. We pray and hope for the best in him. I have this faith. Am sure we
will be thousands again for the Angelus at 12 noon, not talking of Tuesday when
his Papacy will officially be instituted.
Fr. Patrick Chongo, CMM
Around THE DIOCESE
ANNOUNCEMENT
NEW DAWN
CONFERENCE
Greetings
to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! I write on behalf of the Catholic
charismatic Renewal. This year, 2013, the New Dawn conference will take place
from Monday, 22nd April 2013 to Saturday, 27th April,
2013. The venue will be at St. Agatha Catholic Church in Kapulanga. The guest
speaker is coming from Uganda.
He will be assisted by many priests, religious men and women working in the
diocese of Mongu. The whole program is available in the various parishes see
your Parish Priest for more information.
Fr. Ignatius Muyunda
ANNOUNCEMENT
ZAS,
ARMZ and AZADCC are inviting all the Lay Faithful from the nearby parishes for
a workshop on the year of faith on the 29th April, 2013. The
workshop will take place at Lourdes Cathedral hall form 8:00hrs to 14:00hrs.
Registration is free and participation is free. Remember to carry your note
book, Bible and packed lunch.
There
will be another workshop on the 30th April, 2013 at the Youth Centre
for all the Priests and Religious Brothers and Sisters on the year of Faith.
Starting at 8:00hrs to 14:00hrs. Remember to bring your note book, Bible and
packed Lunch. The theme for the workshop is ‘Living My faith Today’ the
facilitator will be Fr. Cletus Mwiila from Monze Diocese.
THANK YOU TO ALL
ZAS
Executive would like to express their sincere thanks to all the ZAS members,
ARMZ members and the laity for participating in the CCJP and integrity of
creation workshop. And many thanks to
Sr. Lynnette, PBVM from National ZAS, Lusaka
for the rich input she gave to the group.
We encourage all the committees that were formed – Environmental
Committee, corruption committee, Gender and human rights committee to start
working together with other stake holders.
ZAS Co-chairperson.
PRISON
VISITATION
Thanks to the
Catholic female students from Mongu College of Education who visited the female
prisoners at
Mongu Central Prison on the morning of Women's Day earlier
this month. They brought some gifts to the women there and spent time talking with
them and listening to their stories.
Bro.
John McCourt, CFC
FROM THE PARISHES.
ST. PETER THE ROCK PARISH, NALWEI
CATECHIZERS WORKSHOP
From 19th
to 22nd February, Catechizer’s workshop took place at Nalwei Parish.
19 Mass Centres attended the workshop. The main aim of the workshop was to
train Catechizers in teaching methodologies, build a strong foundation of what
they teach and help them understand the content of Catechizers’ handbook.
During the workshop
people asked a lot of questions on issues they did not understand well.
We are grateful to the
facilitators for the input they gave on various topics. We thank the
participants and the Priests for their respective roles in the workshop. The
participants promised to share the information with the others.
May God Bless the Work
that the Office is doing
Barbara Susiku,
FORMATION OF ST. JOACHIM LAY ORGANIZATION
17th of
February, 2013 was a special day at St. Peter the Rock Parish, Nalwei,on which
St. Joachim Lay Organization was launched.
Seven people joined the Organization and Shandrick Katangila was elected
Chairperson. The new members committed
themselves to work hard, develop and sustain the group.
Many thanks to
Mwamulando, Chengamali and Imanga for coming to launch St. Joachim at St. Peter
the Rock.
WOMEN’S DAY
On the 8th
of March, women from fourteen Mass Centres St.
Peter the Rock Parish gathered at the main centre to celebrate women’s day.
They marched from the market up to Evangelical Council of Zambia Church. Since
this was first of its kind, women from other churches promised to join in this
celebration next year. At end of their
gathering the women had some prayers for Pope Benedict XVI and also prayed for
the incoming Pope.
Meanwhile on the 12th
of March youths from St. Blaise Mass Centre came to St. Peter the rock to play
football with their fellow youths. The match ended with St. Peter the Rock 2
and St. Blaise 0.
David Kalenga Chimbinga
ST. GABRIEL, PARISH
From 15th to 17th March,
2013 the youths of St. Gabriel Parish Namushakende organized and
invited their fellow youths from St.
Agatha and St. Lawrence Parishes to celebrate post youth day together. During
the two days the youths held a number of discussions on the following topic HIV
/ AIDS and Drug Abuse. Fr. Robert Lavertu, M. Afr., also give an input on the
year of faith.
Many
thanks to all the youths who participated in the program. Thank you also to the hosting parish, and Fr.
Robert, M.Afr, for the sharing on the year of faith.
Mulonda
Mubiana.
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Congratulations to: *Sr. Annie Moyo, HCS
and Sr. Yumba Musonda, HCS on the first Religious Profession on the 16th
March, 2013. We are proud of you. May God continue blessing you as you start
your new life.
*Fr.
Wilfrid Hodari who was elected Chairperson and Fr. Peter Kwaleyela on his re-election
as Secretary for the Priests’ Council. We wish them both success as they carry
out their work.
Welcome to: *To all the Holy Cross
Sisters who came to the diocese for the first profession of Sr. Annie, HCS and
Sr. Yumba, HCS. We also acknowledge the presence of the visitors who came
from distant places for the profession especially the parents of the two
Sisters who were professing. We thank
you all for your visit
*Deacon
Pascal Ntambwe, OFMCap, who has been serving in Malengwa for a month, now he is
assigned to Mangango for a short while. Welcome to Mongu Diocese. We wish you
all the best in all what you do.
Condolences
to *Fr. Valentine
Kalumba, OMI on the death of his sister, Emelia Kalumba, 66 who died on
Saturday, March 16, 2013, at Kabwe General Hospital, after an illness. She was put to rest on the 19th
March, 2013. She is survived by four (4) children and three (3) grandchildren.
Let us pray for Emelia Kalumba and family. May her soul rest in peace.
Bishops Schedule
6th - 7th Confirmations Limulunga.
28th
St.
John Celebration
Lusaka