Category: Pastoral Letters & Bishop Statements

by Rev. Dabulamanzi Ntshangase

As it appears on the Diocesan Year Plan, 10th February 2019 is the Trafficking in Persons day. The new desk in the Diocese (Trafficking in Persons), therefore, urges all the Parish Priests to make sure that the Prayer to Saint Josephine Bakhita is said in their parishes on the
aforementioned date.

As of 12th December 2018, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons gives the following definition of Trafficking in Persons:
Continue reading “Trafficking in Persons Day” →

21 September 2018
St Matthew, apostle

To:
Priests, religious and lay people

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

“peace is a gift of God entrusted to us”

This was the theme chosen by St John Paul II for the World Day of prayer in 1982. Peace is indeed God’s gift but also a task. In fact, he adds: “God’s gift of peace is therefore also at all times a human conquest and achievement”.

There is, in each one of us, a deep desire for peace: inner peace, peace in our families, in our country and in the whole world.

Fifty years’ ago, launching the day of prayer for peace, Blessed Paul VI wrote: “Peace cannot be based on a false rhetoric of words… Nor can one rightly speak of peace where no recognition or respect is given to its solid foundations: namely, sincerity, justice and love…” Continue reading “Call for a week of prayer for Peace in the country” →

Pope Francis has responded to new reports of clerical sexual abuse and the ecclesial cover-up of abuse. In an impassioned letter addressed to the whole People of God, he calls on the Church to be close to victims in solidarity, and to join in acts of prayer and fasting in penance for such “atrocities”.

Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis
To the People of God

“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it” (1 Cor 12:26).  These words of Saint Paul forcefully echo in my heart as I acknowledge once more the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons.  Crimes that inflict deep wounds of pain and powerlessness, primarily among the victims, but also in their family members and in the larger community of believers and nonbelievers alike.  Looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient.  Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated.  The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and so it is urgent that we once more reaffirm our commitment to ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults. Continue reading “Pope Francis: Letter to the People of God (full text)” →

By Bp José Luis IMC

A new year! We are grateful to God for this sign of his blessing, care and love for each one of us.

We bring into this new year all our hopes and dreams of a better future for each one of us, for our families, for our nation and for the world.

We bring into this new year all our hopes and dreams for peace! Peace in our hearts, peace in our families, peace in our country, peace in the world! Continue reading “Making a difference in 2018” →