OPINION: South Sudan's Frontline Nuns

Amid the ongoing violence in South Sudan, religious workers have held their ground and helped protect civilians.

Nuns in South Sudan know a thing or two about war. "We learned fast with the bullets whistling past our ears," said Sister Barbara Paleczny, chuckling at the memory of her younger self when she moved here five years ago.

Paleczny, 70, a teacher with the Rome-based NGO Solidarity with South Sudan, has lived in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. But it's the city of Malakal - where civil war has raged in recent months - that she calls home.

Malakal, an oil town on the banks of the White Nile, has changed hands between the government and rebel forces several times since December, according to the missionaries who are there. Each attack and counterattack has led to fresh atrocities, which the nuns have done their best to prevent. The sisters have confronted military chiefs about rape, negotiated for civilian protection amid rocket-propelled grenade fire, and held their ground when international humanitarians and peacekeepers left.

South Sudan's frontline nuns - mostly Europeans and Americans - can dig a foxhole and distinguish a loaded Antonov bomber from an unloaded one based on its engine noise alone. They are agile, witty and plain-clothed - wearing a nun's habit in South Sudan's sultry climate wouldn't work.

Coptic Christianity reached ancient Nubia in the second century but 500 years later came under pressure from Islam. Christian missionaries who arrived in the latter half of the 19th century were beaten and tortured, imprisoned, and forced to marry. They battled famine and plague as nurses and undertakers, and fought prostitution and slavery. Fifty-years ago, the Sudanese government expelled them. When independence was granted to the predominantly Christian south in 2011, the missionaries pinned their hopes on a lasting peace.

'We stayed through all the battles'

But two-and-a-half years later, their hopes are smashed. A split within South Sudan's ruling party boiled over into armed conflict shortly before Christmas 2013. The war pits rebels loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar against President Salva Kiir. Experts agree that civilians have borne the brunt of the crisis - at least 10,000 people are believed to be dead.

Paleczny described how for last Christmas Day, December 25, her colleague, an Irish woman named Sister Betty, had been saving homemade plum pudding for lunch. But the nuns were forced to spend the day hiding in a cupboard in the church as artillery and mortars rocked the ground around them. "It was like a heavy thunderstorm with rain as bullets, and thunder as mortars and bombs. The house shook," Paleczny said.

In the late afternoon, there was a lull in the fighting. The sisters stole out of the church's windowless closet and made it to the kitchen. They put the pudding on to cook - but no sooner had they set it alight with flaming whiskey and eaten it than the artillery began again.

Paleczny had survived a number of attacks on Malakal before the recent outbreak of violence. "We stayed through all the battles when the NGOs cleared out," she said. While the nuns carried on with their business - improving education, healthcare, journalism, agriculture - the NGOs sometimes took months to return.

Religious workers in South Sudan have weathered the war. One Italian priest, who asked to remain anonymous, has continued his pastoral work in the field despite the civil war. When the government advanced on rebel leader Machar's hometown of Leer, kicking off another brutal round of attacks and counterattacks, the priest's colleagues noticed that he had disappeared.

A few days later, the sturdy, grey-haired, 67-year old appeared in Nyal, roughly 80km to the south. He had waded through bulrushes on the edge of a swamp and spent two days in a canoe to get there. After arriving in Nyal, he set out on foot, walking for three hours a day to make his pre-Easter visit to some of the remotest communities in the country.

"It gives credibility if you root yourself in and stay with the locals, even in life-threatening situations," said Klaus Stieglitz, vice chairman of Sign of Hope, one of the few NGOs with a presence in Nyal. In the past, international aid workers evacuated during periods of insecurity because of stringent risk-assessments. Missionaries, however, often remained at their posts.

Atrocities and nightmares

Recently, Sister Paleczny agreed to leave Malakal. "What can I do for people hiding in this tiny room?" she asked herself. Soon after leaving Malakal, she began to have nightmares for the first time in her life. Her mind was re-enacting atrocities in her dreams.

"Anything I'd heard about, it became real and I saw it at night - the killings, the atrocities," she said. "Daily quiet time gives a chance for things inside to surface. People have been so traumatised. We must be aware that we can have secondary trauma."

Paleczny spent the first two months of this year teaching in Rumbek, a town yet to be touched by the fighting. Meanwhile, her fellow Sister Elena Balatti stayed on. Balatti belongs to the Comboni Missionaries, a powerful, elite unit of church workers whose history in South Sudan dates back nearly 200 years.

The Combonis have survived decades of bombing by the Sudanese government, both during the 20-year civil war and after. Balatti was unfazed even after hearing rumours that a counterattack by rebels was imminent. In her dispatch for the Comboni Mission, she wrote that roughly 100 of the town's most vulnerable people were taking shelter in her church compound - most of them elderly, disabled or women with young children. Balatti reassured the displaced people that she would not leave.

