MALAWI: He Planted Self-Reliance in Mzuzu: Diocese Commemoration Life of Bishop Zuza
During memorial service at St Peter's Cathedral
Susan Clemency
The mood was sombre on Monday, January 15, during the memorial service of the late Bishop Joseph Mukasa Zuza which took place at St Peters Cathedral in Mzuzu.
Bishop Zuza died on Thursday, January 15, 2015, in a road accident when a car he was driving overturned in Nthungwa Area as he was coming from his home, Mhlafuta, in Mzimba district.
In an interview, the Local Ordinary of the Catholic Diocese of Mzuzu Bishop John Ryan said the late Prelate brought a change in the diocese by ensuring its self-sustainability.
‘’By the time Bishop Zuza was appointed to serve Mzuzu Diocese, the church was depending much on donors and outside support, but when he came in, he planted the spirit of self-support in the Diocese and this is very precious,’’ Bishop Ryan said.
He added that the church remembers the late Bishop Zuza as a courageous man saying, “Bishop Zuza was not fearful, he spoke the truth, criticized even the government where he saw the injustices’’.
It is on record that Bishop Zuza openly warned the late President Bingu Wa Mutharika against arrogance, when he said that any person who thinks is always perfect is wrong.
Born in October 1955 at Malembo Village under traditional authority Mmbelwa in Mzimba district, the late Bishop Zuza was ordained a priest in 1982, and on 09 March Pope St John Paul II appointed him the Bishop of Mzuzu Diocese where he was consecrated on May 6, 1995
Until his death, the late bishop was also serving as a Chairperson of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) and the Chancellor of Catholic University.
