Category: Diocese of Manzini News

Family: the cornerstone

By Innocent Maziya

The 10th World Meeting of Families took place in Rome from the 19th to the 26th June under the theme: “Family love: a vocation and a path to holiness.” The highlight of this meeting was the Celebration of Mass on Sunday, 26th June 2022, presided over by His Holiness Pope Francis. One of the main objectives of the meeting and the celebration was to once again bring focus to the Family. As the domestic Church, the family is the cornerstone of our Catholic Community and thus needs to be strengthened through prayer and active formation. Continue reading “Family: the cornerstone” →

Quality education for all

ProFuturo child and tablet(Speech by Bishop José Luis IMC at the launching of the ProFuturo programme in the Kingdom of Eswatini – 01 June 2022)

Livi laba yinyama!

Honorable Minister,

The Catholic Church in the Kingdom of Eswatini has always shown a clear commitment to the education of the children and young people in the Swazi Nation. The 47 primary schools, 13 high schools and a nursing college are a clear witness to that.

It goes deeper than that. It is not just about having schools or tertiary institutions. It’s a commitment to quality education and to making sure that the education we offer through our institutions will open doors to them in the future. We believe that the energy we invest in the education of children and youth, strengthens their dignity and offers a better future to the whole nation. Continue reading “Quality education for all” →

Migrants and Refugees: a coordinated and sustainable response

By the SACBC

“I learned that you can be migrant even within your own community, in our parish we are not that concerned about reaching out to migrants and refugees, I will try hard to create a group/ committee to look at working with migrants and refugees in our parish,” said Thulile from St. Jude parish, on the attendees of a workshop on Migration in Eswatini.

It was a meeting of members of the Eswatini Council of Catholic Women (ECCW) from the 17 parishes in Eswatini. Twenty-three women, representing 16 parishes, met in the diocese of Manzini for a three-day workshop, from 29th April to 01 May 2022, on Migration under the theme “Migrants and Refugees: A Coordinated and Sustainable Response.” Continue reading “Migrants and Refugees: a coordinated and sustainable response” →

Journeying together

By Ayanda Nkhambule

As a member of the task team, entrusted by our Bishop to facilitate a smooth process of discernment for the people of God within the Diocese of Manzini, let me share the experience.

It all started when the Holy Father, Pope Francis called for a Bishops’ Synod on Synodality in 2023. The process that prepares for it began last year (2021) but in October, our Bishop, Jose Luis Ponce de Leon, launched it at the Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in Manzini.

A synod in simple terms is a gathering of several people from different walks of life. These people come together to deliberate on a specific topic or problem. Usually, the Pope targets a specific group of people to discuss these topics; for example, in 2018, the Pope called for a synod on the Youth. That means, the topic of discussion was young people in the church and the target group was youth, so they were the ones who participated in discussion in local parishes. Continue reading “Journeying together” →

Ngikhona!

by Fr Ncamiso Vilakati

As the deacon of the day, literally roared his name; Rev Deacon Fezile Khonzumenzi Dlamini, one could hear in the affirmative his loud voice saying Ngikhona!. Many were amazed at his courageous affirmative voice and his choice to walk alone down the aisle towards the sanctuary. It was only later when it dawned to many the sole reason, he said he was present, and the core of his duty, when the bishop after anointing him with Sacred Chrism that he should “Yemukela umnikelo webantfu labangcwele, lonikelwa kuNkulunkulu. Condzisisa lokwentako, ulingise lemfihlakalo loyigubhako: imphilo yakho ayilandzele imfihlakalo yesiphambano seNkhosi.” Indeed, this was the gist of him, presenting himself for the work of the priesthood. Continue reading “Ngikhona!” →

We do not “go to Church”

by Bp José Luis IMC

At the beginning of this year our diocese launched the very first “online survey” offering everyone in the diocese the opportunity to share – as baptised and sent – about our journey together.

The word to keep in mind is: “everyone”.

Thinking of the spaces our diocese offers to share on our Christian journey, we realised that only those who are members of a parish council, or a specific sodality are able to do so. The rest, which might be the majority of our Christian community, has not been given that space. In fact, when asked in the survey “which spaces does your Church offer you to share your views, concerns, ideas”, many answered “none”. That is why we launched an “online survey” and that is why we will be placing “suggestion boxes” in every parish for those who would prefer to do it in a different way. Continue reading “We do not “go to Church”” →

Lent: becoming God’s children

By Bp José Luis IMC

 Livi laba yinyama!

We start today our Lenten Journey towards Easter. This is a time of grace, of God’s grace. For the next 40 days we will keep our eyes fixed on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Among other things, Easter is for us that special day when – together with the whole Church all over the world – we will renew our baptismal promises. Not that they expire! Baptism promises do not come with the type of indication we find in the food: sell by, best before, expires on… We renew them out of love, like couples renew theirs. We once again want to make it clear who it is we choose: Jesus or Satan.

Our baptismal promises remind us of our being “children of God”. John in his first letter says: “You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children – which is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). Indeed we are God’s children.

Continue reading “Lent: becoming God’s children” →

Caring for the temporary goods of the Church

By Fr. Sakhile Ndwandwe

It gives me pleasure to share with readers, the importance of taking care of temporary goods of the Church. What are temporary goods in the life and language of the Catholic Church? Temporary goods are understood as all those non-spiritual things which possess an economic value, including real property as well as intangible rights and assets, more often than not, categorised as movable and immovable.

CARING FOR TEMPORARY GOODS IN THE CHURCH

When we look at the Code of Canon Law, #1284, herein referred as CIC, it provides us with a clear understanding that all administrators are to perform their duties with the diligence of a good householder. They are to be vigilant that no goods placed in their care in any way perish or suffer damage, therefore it becomes necessary to arrange insurance contracts. Administrators are to ensure that the ownership of ecclesiastical goods are safeguarded in ways which are valid in civil law (avoid kubeka imali phansi kwemcamelo). Administrators are to ensure that damage will not be suffered by the church through the non-observance of the civil law. Administrators are to keep accurate records of income and expenditure draw up an account of their administration at the end of each year.  CIC 1284#3 specifically provides that an income and expenditure budget be drawn.

Continue reading “Caring for the temporary goods of the Church” →