TANZANIA: Catholic Cultural Centre in Tanzania

By Rose Achiego, Waumini Communications, Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops

Situated in the Suburbs of Dar es Salaam City in Tanzania along the port area and 15 Km from Julius Nyerere International Airport, Kurasini Centre hosts The Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) offices which have seven Directorates and Nine Commissions with 121 employees.

With accommodation capacity of up to 120 guests, well equipped conference halls for workshops and seminars coupled with a restaurant, Kurasini hosts all the Bishops Permanent Council meetings, plenary meetings and also attracts continental groups, civil society organizations and other faith based organizations.

Within the Centre is also a chapel for spiritual nourishment, a dispensary in case one falls sick, an archive with Church related history, a gas station, a shipping unit for ordering and receiving goods from other countries through the ocean and TV and Audio recording studio for recording religious programs and other commercial events.

TEC which has six metropolitans and 34 diocese, was founded in 1956 and was officially registered with the government of Tanzania in 1957. It is a member-based organization that includes all Catholic Bishops of Tanzania. As a corporate body the TEC is a member of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) and Symposium and Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).

TEC consists of the Plenary Assembly, the Permanent Council and the Secretariat whose main role is to coordinate pastoral, social and development programs initiated and implemented by the secretariat, facilitate diocesan pastoral, development and social programs to coordinate meetings of the members and maintain minutes of the same; implement pertinent resolutions of the Plenary Assembly and the Permanent Council as well as render different services to member Bishops.

The ambience provides a conducive environment for retreats, meetings and other activities that require reflections and deliberations. In addition TEC Kurasini Center is a home where member bishops finds shelter whenever they need to break their long journeys after attending a function from one part of the expansive country to the other.

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