Zambian Catholic Archbishop Raises Alarm over Disregard for Family as Foundation of Faith and Society

Lusaka, 19 December, 2025 / 6:17 PM

The Archbishop of Zambia’s Catholic Archdiocese of Kasama has expressed concern that the institution of the family in the Southern African nation is facing serious threats that are undermining its role as the foundation of faith, love, and moral formation.

In his Thursday, December 18 homily during Holy Mass for the closure of the National Catholic Forum at the Cathedral of the Child Jesus in the Catholic Archdiocese of Lusaka, Archbishop Ignatius Chama lamented that widespread economic, social, and spiritual challenges are diminishing the family vocation.

“The family, which truly is a domestic church and the lungs of any human society, is being punctured and choked to prevent it from being the first school of faith, love and human dignity,” Archbishop Chama said during the event, which coincided with the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (ZCCB) conclusion of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope at the national level.

He added, “In our society, where there is so much economic, social, and spiritual poverty, the family is being put under so much pressure that its vocation in the world is being diminished.”

The Zambian Catholic Church leader decried a society where truth and justice have been turned into “commodities for sale to the highest bidder,” leaving families with “nowhere to turn to claim its proper role in the Church and society and to seek and find refuge.”

He raised concern over the impact of digital culture on young people and parenting, saying, “In a society where the young live as if Mr. Google is another God, parents have been left powerless in the face of their children's attitude of knowing it all.”

“The family is left struggling to understand itself as the first school of faith and morality,” Archbishop Chama said in his December 18 homily for the closing of the December 15-18 National Catholic Forum that was themed, ‘Family at Crossroads.’

The Zambian Catholic Church leader observed that the family is no longer being looked at as a symbol of society’s unity and cohesion, citing “rising divorces and the breakdown of marriages,” which he said had resulted in an increasing number of broken families.

Archbishop Chama emphasized that despite numerous challenges, the family’s current struggles should not lead to despair.

“True, the family today is being tried in its exile of alienation from its role and mission of being a communicator of God's love and a sharer in his love for humanity, but it's at this moment of alienation that the family and ourselves should look to Jesus our hope that all will be well for hope does not disappoint us,” the 68-year-old Zambian Catholic Church leader said.

He added, “Our jubilee year of hope gave us time to reflect and experience this reality of not giving up in the midst of any crossroads but to continually look to the future with hope in the God who is our Emmanuel.”

Archbishop Chama, who has been at the helm of Kasama Metropolitan See since January 2012, called upon the people of God in Zambia to follow the example of St. Joseph. 

He said, “Let us like Saint Joseph… have the dream in time of a family that will truly be a domestic Church, a school of faith, love, human dignity, and custodian of moral values of our society and the Church.”

“When he woke up, he (Joseph) took his wife Mary home. Let us not just end the dreaming about what we should do about the family, but like him to actually carry out all our dreams in prayer, hop,e and confidence,” Archbishop Chama said.