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IMBISA Launches Golden Jubilee Celebrations with Call to Turn Challenges into Opportunity “to increase faith, hope”

Members of the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa. Credit: Fr. Dumisani Vilakati,

By ACI Africa Staff

Manzini, 09 May, 2024 / 10:00 pm (ACI Africa).

Members of the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) have launched the Golden Jubilee celebrations of their association with a call to turn challenges in their respective countries into an opportunity to foster faith and hope in the person of Jesus Christ. 

In his opening remarks during the launch of the Jubilee on Wednesday, May 8, the President of IMBISA highlighted challenges the people of God in the nine Southern African nations grapple with, and advocates for a collaborative approach in addressing them.

“We have the problem of drought that exposes many people to hunger, frequent floods, and tropical depressions that cause a lot of suffering to our people,” Archbishop Liborius Ndumbukuti Nashenda said.

Archbishop Nashenda also highlighted other challenges, including “migration, especially forced migration, a violation of the most basic human rights, corruption, conflicts, and wars.”

The President of IMBISA, who is the Local Ordinary of Namibia’s Catholic Archdiocese of Windhoek Archdiocese said that the challenges he had highlighted can be reflected upon in the light of Pope Francis’ 2015 Encyclical Letter “On care for our common home”, Laudato Si’ and the October 2020 Fratelli Tutti on human fraternity and social friendship.

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“These challenges only reveal to us that the jubilee year invites us to take it as an opportunity that the Lord gives us to increase our faith, hope, and trust in Him who told us ‘In the world you will have tribulations; but have confidence, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).’”

In his opening remarks for the launch of the Golden Jubilee to be celebrated under the theme, “IMBISA Golden Jubilee: A synodal journey, nourished by compassion and blossoming in faith as pilgrims of hope”, the Namibian-born member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) went on to advocate for partnerships.

“I hereby call upon all governments and states in our IMBISA Region to join us in this noble cause, for as the saying goes, ‘Many hands make light work,’” he said about the association that bring together those at the helm of Episcopal Sees in Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Archbishop Nashenda continued, “For fifty years, the IMBISA family has been a beacon of hope and unity, promoting collaboration and solidarity among our member countries.”

Credit: Fr. Dumisani Vilakati

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Guided by the words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” drawn from the Gospel of St. John, Archbishop Nashenda said that the Golden Jubilee of IMBISA is “a testament to our members' enduring commitment to upholding the values of compassion, faith, and truth in all we do.”

He said the celebrations of 50 years of IMBISA are a demonstration of collegiality as emphasized by the Second Vatican Council, which affirms that “Collegial union also appears in the mutual relations of each Bishop with the particular churches and with the universal Church.”

“May this jubilee year be a time of renewal, growth, and blessings for us all as we strive to fulfill our mission with love and dedication,” the IMBISA President implored.

Credit: Fr. Dumisani Vilakati

“This variety of local churches converging towards unity more clearly manifests the catholicity of the undivided Church”, he said referring to the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.

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Archbishop Nashenda encouraged the spirit of Synodality, saying, “As we reflect on our path so far and look to the future, let us continue to walk together in solidarity, guided by the light of Christ's teachings.”

“With hearts full of gratitude and enthusiasm, let us officially begin IMBISA's Golden Jubilee celebrations, knowing that with faith as our foundation, there is no limit to what we can achieve together,” he said on May 8.

ACI Africa Staff

ACI Africa was founded in 2019. We provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See, to any person with access to the internet. ACI Africa is proud to offer free access to its news items to Catholic dioceses, parishes, and websites, in order to increase awareness of the activities of the universal Church and to foster a sense of Catholic thought and culture in the life of every Catholic.