His Lordship Bishop Montfort Stima of Diocese of Mangochi implored the Church and all Malawians to pray unceasingly for the country’s peace and unity saying it is all Christians’ baptismal obligation to be instruments of peace, and on the other hand, every patriotic citizen should seek to convey peace and unity to his or her country.
Bishop Stima said this when he presided over a Peace, Unity and Reconciliation Holy Mass at St. Augustine Cathedral in Mangochi on the morning of October 12th this year.
Quoting St. Francis of Assisi, in his famous prayer, ‘Lord make me an instrument of peace…,’ Bishop Stima said that every Christian is reminded that s/he be a vehicle of peace wherever s/he is found.
“While we proudly call Malawi a God-fearing nation and the warm heart of Africa, Malawians are behind the current heart-rod ding behaviours with violence and lack of peace as their indicators in the country. Violence is cropping in the name of seeking justice for the selfishness exposed in the 2019 tripartite elections. It is the duty and obligation as a Church (God’s people) to return to Him for solutions to problems we are facing in our country today
However, Bishop Stima also called all Malawians to be instruments of peace because Malawi belongs to all while it is for all to play their roles in order to realise a more beautiful nation. On this Bishop Stima condemned all selfish aspects that yield lack of peace and unity.
“In beautiful national anthem, we pray for peace. Peace can only be established if we accept God to use us as instruments of peace. We have a beautiful country Malawi which we proudly call it the Warm Heart of Africa. Malawi is, however, losing the warmth because of tribalism, nepotism, religious and political differences, greed and selfish interests of our leaders. As the Church, we condemn this. May it be the responsibility of every Malawian to build a better Malawi inspite of differences and affiliations. Malawi is for us all and we are all Malawians. Let everyone contribute to the up-building of a pretty nation.” He added.
Bishop missed no words when he calls on politicians to play a key role in the restoration of peace in the country. He, however, called on politicians from both the opposition and the government to be selfless, come down for dialogue and find ways of calming down the fury in men’s hearts due to the answered factors that surround their whole being.
“The challenges Malawi is facing is not necessarily due to anything else but selfishness and lack of humility from politicians both in government and in opposition. God has left the liberty in our palms. If we choose peace, it is a peace that we shall be granted. Our politicians, we urge you to be humble and selfless. While God is the sole solution to the country’s current problems let us allow Him to use us instruments of the peace we have lost.”
“When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. Lots of Malawians are living in hopelessness because of the violence, deaths, rioting and fights that are there because of our political situation while you have all the protection and security. We condemn this as the Church is in the strongest terms. Good leadership feels for the people, protects them and is selfless. Bishop Stima added
Before the special prayers began, a papal message was read. In his message, the Holy Father Pope Francis expressed delightment having learnt about the Church of Malawi holding special prayers for peace, unity reconciliation led by the Episcopal Conference of Malawi. However, Pope Francis promised to join the local Church in the prayers.
Malawi it is going through political unrest after the May 21 2019, tripartite elections whose presidential results are being disputed and the case is still in court and hence violence has cropped in to force answers.