Although a ceasefire agreement was signed in January, the deal is not reflected by the reality on the ground. On February 18, Balatti reported the White Army militia - comprised of members of the Nuer ethnic group - arrived in town.

People trying to escape on a truck were caught in the gunfire, hurling themselves from the vehicle and running to the church compound. Its walls provided protection from bullets, but only until 10am when the rebels breached the compound and started making demands of the sisters.

By evening, there were 30 gunmen in front of the cathedral searching for a pro-government fighter. One of the men readied his rocket-propelled grenade launcher and threatened to hit the church. The sisters stood their ground, doggedly negotiating for the protection of civilians. Early the next morning, Balatti and the other sisters gathered the civilians and left for the Presbyterian church, which was being used as a UN base, where they coordinated a rescue mission for those left behind.

One million displaced

Malakal has been hit by a number of atrocities over the past three months. Fighters have killed civilians en masse, allegedly raped girls as young as nine-years old, and reduced hundreds of homes and public buildings to ashes.

On March 19, the rebels announced the government had retaken the town. But whether they can hold onto it remains to be seen. The government, NGOs, UN peacekeepers and humanitarian staff are all being stretched to the limit. Nearly one million people have been displaced. The UN and its partners issued an appeal for $1.27bn to cope with the deepening humanitarian crisis, but aid efforts remain critically underfunded.

But Sister Paleczny is eager to get back to work, adamant that she will never retire and showing no fear of her own mortality. "I'm too old to die young," she said with a wry smile.

Courtesy of Al Jazeera 

Pope Francis' March 05 Interview with Corriere della Sera

Find below an English translation, by CNA's Estefania Aguirre and Alan Holdren, of the March 5 interview of Pope Francis with Italian daily "Corriere della Sera".

Holy Father, every once in a while you call those who ask you for help. Sometimes they don’t believe you.

Yes, it has happened. When one calls, it is because he wants to speak, to pose a question, to ask for counsel. As a priest in Buenos Aires it was more simple. And, it has remained a habit for me. A service. I feel it inside. Certainly, now it is not that easy to do due to the quantity of people who write me.

And, is there a contact, an encounter that you remember with particular affection?

A widowed woman, aged 80, who had lost a child. She wrote me. And, now I call her every month.  She is happy. I am a priest. I like it.

The relations with your predecessor. Have you ever asked for the counsel of Benedict XVI?

Yes. The Pope emeritus is not a statue in a museum. It is an institution. We weren’t used to it. 60 or 70 years ago, ‘bishop emeritus’ didn’t exist. It came after the (Second Vatican) Council. Today, it is an institution. The same thing must happen for the Pope emeritus. Benedict is the first and perhaps there will be others. We don’t know. He is discreet, humble, and he doesn’t want to disturb. We have spoken about it and we decided together that it would be better that he sees people, gets out and participates in the life of the Church. He once came here for the blessing of the statue of St. Michael the Archangel, then to lunch at Santa Marta and, after Christmas, I sent him an invitation to participate in the consistory and he accepted. His wisdom is a gift of God. Some would have wished that he retire to a Benedictine abbey far from the Vatican. I thought of grandparents and their wisdom. Their counsels give strength to the family and they do not deserve to be in an elderly home.

Your way of governing the Church has seemed to us to be this: you listen to everyone and decide alone. A bit like a general of the Jesuits. Is the Pope a lone man?

Yes and no. I understand what you want to say to me. The Pope is not alone in his work because he is accompanied and counseled by so many. And, he would be a lone man if he decided without listening, or feigned to listen. But, there is a moment, when it is about deciding, placing a signature, in which he is alone with his sense of responsibility.

You have innovated, criticized some attitudes of the clergy, shaken the Curia. With some resistance, some opposition. Has the Church already changed as you would have liked a year ago?

Last March, I didn’t have a project to change the Church. I didn’t expect this transfer of dioceses, let’s put it that way. I began to govern seeking to put into practice that which had emerged in the debate among cardinals in the various congregations. In my way of acting, I wait for the Lord to give me inspiration. I’ll give you an example. We had spoken of the spiritual care of the people who work in the Curia, and they began to make spiritual retreats. We needed to give more importance to the annual spiritual exercises. Everyone has the right to spend five days in silence and meditation, whereas before, in the Curia, they heard three talks a day and then some continued to work.

Kindness and mercy are the essence of your pastoral message…

And of the Gospel. It is the center of the Gospel. Otherwise, one cannot understand Jesus Christ, the kindness of the Father who sent him to listen to us, to heal us, to save us.

