“Season of grace, pilgrimage”: Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops on Jubilee Year of Hope in Collective Advent 2025 Message

ZCBC members say that as the Advent Season begins, the Church continues “to reflect on the life and witness of late Pope Francis, whom the Lord has called to eternal rest.”

“We remember him with sorrow, for his absence is deeply felt,” the Zimbabwean Catholic Church leaders say, referring to the late 266th Pontiff, who passed on Easter Monday, April 21, aged 88.

They say they further remember him “with gratitude, for he was a shepherd who tirelessly urged the Church to be missionary, compassionate, and close to the poor.”

At the same time, the Zimbabwean Catholic Bishops express joy and hope at the election of Pope Leo XIV, praying that the Holy Spirit will grant him “wisdom to lead the Church with courage, tenderness, and mercy.”

“We also thank God for the gift of Pope Leo XIV,” they say in their pastoral message, referring to Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost, the first-ever American-born Pontiff and member of the Order of St. Augustine (OSA), who was elected on May 8 as the Catholic Church’s 267th Pontiff, taking the Papal name Leo XIV.

More in Africa

Missionary Congregation Joins Call for Prayers for 265 Children still Held after Nigerian School Abductions

Read the article

In the pastoral message issued ahead of the start of Advent on Sunday, November 30, the Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops describe the Advent Season as “an invitation to a new beginning” and a moment for the people of God to "look back with gratitude and repentance.”

They go on to describe the four-week period that ends at midnight on Christmas Eve marking the beginning of the Christmas Season as a moment of looking into the future with "faith and hope," noting that "with its spirit of expectation and renewal, it calls us to pause and examine our lives as Christians and as a nation."

“It invites us to ask: What kind of people are we becoming? What kind of Church and nation are we building? And do our relationships, choices, and public life reflect the dignity of Christ?” ZCBC members say, inviting the people of God in the Southern African nation to reflections.

They appeal for solidarity, imploring, “May this season deepen our love for the poor, strengthen our resolve to build a just and peaceful nation, and prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ, our light and our hope.”

“We wish you a blessed Advent season and a joyful Christmas,” Zimbabwe’s Catholic Bishops say in their collective November 21 Pastoral Message for Advent 2025.