ETHIOPIA: Ethiopia warmly celebrates World Mission Day
By Makeda Yohannes, CBCE Communications and Public Relation Officer
Religious Congregations and the faithful in the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa gathered at the Nativity Catholic Cathedral on November 23, 2016 to celebrate World Mission day with a Thanks Giving Mass. The event was organized by the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in Ethiopia. This was the first time in the country that World Mission Day was celebrated centrally as one missionary family.
In his Homily Fr. Hagos Hayish, C.M., Secretary General of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat said that spreading the Gospel is a mission given to each and every one of us. “We witness the Gospel through our deeds and so we are missionaries, let us contribute to the spread of the Good News by using the grace bestowed upon us by God to live the Gospel in our homes with our families and by supporting the men and women missionaries who have dedicated their lives to this task,” he said.
Fr. Seyoum Fransua, PMS in Ethiopia National Director and ECS Deputy Secretary General on his part said that Christianity is the fruit of many sacrifices by missionaries. “Based on the order of Our Lord Jesus Christ ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ (Mt. 28: 18-20) missionaries have taken up the task of spreading the Good News and today our Universal Church has more than 1.2 billion Catholics throughout the world. This is the fruit of missionaries as well as kind and dedicated Catholics through the centuries,” he said.
He also added that world Mission Day is being celebrated in every parish of all the Dioceses under the theme Missionary Church. He explained that celebrating mission day centrally creates the opportunity to bring together all the missionaries together and join the Eucharistic celebration to thank God for their mission and also know each other better. The PMS National Director also added that there is a plan to expand the culture of celebrating mission day together to the rest of the Dioceses in the coming years.
After the Holy Mass all the congregations working in the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa showcased their Pastoral and Social activities using visual material. At the end of the event Lay faithful who participated in the event expressed their joy saying it created a better awareness for them about the importance of missionary work.
PMS in Ethiopia is engaged in various evangelizing activities in the country supporting particularly the spiritual aspects of the faithful.
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