But has this message been understood? You have said that the Francis-mania will not last long. Is there something in your public image that you don’t like?

I like being among the people. Together with those who suffer. Going to parishes. I don’t like the ideological interpretations, a certain ‘mythology of Pope Francis’. When it is said, for example, that he goes out of the Vatican at night to walk and to feed the homeless on Via Ottaviano. It has never crossed my mind. If I’m not wrong, Sigmund Freud said that in every idealization there is an aggression. Depicting the Pope to be a sort of superman, a type of star, seems offensive to me. The Pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly and has friends like everyone. A normal person.

(Do you have) nostalgia for your Argentina?

The truth is that I don’t have nostalgia. I would like to go and see my sister, who is sick, the last of us five (siblings). I would like to see her, but this does not justify a trip to Argentina. I call her by phone and this is enough. I’m not thinking of going before 2016 because I was already in Latin America, in Rio. Now I must go to the Holy Land, to Asia, and then to Africa.

You just renewed your Argentinian passport. You are still a head of state.

I renewed it because it was about to expire.

Were you displeased by the accusations of Marxism, mostly American, after the publication of Evangelii Gaudium?

Not at all. I have never shared the Marxist ideology, because it is not true, but I have known many great people who professed Marxism.

The scandals that rocked the life of the Church are fortunately in the past. A public appeal was made to you, on the delicate theme of the abuse of minors, published by (the Italian newspaper) Il Foglio and signed by Besancon and Scruton, among others, that you would raise your voice and make it heard against the fanaticisms and the bad conscience of the secularized world that hardly respects infancy.

I want to say two things. The cases of abuses are terrible because they leave extremely deep wounds. Benedict XVI was very courageous and he cleared a path. The Church has done so much on this path. Perhaps more than anyone. The statistics on the phenomenon of the violence against children are shocking, but they also show clearly that the great majority of abuses take place in the family environment and around it. The Catholic Church is perhaps the only public institution to have acted with transparency and responsibility. No other has done more. And, the Church is the only one to be attacked.

Holy Father, you say ‘the poor evangelize us.’ The attention to poverty, the strongest stamp of your pastoral message, is held by some observers as a profession of ‘pauperism.’ The Gospel does not condemn well-being. And Zaccheus was rich and charitable.

The Gospel condemns the cult of well-being. ‘Pauperism’ is one of the critical interpretations. In Medieval times, there were a lot of pauperistic currents. St. Francis had the genius of placing the theme of poverty on the evangelical path. Jesus says that one cannot serve two masters, God and Wealth. And when we are judged in the final judgement (Matthew 25), our closeness to poverty counts. Poverty distances us from idolatry, it opens the doors to Providence. Zaccheus gave half of his wealth to the poor. And to he who keeps his granary full of his own selfishness, the Lord, in the end, will present him with the bill. I have expressed well in Evangelii Gaudium what I think about poverty.

You have indicated that in globalization, especially financially, there are some evils that accost humanity. But, globalization has ripped millions of people out of indigence. It has given hope, a rare feeling not to be confused with optimism.

It is true, globalization has saved many persons from poverty, but it has condemned many others to die of hunger, because with this economic system it becomes selective. The globalization which the Church supports is similar not to a sphere in which every point is equidistant from the center and in which then one loses the particularity of a people, but a polyhedron, with its diverse faces, in which every people conserves its own culture, language, religion, identity. The current ‘spherical’ economic, and especially financial, globalization produces a single thought, a weak thought. At the center is no longer the human person, just money.

The theme of the family is central in the activity of the Council of eight cardinals. Since the exhortation ‘Familiaris Consortio’ of John Paul II many things have changed. Two Synods are on the schedule. Great newness is expected. You have said of the divorced: they are not to be condemned but helped.

It is a long path that the Church must complete. A process wanted by the Lord. Three months after my election the themes for the Synod were placed before me. It was proposed that we discuss what is the contribution of Jesus to contemporary man. But in the end with gradual steps - which for me are signs of the will of God - it was chosen to discuss the family, which is going through a very serious crisis. It is difficult to form it. Few young people marry. There are many separated families in which the project of common life has failed. The children suffer greatly. We must give a response. But for this we must reflect very deeply. It is that which the Consistory and the Synod are doing. We need to avoid remaining on the surface. The temptation to resolve every problem with casuistry is an error, a simplification of profound things, as the Pharisees did, a very superficial theology. It is in light of the deep reflection that we will be able to seriously confront particular situations, also those of the divorced, with a pastoral depth.

Why did the speech from Cardinal Walter Kasper during the last consistory (an abyss between doctrine on marriage and the family and the real life of many Christians) so deeply divide the cardinals? How do you think the Church can walk these two years of fatiguing path arriving to a large and serene consensus? If the doctrine is firm, why is debate necessary?

