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Jesus’ Peace Not Just “absence of war, but relationship with God”: Catholic Bishop in Mozambique

Bishop Osório Citora Afonso

By João Vissesse

Maputo, 22 May, 2024 / 8:25 pm (ACI Africa).

The peace that the Risen and Ascended Lord gives to his followers and speaks about is not just about the absence of violent conflicts, Bishop Osório Citora Afonso has said. 

The Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Maputo in Mozambique, who was delivering his homily on May 19, Pentecost Sunday, called upon the people of God to understand peace as establishing and maintaining a relationship with God.

“The peace that Jesus is talking about is not just the absence of war,” Bishop Osório said.

Jesus’ peace, he emphasized, is a “relationship with God” that is a response for the love “He has with us; and it is this love that we witness in our society.”

“Where we are, in our parishes, in our areas, in our Archdiocese, we are invited to be messengers of peace, to be messengers of love and to be messengers of communion,” the Catholic Church leader said at St. John the Baptist Parish of Maputo Archdiocese.

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It is in fostering peace and love that “we renew the face of the earth,” the Mozambican-born member of the Institute of Consolata Missionaries (IMC) further said. 

He called upon the people of God in the Southern African nation to be a missionary Church “that goes out to witness love, to witness peace.”

The Catholic Church leader, who was Consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Maputo Archdiocese on January 28 described Pentecost as “a new time” that he said “must be guided by the Holy Spirit.”

Living under the influence of the Holy Spirit in “this time of the Church,” he said, courage replaces fear; this is the time of going forward.”

“We are capable of renewing the face of the earth when we are this church that lives unity in diversity, a church that is a group of young people capable of not only recognizing the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us, but also capable of living them,” the 52-year-old Catholic Bishop further said.

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João Vissesse

João Vissesse is an Angolan Journalist with a passion and rich experience in Catholic Church Communication and Media Apostolate. 

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