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MALAWI:
Mangochi Diocese to Launch Synod Resolutions
The Catholic Diocese of Mangochi in Malawi is set to launch in December 2003 the resolutions of its just-concluded synod, an activity that has been going on for the last three years.
Fr Steve Kamanga, on behalf of the Synod General Secretary, told CISA that the official launching of the official synod document, which is still being printed, will be on December 8, 2003, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Bishop of the Diocese, Rt Rev bishop Alessandro Assolari, inaugurated the synod was on March 26, 2001, under the theme ‘You Too Go to My Vineyard’.
It has been three years of evaluation and planning for the future, of identifying mistakes committed in the past and finding ways to avoid such in the future.
As per schedule, said Fr Kamanga, all the activities of the synod were crowned on October 11, 2003, with the official closing of the synod, and the launching of activities geared to the implementation of the synod resolutions.
To mark the inauguration of the resulting part of the synod, each parish, through its priest in charge and the pastoral council, received a hoe from the bishop, symbolizing a commissioning to go and work in the direction of the synod resolutions.
The Diocese of Mangochi mainly evangelises among the Yao, Lomwe and some Chewa people who have different customs of life.
It was a big day when Mangochi was closing its long journey of the synod on Saturday, October 11, 2003. Multitudes of clerics and lay faithful from within and outside the Diocese took part in the Eucharistic celebration presided over by His Excellency Archbishop Orlando Antonini, the Apostolic Nuncio to Malawi and Zambia. The Archbishop conveyed best wishes from the Pope to the bishop and the people of Mangochi.
The faithful gave thanks to God for the grace given to Mangochi Diocese, and prayed for abundant synodal fruits for the salvation of the people of God, not only in the Diocese, but also in the universal Church.
Bishop Assolari thanked the Pope for the support, encouragement and prayers, and expressed his appreciation to the faithful for their contribution in various ways to the success of the synod.
For more details on the synod, please contact Bishop’s House, the Catholic Diocese of Mangochi, P O Box Box 44, Mangochi, MALAWI; Tel (265) 01594462; E-Mail: [email protected]. (Source: CISA)
MALAWI: How the Mangochi Synod Was Born
It all started as a dream that could never be realized, when Bishop Assolari called for a mini-diocesan synod. But the people of Mangochi welcomed the idea enthusiastically.
The Diocese of Mangochi runs many equally important activities in this part of the country with a high Muslim population. But in spite of all these, it decided to embark on this very involving activity of holding a mini-synod.
The move was, in a way, a response to the plea strongly suggested by the 1994 Synod for Africa, which called on individual dioceses to hold their own mini-synods to facilitate the implementation of its (the Synod’s) resolutions.
Furthermore, the need for a synod grew even more when Mangochi celebrated its silver jubilee and that of its bishop.
During the celebration under the theme, ‘Your Kingdom Come’ it was a common feeling among many -an idea very vivid in the bishop’s message for the occasion too- that the only way to move into the direction of God’s will in the Diocese was to stop and make a sincere stock-taking by way of a synod.
What originally seemed as mere ideas grew more into a concrete reality by the grace of the Great Jubilee in the year 2000. The Diocese of Mangochi felt a strong need to respond to the challenges of evangelization, as called on by the Great Jubilee celebrations. A synod was the answer to this thirst.
A final major impetus for a synod came with the 2001 centenary celebrations of the Catholic Church in Malawi, which called on the local Church to organize their own synods.
Synod commissions formed
When Mangochi confirmed that it was going to hold a synod, the faithful were informed and invited to take part in all the activities. The bishop appointed a ‘Central Executive Committee’ mandated to run the synod affairs.
Delegates toured other dioceses in both Malawi and Zambia, where synods had been undertaken in the past.
Commissions of research and operation were put in place. Each designed its procedures of research and of encouraging the faithful of the Diocese to participate.
Priests and the faithful responded, not only promptly, but with a lot of seriousness. At the parish level, participation was through the Small Christian Communities (SCCs).
These included commissions on Christian Family, on Lay Apostolate, and on the Formation of the people in various vocations. Others were on the Youth and their Education; on Liturgy and Ministries; on Catechesis to the Faithful; and on Justice and Peace. There was also a Commission on the Life and Structures of the Church.
The whole period from 2001 to 2003 was graced by 7 one-week general synod meetings at diocesan level, which were well attended by priests, representatives from religious houses, lay faithful representing all the parishes and priest observers from other dioceses in Malawi. These meetings were meant “to discover whatever is needed to be done in the diocese and what should be done to correct the mistakes and failures of the past.”
The pictures which you see in this web site are some of the highlights during the plenary meetings.
For more details on the synod, please contact Bishop’s House, the Catholic Diocese of Mangochi, P O Box Box 44, Mangochi, MALAWI; Tel (265) 01594462; E-Mail:[email protected]. (Source: CISA)
The Catholic Diocese of Mangochi in Malawi is set to launch in December 2003 the resolutions of its just-concluded synod, an activity that has been going on for the last three years.