Cardinal Kasper made a beautiful and profound presentation that will soon be published in German, and he confronted five points; the fifth was that of second marriages. I would have been concerned if in the consistory there wasn’t an intense discussion. It wouldn’t have served for anything. The cardinals knew that they could say what they wanted, and they presented many different points of view that are enriching. The fraternal and open comparisons make theological and pastoral thought grow. I am not afraid of this, actually I seek it.

In the recent past, it was normal to appeal to the so-called ‘non-negotiable values’, especially in bio-ethics and sexual morality. You have not picked up on this formula. The doctrinal and moral principles have not changed. Does this choice perhaps wish to show a style less preceptive and more respectful of personal conscience?

I have never understood the expression non-negotiable values. Values are values, and that is it. I can’t say that, of the fingers of a hand, there is one less useful than the rest. Whereby I do not understand in what sense there may be negotiable values. I wrote in the exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ what I wanted to say on the theme of life.

Many nations have regulated civil unions. Is it a path that the Church can understand? But up to what point?

Marriage is between a man and a woman. Secular states want to justify civil unions to regulate different situations of cohabitation, pushed by the demand to regulate economic aspects between persons, such as ensuring health care. It is about pacts of cohabitating of various natures, of which I wouldn’t know how to list the different ways. One needs to see the different cases and evaluate them in their variety.

How will the role of the woman in the Church be promoted?

Also here, casuistry does not help. It is true that women can and must be more present in the places of decision-making in the Church. But this I would call a promotion of the functional sort. Only in this way you don’t get very far. We must rather think that the Church has a feminine article : ‘La’. She is feminine in her origin. The great theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar worked a lot on this theme: the Marian principle guides the Church aside the Petrine. The Virgin Mary is more important than any bishop and any apostle. The theological deepening is in process. Cardinal Rylko, with the Council for the Laity, is working in this direction with many women experts in different areas.

At half a century from Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, can the Church take up again the theme of birth control? Cardinal Martini, your confrere, thought that the moment had come.

All of this depends on how Humanae Vitae is interpreted. Paul VI himself, at the end, recommended to confessors much mercy, and attention to concrete situations. But his genius was prophetic, he had the courage to place himself against the majority, defending the moral discipline, exercising a culture brake, opposing present and future neo-Malthusianism. The question is not that of changing the doctrine but of going deeper and making pastoral (ministry) take into account the situations and that which it is possible for people to do. Also of this we will speak in the path of the synod.

Science evolves and redesigns the frontiers of life. Does it make sense to artificially prolong life in a vegetative state? Can a living will be a solution?

I am not a specialist in bioethical issues. And I fear that every one of my sentences may be wrong. The traditional doctrine of the Church says that no one is obligated to use extraordinary means when it is known that they are in the terminal phase. In my pastoral ministry, in these cases, I have always advised palliative care. In more specific cases it is good to seek, if necessary, the counsel of specialists.

Will the coming trip to the Holy Land bring an agreement of intercommunion with the Orthodox that Paul VI, 50 years ago, nearly signed with Athenagoras?

We are all impatient to obtain ‘closed’ results. But the path of unity with the Orthodox means most of all walking and working together. In Buenos Aires, in the catechism courses, some Orthodox came. I spent Christmas and January 6 together with their bishops, who sometimes also asked advice of our diocesan offices. I don’t know if the episode you are telling me of Athenagoras who would have proposed to Paul VI that they walk together and send all of the theologians to an island to discuss among themselves is true. It is a joke, but it is important that we walk together. Orthodox theology is very rich. And I believe that they have great theologians at this moment. Their vision of the Church and of synodality is marvelous.

In a few years, the biggest world power will be China, with which the Vatican does not have relations. Matteo Ricci was Jesuit like yourself.

We are close to China. I sent a letter to president Xi Jining when he was elected, three days after me. And he answered me. There are relations. They are a great people, whom I love.

Why doesn’t the Holy Father ever speak of Europe? What doesn’t convince you about the European design?

Do you remember the day I spoke of Asia? What did I say? I didn’t speak of Asia, nor of Africa, nor of Europe. Only of Latin America when I was in Brazil and when I had to receive the Commission for Latin America. There hasn’t yet been occasion to speak of Europe. It will come.

What book are you reading these days?

Peter and Magdalene by Damiano Marzotto, on the feminine dimension of the Church. It is a beautiful book.

And are you not able to see any nice films, another of your passions? “La Grande Bellezza” won an Oscar. Will you see it?

I don’t know. The last film I saw was “Life is Beautiful” from Benigni. And before, I saw “La Strada” of Fellini. A masterpiece. I also liked Wajda…

St. Francis had a carefree youth. I ask you, have you ever been in love?

