TANZANIA: Mahenge Diocese inaugurates the Golden Jubilee Year
Diocese of Mahenge launched its Golden
Jubilee celebrations with the Eucharistic celebration which attracted many
faithful from different parts of the diocese on the 1st of August 2013.
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| Kwiro Cathedral |
Rt. Rev Salutaris Libena Bishop of Ifakara Diocese who was the main celebrant
said that the inauguration of the Golden Jubilee celebrations has coincided
with the Year of faith which calls on the faithful to deepen their faith, have
confidence in the Gospel, and possess a willingness to share the Gospel.
is an invitation to everybody in the diocese to deepen his or her relationship with
Christ. He also called for conversion among
Christians in order for them to deepen their relationship with Christ and to
share it with others.
“In other words, the Jubilee Year is an opportunity for
Catholics of Mahenge Diocese to experience a conversion – to turn back to Jesus
and enter into a deeper relationship with him,” he said.
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| Bishop Salutaris Libena |
As he thanked his brother Bishop Libena for
attending and Celebrating the inauguration Mass, the Bishop of Mahenge Diocese Rt. Rev Agapiti Ndorobo said that
the inauguration of Jubilee meant the commencement of a long journey on which
everybody in the diocese would be included. He was grateful to Bishop Libena for
pointing out some of the challenges towards living the spirit of this Jubilee and asked
Christians to see them as opportunity to grow.
General of the Diocese Rev Fr Oscar Kaziyareli indicated that some of the
activities to be taken during this Jubilee year include reflections and
commitment to the renewal of Priests’ life in the diocese, reanimation of Small
Christian Communities from the grassroots level, Visitation of the statue of
Our Lady to every Catholic family in the diocese, and workshops/seminars to
different groups.
research of Faith and Pastoral activities within the
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| Bishop Agapiti Ndorobo |
Diocese for the past 50
years. The findings will be documented as a literature and thus become the road
map for the next 50 years of the diocese.
Fr
Kaziyareli said the theme of the Jubilee is “Jubilee Diocese of Mahenge: Let us
make all things together in Christ”. The theme will become the slogan for the
diocese during this Jubilee Year. The climax of the Jubilee will on the 30th October 2014.
July, 1964. Initially, it was part of the Archdiocese of Dar es salaam. The first
Bishop was the late Bishop Elias Mchonde who ran the diocese until 1969. The
second bishop was the late Bishop Nikas Kipengele who died on a car accident
two years later after his installation. Rt. Rev Patrick Iteka took over in
1973. He was the longest serving Bishop for the diocese; he died in 1993. The
diocese is now headed by Rt. Rev Agapiti Ndorobo who is the fourth Bishop. He was
ordained and installed on the 16th June 1995.
The vision of the Diocese is to have a
community of faith, living in love, according to the Gospel message, and
striving in hope for the coming of the kingdom of God.
Diocese, the main thrust has been to develop a communion church, a participatory
church and more specifically, establishing small Christian communities through
awareness creation which stems from the grass root level and involving
everybody. These are some of the activities which are in the plan of the
diocese to be evaluated during this Jubilee year.
Mahenge Diocese and AMECEA Social Communications
