MALAWI: Auxiliary Bishop of Kinshasa, DRC feels at home in Lilongwe
Auxiliary Bishop Charles Ndaka of Archdiocese of Kinshasa speaking in Lilongwe on Sunday.
Sam Kalimba
His Lordship Bishop Charles Ndaka, one of the three Auxiliary bishops of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kinshasa in the Democratic of Congo (DRC) expressed gratitude after he jointly conferred the sacrament of confirmation to 165 Christians at one of the parishes in the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe on Sunday, August 11, 2024.
He had told the faithful of St. Andrew Kaggwa Parish in Lilongwe that the best memorable gift that he would always remember is the fact that he participated in a Mass that was colorful and meaningful with the presence of the 165 young Christians that were confirmed on the day.
He also appreciated the level of participation by the faithful during Mass that was said in vernacular language but he was able to follow.
His counterpart, Archbishop George Desmond Tambala of Lilongwe, Malawi, thanked the Christians of the parish for their hospitality. He said that he did not hesitate to take his visitor to the parish as he knew that they were always ready for such kinds of visitors.
I remember having sent another visiting brother bishop from Mozambique a few months ago to this parish. Please keep it up. I also want to thank you for the business you are offering to our Centenary bank. Be assured that the success of the Bank will trickle down to the mission of the Church which is to offer holistic basic needs. As we are talking we do not have the desired sophisticated medical equipment in our hospitals. We also scramble for secondary school space in Catholic schools because we have few of them. With the profits made from the bank, the Church will be able to acquire modern medical equipment and install them in our hospitals as well as be able to fulfill our dream of having one secondary school per deanery, said Archbishop Tambala after translating a speech delivered by Bishop Ndaka made in Spanish.
Speaking on behalf of the 165 Christians, Francisco Sitolo 15 years of age said that the group is ready to serve in the Church. This was directed to the leadership of the Small Christian Communities alerting them of their willingness to start serving God from the base. He also thanked their animators for their dedication and asked them not to relent as more children behind them would need their services. He said that his cohort was lucky to be conferred the sacrament of confirmation by two bishops, which is very rare. He thanked the two bishops for accepting to go to their parish.
Mr. Atusaye Mwambokera who is the first vice Chairperson of the Parish Council thanked His Grace Archbishop Tambala for considering to visit the parish in that way. He also thanked him for bringing His Lordship Auxiliary Bishop Charles Ndaka of Kinshasa to that parish for confirmation sacrament. He however took advantage of the occasion to express the need for more priests at that parish as he said that even if the parish was re-demarcated to produce two other parishes.
Monsignor Patrick Thawale who is the Parish Priest of the hosting parish welcomed the visiting Auxiliary Bishop of Kinshasa and thanked Archbishop Tambala for conferring the sacrament of confirmation on the parish.
Your Grace, all parishes in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe are yours and we only help you run them. Many thanks for coming to your parish and feel free to come any time. While we are doing well in some areas of development, I would like also to report that there are a few areas that we need to work on. I want to assure you that what you said yesterday during the ordination about having a cordial working relationship between parishioners and the clergy. That was very relevant in our context as well. To you our dear visiting bishop Ndaka we say welcome and feel at home.
After Mass, Auxiliary Bishop Charles Ndaka was treated to a luncheon with some of the newly confirmed Christians and leaders of the parish council. It was at this luncheon that Archbishop Tambala advised the parish to consider going back to the drawing board to redesign the parish after having offloaded two parishes. After the luncheon Bishop Ndaka was taken to a construction site where the Parish is coming up with additional school blocks at a private school the parish operates.
Bishop Ndaka also participated in the ordination of 6 priests a day before the Confirmation Mass in Lilongwe.