In the book “Il Gesuita,” I tell the story of when I had a girlfriend at 17 years old. And I speak also of this in “On Heaven and Earth,” the volume I wrote with Abraham Skorka. In the seminary a girl made me lose my head for a week.

And how did it end, if I’m not indiscreet?

They were things of youth. I spoke with my confessor (a big smile).

Thanks Holy Father.

Thank you.

Is Tanzania the Next Target for Radical Islam?

ROME, February 07, 2014 (CISA) - Bishop Bernadin Francis Mfumbusa,[ aged 41], heads the almost three-year-old Diocese of Kondoa, in the heart of Tanzania, one of 34 dioceses that serve a global Tanzanian Catholic population of some 9 million, 20% of the population. Another 10% are Protestants of various denominations. Animists account for 35% of the population and Muslims another 35%, the majority of them Sunnis. The various faiths have lived peacefully side by side for many generations, but in recent years some worrisome signs are pointing at the emergence of extremist Islam.

[The diocese of Kondoa erected in 2011 from the Diocese of Dodoma, had , in 2012, a total population of 450,400, of which 51,000 are Catholics (11.3%).]

Bishop Mfumbusa spoke to international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need on Monday [February 04] about the future of Tanzania as reported by Zenit.

Q: You recently returned from celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the faith on Zanzibar, where Muslims make up nearly the entire population. But the joy of the occasion was tempered by a growing radicalization of Islam on the island, and four attacks on the Church and its people in the last two years—most recently the brutal attack on a local priest with acid, which left the man severely burned. What can you tell us of the threat of extremist Islam in Zanzibar?

Bishop Mfumbusa: The threat of extremist Islam in Zanzibar should be understood in a specific context. One, the problem of Christian-Muslim tension in Zanzibar is not new. Some Muslims claim ownership of the archipelago saying Islam is the religion of Zanzibar. Two, radicalization of a certain segment of the population in Zanzibar is part of a worldwide trend. It should not be seen in isolation. Three, there is a political dimension to religious tensions, as some people and groups portray themselves as defenders of Zanzibari values, namely, Islamic values and principles. Still, the vast majority of people in Zanzibar would prefer to live in peace as extremism poses a danger to the entire society—not only to Christians.

Q: Do you have concerns for such Jihadists elements causing trouble on the mainland?

Bishop Mfumbusa: The possibility of trouble in Mainland Tanzania is as real as it is in London or New York or elsewhere. Last year a Catholic church was bombed in Arusha, and the culprits are still at large. We read in the news recently that some Al Shabaab (Somalia-based militants) elements were spotted in Tanga, one of the major coastal towns. The greatest danger at the moment is the infiltration of foreign Jihadis and the return of Tanzanian radicals who have received training outside the country.

Q: Do you perceive a larger threat then to Tanzania, just as extremist Muslims have worked their way into Mali, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and elsewhere? What forces are behind this import of radical Islam?

Bishop Mfumbusa: Tanzania has a large Muslim population estimated at 35%. A group known as Uamsho in Kiswahili (or “awakening”) is inciting violence, especially in Zanzibar. Pamphlets with specific messages against Christians and Christian institutions have been recovered. On the Mainland at least one radio station was banned because of inciting sectarian violence. Funding for these activities appears to come from abroad as the streets are awash with audio and videocassettes encouraging Muslims to harm kafirs (non-Muslims).

Q: What is happening to the peaceful Islam that has been characteristic of Africa for so long? Do you dialogue with moderate Muslim leaders? Are moderate Islamic leaders outspoken enough in denouncing anti-Christian violence?

Bishop Mfumbusa: A prominent Ugandan scholar, Mahmoud Mamdani, wrote a book titled, “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim,” in which, among other things, he warned of the danger of oversimplifying issues. There is an extremist fringe, it is true, but the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful. In Kondoa where I live more than 90% of people are Muslims. About 80% of my own family are Muslims, and so far we are living together fine. The major problem is external influence, which brings with it new interpretations and even usages of Islam.

Tensions are evident, and signs of radicalization are increasing, but the Christian leadership stays in touch with Muslim leaders. Whether the so-called moderate Muslim leaders denounce anti-Christian violence is an open to debate question. Muslim leaders who appear to side with Christian themselves fall victims to extremist violence, as was the case last year in Zanzibar. Naturally, there is a fear to speak out among moderate Muslims. Unfortunately, this only emboldens the extremists.

Q: How do you explain the hatred of some Muslims for Christians and their faith?

