Category: Diocese of Manzini News

A new road map for the Church

By Fr Ncamiso Vilakati

Many perceive the Catholic Church as a gentlemen’s club that seeks to protect those in positions of privilege. Sometimes words like mafia are synonymously equated to this esteemed institution that seeks to rejuvenate itself in modern times. Ever since the initial pontificate of Pope Francis the Church has not only been thriving to go towards the periphery, reaching out to those in need, but also calls for equal share in the governance of the Church. At the end of the Synod of Bishops on the paths for the church for an integral ecology, the Holy Father, announced on the 7th of March 2020, that in October 2023, bishops from around the world will meet in Rome to discuss the theme: “For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission.”

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St Joseph: model of manhood

By Maduduza Gabriel Zwane

Italy – St. Joseph and the art of custodyFrom St. Jose Maria Escriva we get to understand that St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied on to do great things.  He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each event that went to make up his life. Members of the St Joseph sodality are proud of the fact that the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus is the model for every man.

One might say – but we know so little about him! How can we imitate a man we barely know? We know more about St. Joseph than you might think. St. Joseph has close to 20 virtues which are found in the Litany of St. Joseph but I will highlight only a few of these that men in the church can imitate. I am sure bomake will be pleased to know what we men aim to live up to in our families. In the sodality our aim is to be Holy “for God did not call us to impurity but to holiness”.

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From Womb to Tomb: A journey of Catholic Faith

By: Fr Francis Onyango IMC

Our FaithAs a departing shot, it gives me joy to share with you, and to assure you that indeed Catechesis begins from the womb and ends in the tomb. An ordained minister of the Church can bless one whilst still in the womb, and yes on his very last moments in his/her physical reality. It is on this juncture, and the spirit of this presentation that we can posit, that indeed Catechesis is for everyone.

First and foremost, the Catholic faith is planted like a seed and then nurtured all through one’s life, no one just wakes up and becomes a Catholic. One is prepared through a catechetical process to help the person to understand the Catholic faith and doctrine. A person is said to be fully initiated in the Catholic Church when they have received the three sacraments of Christian initiation; Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. This is achieved through a process of preparation. The usual practice is that a family will bring the baby to the Church for baptism but due to certain unavoidable circumstances or individual choices, this is not always the case and so sometimes a baby grows from infancy stage to childhood without having received the sacrament of Baptism.

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Journeying together

By: Bp José Luis IMC (Bishop of Manzini)

(Sharing my article for the first issue of our Diocesan Newsletter)

Have you ever wondered why God gave us two ears and one mouth? Many have answered that question in the past by saying (for example) “so that we can listen twice as much as we speak”. Maybe James had this in mind when he wrote: “everyone should be quick to listen but slow to speak” (James 1: 19).

Every few years the Pope gathers bishops from all over the world in what is called a “synod”. The word “synod” is a very beautiful and profound one. It means: “journeying together”. Synods have provided an effective support to the Popes in matters of greater importance for the Church. Thinking of the last ones you might have an idea of the topics addressed:

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“Not so among you

By: Bp José Luis IMC (Bishop of Manzini)

Homily at the launching of the first phase
of the synodal journey

Photos of the event

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“Not so among you” – “Akukafaneli kutsi kube njalo kini”

How I wished these four words from today’s Gospel passage would always (I mean: always!) remain in our hearts. How I wished these four words would be like seeds in our hearts that would produce fruit of how a Christian community should be. “Not so among you” constantly challenges any Christian community to go back to the Gospel to find her identity. We are not an NGO, we are not government, a political or a cultural organisation. We are a Christian community.

In today’s Gospel passage James and John, the sons of Zebedee – two of the 12 apostles – present a request to Jesus: “Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory”.

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An ambitious project

By: Bp José Luis IMC (Bishop of Manzini)

The Diocese of Manzini has been pretty creative regarding our presence in social media. 

Our webpage has been around for many years. Our Facebook Page is one of the best ways for us to share news reaching many in our diocese.

Before COVID19 reached our country, a diocesan whatsapp group was “providentially” created as a way to reach people all over the diocese with news.

When the pandemic brought the first lock-down, we prepared daily podcasts on the gospel of the day. The whatsapp group developed tremendously reaching over 1200 people.

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The challenging call of a deacon

By: Bp José Luis IMC (Bishop of Manzini)

Homily notes at the ordination to the diaconate of K. Dlamini
(St Ignatius of Loyola, Siphofanen)

Livi laba yinyama!

  1. A call

Most of the times, if not every time, the one being ordained chooses as the first reading the one of the prophet Jeremiah or a similar one. It places today’s celebration in the right context: “the one being ordained is answering God’s call”. There is nothing like: “I would like to be a deacon, I would like to be a priest…” During these 8 – 9 years, the Church has journeyed with Khonzumenzi discerning if God had called him.

Khonzumenzi shared with me that the reading is an expression of his confidence in the One who called him. The future is unknown and he naturally wonders: “will I be able to live as per demands of my vocation? Will I execute it according to His will?”The reading assures him protection among challenges, difficulties, pains…

 2. In the body of the Church

As I said, the Church has been discerning if he has been called by God because this is a call in the Church.

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Blessing of solar panels

By: Bp José Luis IMC (Bishop of Manzini)

At the beginning of the Season of Creation  we gathered at St Theresa’s Clinic thanking God for the gift of the recently installed solar panels
Below is my address and the prayer we shared

Click HERE for photos of the event

“In 2015 Pope Francis wrote an encyclical letter called “Laudato Si” about the care for creation, our common home.

He writes:  

Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Yet we are called to be instruments of God our Father, so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it and correspond with his plan for peace, beauty and fullness. The problem is that we still lack the culture needed to confront this crisis. We lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths and meeting the needs of the present with concern for all and without prejudice towards coming generations. (53)

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