Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - “We are very grateful to the Holy Father for offering his suffering and prayers for the Church in Tanzania. The Holy Mass he celebrated at the Gemelli Hospital, at which two of us participated, was said for the mission of the Catholic community in Tanzania” Cardinal Polycarp Pengo of Tanzania told Fides in an interview this morning . The Cardinal, who is Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam, is in Rome with 30 other Bishops Tanzania for the five yearly ad limina visit..
The Cardinal said that in his message to the Tanzanian Bishops on the occasion of their ad limina visit the Holy Father spoke of three main priorities: family, clergy, social commitment. “The situation of the family in Tanzania - the Cardinal said - is good on the whole but we are not immune to attacks by secularisation and break up of families. We strive to give special attention to the family because it is through the family that society can be evangelised. We have evangelisation programmes and a Commission for the Family instituted by our Bishops’ Conference. With regard to the apostolate of lay people, the role of the family is very important. We are also working to promote the activity of Holy Childhood: through children and young people we can build authentically Christian families. We also promote biblical formation for families with meetings in small groups for Bible study, discussion, and experience sharing on the Word of God”.
With regard to the clergy in Tanzania, the Cardinal said: “We are very proud of our priests. Of course we would need more of them. Most priests have more than one parish to care for but they are very dedicated and zealous. Our priests are poor and a life of poverty is a good means of witness. We return home with the encouragement of the Pope’s special message for us. We intend to continue to devote special attention to spiritual renewal and ongoing formation of the clergy all of whom attend annual two-week refresher courses. Some of our priests are ‘missionaries at home’, working in a diocese which is not their own, some serve the Church in other African countries, and we have some even as far away as Jamaica”.
Catholic social service in Tanzania was another commitment mentioned by Cardinal Pengo: “Church state relations are good and the Church is free to engage in her activity. The Church in Tanzania has always offered a major contribution to the country in the field of education. Catholic schools, institutes and universities are highly appreciated. Catholics as a community are also deeply committed to supporting peace in East Africa. They do this principally by offering shelter and assistance to thousands of refugees who come to Tanzania from neighbouring countries: our national and diocesan Caritas Offices are in front line to offer assistance to these people and we work in this field also in collaboration with the Bishops in other affected countries”.
Lastly the Cardinal told us how Catholics in Tanzania are living the Year of the Eucharist: “We also had a solemn opening of the year last Autumn, thousands made the pilgrimage to the Shrine at Pugu, the place where the first missionaries, Benedictines of St. Ottilien, arrived in 1887 to bring the Good News and from where they started evangelising the country. We had a solemn Mass and Procession with intense participation of the faithful. One Sunday every month is dedicated to study on the Eucharist with special catechesis on the Holy Father’s Letter Mane nobiscum Domine every parish there. We note great interest among our young people. To encourage them to participate and benefit from this year of the Eucharist we have chosen a motto for them ‘Eucharist, bond of charity and sign of unity’. We note an increased in devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist”. (PA)(Agenzia Fides 15/3/2005 righe 35 parole 359)
