Category: Pastoral Letters & Bishop Statements

Bishop’s statement on Covid-19

Posted on by Neliswa Mdluli

by Diocesan Media

Brothers and sisters, the church today is in exile. We live our lives without actively participating in the Eucharistic Sacrifice which is the highest form of our worship. The Christian community has chosen to live its life away from communal prayer in order not to spread this Virus.

This choice does not mean that the Christian community is afraid of sickness or of death. It does not mean that the church is blindly obeying civil authorities. The decision of the church is rooted in the Church’s understanding of the value of human life.

Below is Bishop Jose Luis IMC’s statement, following the “Declaration of national emergency in response to coronavirus” issued by the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini, with directives for the Diocese of Manzini. Continue reading “Bishop’s statement on Covid-19” →

Cardinal Turkson Addresses Church Leaders on Coronavirus

Posted on by Neliswa Mdluli

Source: zenit.org

To the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences,
To the Bishops in Charge of Health Pastoral Ministry
To the Socio-Sanitary and Pastoral Operators,
To the Civil Authorities
To the Sick and Their Families,
To the Volunteers and to All Persons of Good Will,

Peace be with you!

We are living days of intense preoccupation and growing anxiety, days in which human fragility and the vulnerability of the presumed technical security are undermined at the global level by the Coronavirus (COVID-19), before which all the most significant activities are bowing, as the economy, entrepreneurship, work, trips, tourism, sport, and even worship, and its infection also limits notably freedom of space and movement. The Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development wishes to unite itself to the voice of the Holy Father, thus renewing the Church’s closeness in the animation of the Health Pastoral to all those suffering from the infection of COVID-19, to the victims and their families, as well as to all health workers committed on the front line, deepening every energy in caring for the people affected and in bringing them relief. Continue reading “Cardinal Turkson Addresses Church Leaders on Coronavirus” →

Coronavirus: praying and caring for each other

Posted on by Neliswa Mdluli
by Bishop Jose Luis
Earlier last week I sent a newsletter to the diocese announcing some measures to be taken in every parish regarding the “coronavirus”. We are not aware of any positive case in our diocese (which covers the whole of the Kingdom of Eswatini) but I believe it is a good opportunity to be pro-active and in communion with all the affected countries. When we are in trouble, we wish the world would remember us. Now it is our opportunity to feel with and for the world.
In the diocesan newsletter I basically indicated three things to be done during the celebration of the Mass:
  • we would not have the peace greeting
  • communion would be given only on the hand
  • we would say a prayer at every Mass for those that are sick, those who care for the sick and those working towards finding a cure

Continue reading “Coronavirus: praying and caring for each other” →

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2020

Posted on by Neliswa Mdluli

by Pope Francis

“We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This year the Lord grants us, once again, a favourable time to prepare to celebrate with renewed hearts the great mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the cornerstone of our personal and communal Christian life. We must continually return to this mystery in mind and heart, for it will continue to grow within us in the measure that we are open to its spiritual power and respond with freedom and generosity.

1. The paschal mystery as the basis of conversion

Christian joy flows from listening to, and accepting, the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This kerygma sums up the mystery of a love “so real, so true, so concrete, that it invites us to a relationship of openness and fruitful dialogue” (Christus Vivit, 117). Whoever believes this message rejects the lie that our life is ours to do with as we will. Rather, life is born of the love of God our Father, from his desire to grant us life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10). If we listen instead to the tempting voice of the father of lies” (Jn 8:44), we risk sinking into the abyss of absurdity, and experiencing hell here on earth, as all too many tragic events in the personal and collective human experience sadly bear witness.
Continue reading “Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for Lent 2020” →