Bishop Mfumbusa: Some Muslim scholars suggest that Islam is the original religion of Africa. This is far from true. Islam came to North Africa in the 7th century through conquest; and made its way to East Africa with Arab traders. Hatred of Christians by Muslims can be traced to a totalitarian tendency to expunge all non-Muslims. That is what happened in North Africa in the early days of Islam.

Some Muslim leaders claim that Muslims are marginalized by Christians. That is how they justify interventions, like the recent one in the Central African Republic by Seleka Muslim rebels who made their forays under the pretext of protecting Muslims. Christians are scapegoats for all that is wrong among the Muslim populace—and the demagogues use such arguments to work up people into hatred.

Q: What are your arguments in helping Christians themselves from turning to violence out of revenge?

Bishop Mfumbusa: Whenever I get an opportunity I remind people of [the late Russian writer] Tolstoy, who held that there is an often forgotten verse in the Bible, namely, Matthew 5:39, where Jesus is telling his disciples: “don’t resist evil.” Our best hope is forgiveness. We cannot solve evil by doing evil. As best as we can, we must learn to “not resist evil.” But as the situation in the Central African Republic has made clear, it can be hard to control people after a certain point.

Q: How can the Church help build bridges between Christians and Muslims?

Bishop Mfumbusa: Inter-religious dialogue in Tanzania is going on at different levels. At the national level there is a multi-faith committee, which brings together leaders from all religions. Even here in my diocese of Kondoa there is a committee trying to address inter-religious problems. Also the church welcomes all people to make use of its institutions such as schools, universities, hospitals, etc.

Q: Have you personally been confronted with evil?

Bishop Mfumbusa: Evil is part of human life, and no one can escape it. It is easier to hear of horrors of war, hatred, hunger and so forth when such things are happening in far off countries. Personally I have experienced tragedy when Father Ambrose Mkenda was shot and gravely wounded on Christmas Eve 2012. His crime, apparently, was to be a Catholic priest on Zanzibar. I know him well, as we were in the seminary together in the late 1980s. Indeed, as some say, man is wolf to man.

Q: How do you cope with the loneliness of the life of a pastor—particularly that of a bishop?

Bishop Mfumbusa: I remember, when I was elected bishop of Kondoa, a fellow bishop told me that loneliness would be now part of my life. To some extent this is true. I have to make difficult decisions alone. Often I live alone as we have only a handful of priests. Luckily, in Africa, most people are part of a large extended family, so people do drop in to greet me all the time. Generally, there are no official appointments and there is a steady flow of visitors— so there is no time to be lonely, really! There is also the consolation of prayer, knowing that the Lord is always near, even when we feel lonely for some reason.

Q: Does the Church in Tanzania see a growth in vocations?

Bishop Mfumbusa: At the moment, we have more than 500 seminarians doing philosophy and theology in five seminaries run by the Tanzanian bishops’ conference. There has been an increase in the number of seminarians. Generally, the number of seminarians tends to ebb and flow over the years. We need to commission a study to find out why more young men have been drawn to the priesthood lately.

Q: What do you think are the particular gifts of African Catholicism—and can they benefit the Church in the West?

Bishop Mfumbusa: I think one of the greatest gifts of Tanzanian Catholicism is unity. Despite ethnic, regional and other differences, the faithful, for example, accept pastors and bishop from other parts of the country or from other ethnic groups without a problem. Another gift which can be emulated elsewhere are our “Small Christian Communities,” which have become a strong embodiment and expression of the local Church in our country.

Q: What is the biggest challenge for you personally in 2014?

Bishop Mfumbusa: The biggest challenge is the limited number of priests. Here in my diocese, there are only 13 priests working in 11 parishes. And there is a potential—a need—to open six new parishes immediately. We simply don’t have the personnel. For example, my secretary doubles as the parish priest of the cathedral parish. It can be overwhelming.

Q: And what are the main challenges for the new year for the Church in Tanzania—family life, catechism, formation of priests and religious?

Bishop Mfumbusa: The greatest challenges lie in the area of priestly formation and religious education. Developments in the secular education sector are outpacing our capacity to provide religious formation for students. For example, there are now secondary schools in many villages, yet we don’t have enough catechists to teach at this level. We need to improve the capacity of our catechists and lay ministers. In the area of priestly formation the main problem is lack of books, as well as a limited information and communication infrastructure in our seminaries.

Q: Pope Francis stresses the need for the Church—indeed, the world at large—to care for the poor. In what ways is the Diocese of Kondoa serving the poor, the sick and the marginalized?

Bishop Mfumbusa: We have an orphanage with more 70 children, most of whom were abandoned. We care for them irrespective of their religion or ethnicity. The local Church also operates a health center and a few dispensaries in some of the remotest areas in the district. We would wish to do more but limited human resources hamper our efforts.