Fr Steve Kamanga, on behalf of the Synod General Secretary, told CISA that the official launching of the official synod document, which is still being printed, will be on December 8, 2003, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Bishop of the Diocese, Rt Rev bishop Alessandro Assolari, inaugurated the synod was on March 26, 2001, under the theme ‘You Too Go to My Vineyard’.
It has been three years of evaluation and planning for the future, of identifying mistakes committed in the past and finding ways to avoid such in the future.
As per schedule, said Fr Kamanga, all the activities of the synod were crowned on October 11, 2003, with the official closing of the synod, and the launching of activities geared to the implementation of the synod resolutions.
To mark the inauguration of the resulting part of the synod, each parish, through its priest in charge and the pastoral council, received a hoe from the bishop, symbolizing a commissioning to go and work in the direction of the synod resolutions.
The Diocese of Mangochi mainly evangelises among the Yao, Lomwe and some Chewa people who have different customs of life.
It was a big day when Mangochi was closing its long journey of the synod on Saturday, October 11, 2003. Multitudes of clerics and lay faithful from within and outside the Diocese took part in the Eucharistic celebration presided over by His Excellency Archbishop Orlando Antonini, the Apostolic Nuncio to Malawi and Zambia. The Archbishop conveyed best wishes from the Pope to the bishop and the people of Mangochi.
The faithful gave thanks to God for the grace given to Mangochi Diocese, and prayed for abundant synodal fruits for the salvation of the people of God, not only in the Diocese, but also in the universal Church.
Bishop Assolari thanked the Pope for the support, encouragement and prayers, and expressed his appreciation to the faithful for their contribution in various ways to the success of the synod.
For more details on the synod, please contact Bishop’s House, the Catholic Diocese of Mangochi, P O Box Box 44, Mangochi, MALAWI; Tel (265) 01594462; E-Mail: [email protected]. (Source: CISA)
MALAWI: How the Mangochi Synod Was Born
It all started as a dream that could never be realized, when Bishop Assolari called for a mini-diocesan synod. But the people of Mangochi welcomed the idea enthusiastically.
The Diocese of Mangochi runs many equally important activities in this part of the country with a high Muslim population. But in spite of all these, it decided to embark on this very involving activity of holding a mini-synod.
The move was, in a way, a response to the plea strongly suggested by the 1994 Synod for Africa, which called on individual dioceses to hold their own mini-synods to facilitate the implementation of its (the Synod’s) resolutions.
Furthermore, the need for a synod grew even more when Mangochi celebrated its silver jubilee and that of its bishop.
During the celebration under the theme, ‘Your Kingdom Come’ it was a common feeling among many -an idea very vivid in the bishop’s message for the occasion too- that the only way to move into the direction of God’s will in the Diocese was to stop and make a sincere stock-taking by way of a synod.
What originally seemed as mere ideas grew more into a concrete reality by the grace of the Great Jubilee in the year 2000. The Diocese of Mangochi felt a strong need to respond to the challenges of evangelization, as called on by the Great Jubilee celebrations. A synod was the answer to this thirst.
A final major impetus for a synod came with the 2001 centenary celebrations of the Catholic Church in Malawi, which called on the local Church to organize their own synods.
Synod commissions formed
When Mangochi confirmed that it was going to hold a synod, the faithful were informed and invited to take part in all the activities. The bishop appointed a ‘Central Executive Committee’ mandated to run the synod affairs.
Delegates toured other dioceses in both Malawi and Zambia, where synods had been undertaken in the past.
Commissions of research and operation were put in place. Each designed its procedures of research and of encouraging the faithful of the Diocese to participate.
Priests and the faithful responded, not only promptly, but with a lot of seriousness. At the parish level, participation was through the Small Christian Communities (SCCs).
These included commissions on Christian Family, on Lay Apostolate, and on the Formation of the people in various vocations. Others were on the Youth and their Education; on Liturgy and Ministries; on Catechesis to the Faithful; and on Justice and Peace. There was also a Commission on the Life and Structures of the Church.
The whole period from 2001 to 2003 was graced by 7 one-week general synod meetings at diocesan level, which were well attended by priests, representatives from religious houses, lay faithful representing all the parishes and priest observers from other dioceses in Malawi. These meetings were meant “to discover whatever is needed to be done in the diocese and what should be done to correct the mistakes and failures of the past.”
The pictures which you see in this web site are some of the highlights during the plenary meetings.
For more details on the synod, please contact Bishop’s House, the Catholic Diocese of Mangochi, P O Box Box 44, Mangochi, MALAWI; Tel (265) 01594462; E-Mail:[email protected]. (Source: CISA)
RADIO
MARIA MALAWI Click here to read about the radio, get the programme schedule and also find out how you can make your contribution towards this noble cause. You can also listen live to the World Family of Radio Maria via this site. |
MANGOCHI
DIOCESE ORDINATION 2002 Click here to view some of the photo's of this occasion. |
| THE
MANGOCHI DIOCESAN SYNOD IN PICTURES Click here to view the photo gallery of one of Synod meetings. |