By Deogratias Mmana:
President Lazarus Chakwera has hailed the unity that exists between Malawi and neighbours.
He said this in Lilongwe Tuesday when he attended the opening mass for the sub-region Catholic bishops’ conference for Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Chakwera said Malawi benefitted from solidarity with its neighbours over the past years when the country went through some pain, citing cyclones and storms, cholera, Covid and the death of former vice president Saulos Chilima.
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“And we have felt that neighbourly solidarity this past month as we have been mourning the tragic passing of our Vice President in a plane crash that claimed the lives of eight others last month.
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“So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your solidarity and thank you for your prayers , and I wish you a great conference, to which I hope you will allow me to make a humble contribution as a token of my solidarity with you,” Chakwera said.
In his homily, President of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi and Archbishop of Lilongwe Archdiocese, George Tambala, challenged fellow leaders in the sub-region to realise that the Catholic Church in the region has grown, hence stop thinking like children and stop begging for help.
Tambala also challenged the church in the sub-region to become self-reliant and join hands to protect nature.
“We are no more children. It is high time we stopped thinking like children. Maybe it is time to start living our African faith. Maybe it is time to start sharing things like the early Christians [did. Maybe it is time to stop begging,” Tambala said.
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He likened challenges facing the church in the sub-region to the wolf that comes to terrorize the flock.
“The wolf in the region is our lack of capacity, lack of resources that deter us from doing what we are supposed to do. This wolf can scatter the flock. Another one is the wolf of secularism, where we are faced with a culture that has removed God from us. We think we know it all. We have become arrogant,” Tambala said.
Other wolves in the region, according to Tambala, include high levels of poverty, the breakdown of the traditional family and the destruction of natural resources.
“We have a role to play to defend the family. The church should combat the wolf of poverty. We are serving a region where there are high levels of poverty.” Tambala said.
Tambala said the conference would offer bishops the platform to share insights, experiences and collaborate on matters that are vital for the church in the sub-region.
He added that the conference would strengthen neighbours’ ties.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Malawi and Zambia, Archbishop Gian Luca Perici, read a letter from Pope Francis, who extended his best wishes to the bishops.
