{"id":21412,"date":"2024-12-06T19:26:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T19:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/?p=21412"},"modified":"2024-12-06T19:26:14","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T19:26:14","slug":"zambia-archbishop-phiri-calls-for-faith-and-unity-amid-zambias-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/2024\/12\/06\/zambia-archbishop-phiri-calls-for-faith-and-unity-amid-zambias-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"ZAMBIA:\u00a0 Archbishop Phiri Calls for Faith and Unity Amid Zambia\u2019s Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Sandra Kunda<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Archbishop of Ndola, Most Rev. Benjamin Phiri, has called upon Christians to remain steadfast in their faith as the country grapples with economic, social, and spiritual challenges.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In his Advent message issued on December 1, 2024, at the Cathedral of Christ the King to mark the beginning of this year\u2019s Advent season, the Archbishop urged believers to embrace active waiting, rooted in prayer and repentance, as they prepare for the celebration of Christmas.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Archbishop Phiri drew inspiration from 2 Corinthians 5:7 and emphasized the importance of unwavering faith. He urged the faithful to rely on God\u2019s promises rather than being swayed by visible circumstances.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He acknowledged the challenges facing the nation including a struggling economy, unpredictable rainfall due to climate change, political tensions, severe load-shedding, deteriorating moral values, and increasing marital infidelity.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThese issues have caused many to panic and lose faith in God,\u201d the Archbishop noted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, Archbishop Phiri was quick to reassure the congregation, encouraging perseverance in the face of trials and underscoring the need for human cooperation in receiving God\u2019s promises.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As the country prepares for the festive season, Archbishop Phiri called for unity, peace, and moral renewal while encouraging Zambians to reject violence and evil. He urged them to become \u201ctrue instruments of peace\u201d and to promote societal harmony.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Advent season in the Catholic Church is a period of preparation for Christmas that begins on the Sunday closest to November 30 and ends on the fourth Sunday before December 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sandra Kunda The Archbishop of Ndola, Most Rev. Benjamin Phiri, has called upon Christians to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amecea-news","category-zambia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21414,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21412\/revisions\/21414"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communications.amecea.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}