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Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org (USA); www.acnuk.org (UK); www.aidtochurch.org (AUS); www.acnireland.org (IRL); www.acn-aed-ca.org (CAN)

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) — 19th January 2014

1.     Readings:             Isaiah 49:3, 5, 6

Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-10

1 Corinthians 1:1-3

John 1:29-34

2.     Biblical Reflection

·      Keeping track of history helps people connect from generation to generation. The reading from Isaiah shows how Israel as a nation needs to be brought back to the Lord, implying it has failed as a nation. It needs not only to be raised up but to be made a light to its neighbours, to the nations. Its past victories, well-being, and greatness have collapsed, making it now a laughingstock, hopeless, ashamed, and regretful. The intervention of the prophet restores pride and gives the people hope that God will manifest his power and glory through his faithful servant.

·      Israel is the servant God uses to manifest his glory to the world. This servant must identify with the reality of the lowly in society: the poor, the weak, the defeated, the oppressed.

·      Like the servant Israel, we are all called to a mission, to reach out to all, in all spheres of life. We must give hope to the lowest of our citizenry. We must be a bright light that shines to restore confidence and order.

·      As faithful, our voices must be heard in political and economic circles, in schools and health sectors, to propagate the spirit of harmony and unity and the equal distribution of resources. We must instruct the masters of deceit, corruption, and crime to change and live well.

·      St. Paul’s greeting to the Corinthians reminds us of our call, as people sanctified by Christ, to be holy.

·      The Gospel presents Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world to save us from evil and extermination.

3.     Link with the Social Doctrine of the Church

The ultimate source of human rights is not found in the mere will of human beings, in the reality of the State, in public powers, but in man himself and in God his Creator. These rights are “universal, inviolable, inalienable” CSDC* N^o. 153.

·      The Church is constantly in the front line, giving hope and direction to citizens at all levels. It teaches all categories of people to find their roles and complement each other in nation building. If a political elite is in the forefront it should be there to ensure strong citizen participation in affairs that bring true development.

The gospel precept of charity enlightens Christians as to the deepest meaning of political life. In order to make it truly human, “no better way exists ... than by fostering an inner sense of justice, benevolence and service for the common good, and by strengthening basic beliefs about the true nature of the political community and about the proper exercise and limits of public authority” CDSC* N^o. 392.

·      Catholic social teaching clearly spells out that the political community must pursue the common good and seek to create a human environment that lets citizens truly exercise their human rights.

4.     Yes, Kenya matters

Experience in society has been that one who excels through physical and human powers becomes the victor and the one to be emulated. The one who challenges other competitors and takes the lead position is the icon, the ideal, the most wanted and appreciated, no matter what the competition is about.

·      Our vocation as human beings is to bring the light of Christ to all so that there may be peace, harmony, solidarity, and happiness. Our lives are too often marked by pseudo-happiness. Material and worldly victories, success and power have made humanity do a U-turn into pride, immorality, greed, rudeness, crime, and dissociation. Ostensibly great achievements can create a separatist, individualistic, and self-centred attitude that keeps people from seeing the needs of others, and joy may come at their expense.

·      Kenyan society is at a crossroads. The political arena remains unsettled and county governments have not yet assumed their roles to bring harmony and change. Moreover, rivalry disfigures national unity, seriously reducing the development of good will among leaders. Supremacy in leadership torments our governance. Ethnic intolerance is acted out in savagely designed animal theft, terrorist attacks, and the IDP resettlement process.

·      How to explain that county assembly members go on strike? A government on strike! And the ICC process has taken on a new dimension. How can Kenyans be convinced that impunity will finally end? Does holding political office guarantee getting away with crime?

·      Leaders and eminent persons in Kenya straddle a fence. They throw stones at each side, according to their convenience and individual advantage. Even their sweet and honourable speech sends confusing signals to others. They don’t respond as expected to the needs and realities of the masses. A moving line in Imbuga’s play “Betrayal in the City” says, in a biblical cadence, “May God open your eyes to the suffering of your people.”

5.     African Wisdom

·      Whoever prides in the misery of others ignores a divine living.

·      Those who treasure happiness treasure also the Creator’s plan.

6.     Questions for reflection in SCCs

·      What issues in society bring pride to some while diminishing others?

·      If the Gospel is the light to Christian living, how are Christians enlightened by it?

