RHODESIA AND NYASALAND PMS DIRECTORS CONVENE IN MANGOCHI.
Barely a month and some days after the Catholic Diocese of Mangochi hosted a national Mission Sunday at Mpiri Parish, Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS) Regional Directors from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe convened in Mangochi at Montfort Lake House for a high level regional conference from 13th to 17th November this year.
In his inaugural speech, Bishop Montfort Stima of the Catholic Diocese of Mangochi reminded directors from the region that it is the role of PMS to raise missionary consciousness of the people of God through initial and on-going formation sessions; animate missions to various groups; promote prayers for the missionary work and collect funds for missionary work.
In the spirit to promote the mission work, Bishop Stima, however said, “…let us take advantage of the special grace God has given through the celebration of the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October 2019. In celebrating the 100 years anniversary on Maximum Illud, we have been given an opportunity to renew our missionary commitment and re-orient ourselves on the daily pastoral work we do. These are the moments when we observe and reflect on our pastoral plans as ministers carrying the sense of missio ad gentes…there is need for PMS to help the local community to develop, grow and mature in the Christian spirit of using their own given spiritual and material gifts for spreading the gospel. Every baptised has to understand his/her baptismal obligation of spreading the gospel to the world…” (Mark 16:15).
Rev. Fr. Vincent Makhwawa, National PMS Director in Malawi expressed deep joy on seeing directors from the region coming together for a conference. “In spite the numerous hiccups faced in preparation for the convention, am extremely glad that our cousins are here to share with us experiences and plans This reminds us that we once were very close than ever; and that our boundaries make us feel complementary and not distinct”. Fr. Vincent, however, communicated a message of prayer to the delegates from PMS President, Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, and that he wishes the conference every success.
“Archbishop Dal Toso asks the conference to deliberate on how best we understand missio ad gentes; and on how to improve our mission in the light of EMM 2019.” Fr. Vincent, said.
The conference served delegation with a luncheon of an organised lecture on “the Extraordinary Mission Month of October 2019″ (EMM) by Fr. Joseph Kimu, director of Radio Malawi, while Fr. Stephen Kamanga, (Diocese of Mangochi Pastoral director and bishop’s notary) excavated the art of sharing experiences, plans and EMM 2019 preparations. From Zambia, the directors were fashioned to the Church’s experience on the nature, mission and ecclesiological missionary role of the PMS today.
Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia were once under the British Protectorate, and they were then called Nyasaland, Southern and Northern Rhodesia respectively. The federal governance invested a lot of influence in terms of education, culture, languages and religious beliefs that are still practiced and valued in this region to date. The people from the three countries speak Bathu languages, their repasts aren’t that different, the Chewa and Ngoni traditional cultures define them better. Why not with religion? There is every reason to for people within the region to share every aspect of their lives unabridged even though Malawi and Zambia are members of (AMECEA) while Zimbabwe is belongs to Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) and Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.