Catholic Charity Rallying for Funds to Construct Church in Northern Mozambique

“If you want to be part of this story, of the living Gospel, and help Fr. Eduardo to finish building the Church of St Charles Lwanga, please support ACN’s project,” the charity organization says.

ACN wrote to Fr. Eduardo, assuring him of the organization’s support towards the building of the Church, which is aimed at serving the Mozambican slum population that is mostly Muslim.

The Catholic Priest expressed enthusiasm upon receiving the ACN assurance, saying, “Amid the tragedy, when eyes were only on the wounds, when it seemed that nothing would happen, despair would overwhelm everything, the letter of donation for the church arrived.”

He adds, in the December 8 ACN report, “Someone saw what the blind man on the road must have seen, he who could not see. Someone set their eyes behind the fire and the storm and glimpsed hope beyond. They come from Aid to the Church in Need and that’s what they do: help Christians suffering around the world, with eyes to see beyond the darkness of evil.”

Fr. Eduardo acknowledged the dire humanitarian situation in Mahate, describing the situation as “an extreme and critical situation” and “a humanitarian tragedy still unfolding”.

He admitted to once considering the construction of a Church in the slum as a “dubious” idea when he saw the immense suffering that the people were going through.

“Years ago, when so many theories filled my mind, with indisputable arguments, I would have personally questioned the necessity or even the pastoral truth of building a church. Even more so since a context of extreme poverty, poor housing for many, and the irrefutable lack of basic services to live with dignity is clearly a challenge that can trump other dubious needs, such as a church,” the Spanish Catholic Priest said.

He narrated his stay in Mahate where he had seen the number of Christians surge, igniting the need for a proper place that the people could gather for worship.

“When I arrived in Mahate, the first mission in the city of Pemba, my community was a small remnant of God’s poor, with very little understanding of God’s ways. On their arrival the first missionaries settled in a village that already had a thousand years of Islamic tradition,” he said, and added, “The mission was a quasi-parish since it lacked what was needed to be fully one.”

He shares in the ACN report that the people initially worshipped in a garage as a chapel.

“We had to use the garage of the missionaries’ old house as a chapel. But at least in the first two or three years we didn’t need more room. More Christians began to come on Sundays as families grew larger,” Fr. Eduardo said, and added, “I always said the same thing. We need living stones, not dead ones.”

“I had to build a large shelter to protect them from the sun and the rain. Today so many people come that several are left outside for lack of room inside. In the last three years, our communities have grown, especially with the arrival of fellow Christians from the north, fleeing terrorist attacks,” the missionary Priest said.

He further said that the inspiration to build a church in Mahate came from the need to have a place that Muslims and Christians would meet to foster peaceful relationships between the two groups.

The Priest said that having a roof over Christians in Mahate is not the main reason to ask for help in constructing a church. He said, “Even though this is a sufficient reason to build the church, for me it is not the main one.”

“Those who convinced me the most are the other brothers, the Muslims. At present, many of them approach our chapel, enter the enclosure and are not afraid,” he said, and added, “Fear and prejudice are the worst threats to peace.”

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“In almost ten years since I have been here, one of my greatest concerns has been the search for a place in which we can meet, acknowledge each other, and engage in dialogue. Imams have been coming here lately, and I see with gratitude that nowadays they feel confident at a time when it is so easy to stigmatize,” the Priest said.

Making reference to the Biblical account of the expensive perfume of nard, which the woman poured on the feet of Jesus, Fr. Eduardo said, “Money can be spent on the bottle of pure nard, and … the poor will still be with us.”

He called upon the international community to follow the example set by ACN and to come to the aid of the people in Mozambique.

“What ACN has given us is this bottle so that the whole neighborhood can scent the Gospel’s good fragrance. Many of those who pray in the seven mosques around us can smell it too. They know that this house is open; that it heals wounds, accompanies, and takes care. That too smells good,” Fr. Eduardo has been quoted as saying in the December 8 report.