*CSDC: Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Pauline Publications Africa.

 http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html

Outline prepared by the Catholic Justice and Peace Committee of Rumuruti Mission, and edited by a team of RSCK-JPIC, the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission of the Religious Superiors’

Conference of Kenya.

religiousconference@gmail.com

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord — 12th January 2014

1.       Readings:             Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7

Psalm 29:1-4, 9-10

Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38

Matthew 3:13-17

2.       Biblical Reflection

•         It may be surprising to realize that at the start of his public life Jesus was baptized. But Jesus is a man of surprises. John the Baptist was surprised to hear Jesus asking to be baptized. “It is I who need baptism from you,” John said. Isaiah the Prophet, who spoke on behalf of the Lord, had announced the happenings of today’s gospel (Isaiah 42:1-4): “I have put my Spirit upon him.” And that is what happened on the day of the Baptism of Jesus. This hinted at the mission of the servant of God: “Behold, my servant will bring forth justice to the nations.” From these words the followers of Christ get their commitment to work for justice to prevail in their own nations. John, the last prophet of the Old Testament, opened the New Testament by baptizing Jesus. The two had already met while in the wombs of their mothers, Elizabeth and Mary: “And the child leaped in her womb,” as do even the children whose mothers want to abort! Science cannot deny that the unborn is alive.

•         Now Jesus and John meet in the open, in front of those who wanted to be cleansed in their hearts and baptized by John. From the dialogue we understand that they already knew each other rather well: “I need to be baptized by you.” It is true that we need to be baptized by Jesus as the king of justice and mercy, and live and show justice and mercy. The Baptism of John was for repentance. Jesus had nothing to repent, but he asked for it to underline that baptism is the starting point of a new life and a new personal covenant with God. He is the one, God himself made flesh, and his ministry is marked and begun with His baptism. John protests, and Jesus insists. From that Baptism, Jesus and the people know that He is the beloved Son of God.

3.       Link with the Social Doctrine of the Church

•         Many people today in leadership positions and their responsibilities have devised ways to switch blame to others. Institutions excuse their failure by loading it to others. When the scenario of nobody taking responsibility of a mistake becomes a norm, then that society is heading to ruins. But there must be genuine correction to failures or mistakes that one is accountable. The church teaches that for the sake of common good, the correction must not aim at ideologies of individualistic nature or of totalitarian character. (Compendium Social Doctrine of the Church, No. 417 )

•         John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Missio No. 11, 14  clearly presents the agenda of liberation as the task of every Christian. Just as Jesus brought integral salvation, so also those like him, the baptized, are called to extend their activity to penetrate all that surrounds the human person: the political, the economic, the social, and the cultural, while transforming these factors into potential for life, for freedom, and for growth.

•         While many Kenyans live amid dehumanizing forces, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2442, 2039)  teaches us to understand our responsibilities and our duty to transform the pains of society.

4.       Yes, Kenya matters!

•         For Kenyan society, Jesus’ public baptism is the sign of His commitment to be with us always, at our disposal, at our service. He humbled himself for our salvation. His service should set an example to the political community, which is established to be of service to the Civil Society from which it originates. Our true life comes from our Baptism for the sake of the world. We have to get out there and live it! The words pronounced by the voice—This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased—are also true for us. Our baptism brings new life in Christ.  God the Father should not hesitate to say the same words for each of us in our daily undertakings: I am well pleased with you. The descent of the Spirit at Jesus’ baptism looked forward to the descent of the Holy Spirit on us. How wonderful will it be to hear the same voice in our heart: with whom I am well pleased. Yes, God the Father will always be pleased with each baptized person who changes the ways of personal life to be closer to Christ by fulfilling His desires and giving testimony in society. So many are baptized and commissioned to witness among fellow humanity.

•         It is doubtful whether God is really pleased with our style of witnessing to him, a style so often marked by murder, theft, dictatorship, misuse of power, neglect of duty. Let us beware of counter witness, of fake witness: falsehood to earn merit when merit is not due. God’s desire should be seen in our life: a life of fidelity, of truth, of honesty, and of pure behaviour. Such are also the needs of our present society. Young people must have the courage to be living examples of those values. Leaders at all levels—religious and political, civil groups and NGOs—must walk a mile ahead. Family heads, family members, SCCs, must all be living witnesses, so that God the Father can tell each one, You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. To hear that voice, we must commit ourselves to enter more deeply into the mystery of our baptism, seeking to understand it, and growing in our appreciation of its wonderful grace.

5.       Questions for reflection in SCCs

•         What differences have cleansing in the water and the descent of Spirit at Baptism made in your life and in the lives of others?

•         Discuss elements in the lives of Kenyans that may make God not say to them, You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.

6.       African wisdom

-         A messenger is not killed. —SWAHILI

-         One who refused advice was later seen bleeding. —SHONA

-         A man reaches old age if he has respected the groundnuts of his neighbour. —KONGO

Outline prepared by Bishop Emeritus of Nyahururu Luigi Paiaro, and edited by a team of RSCK-JPIC, The Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission of the Religious Superiors’ Conference of Kenya.

religiousconference@gmail.com