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IMBISA’s Golden Jubilee to Reinforce Synodality at the Grassroots: Catholic Bishop in Eswatini

Credit: SACBC
Silas Isenjia

By Silas Isenjia

Manzini, 28 August, 2025 / 6:21 pm (ACI Africa).

The planned Golden Jubilee of the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) seeks to ensure synodality is a lived experience in various Dioceses of the region, Bishop José Luís Gerardo Ponce de León of Eswatini’s Manzini Diocese has said.

In an interview with the Communication Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), the Shepherd of the only Catholic Diocese in the country that is set to host the Golden Jubilee said there is need for Bishops in the region to walk together to realize the Synodal journey.

“We thank God for everything that has happened in the last 50 years. We celebrate this Golden Jubilee in the context of our synodal journey as a Church,” he said in reference to the event scheduled for September 24 – 29.

The Jubilee celebrations, which will be held alongside IMBISA’s 4th Plenary Assembly, will “ensure that the synodal journey is brought down to our region and our different dioceses,” the Argentine-born member of the Consolata Missionaries (IMC) said.

“The synodal journey is different. It requires a change of mentality,” he said, and explained that his Diocese is in the process of embracing the change of mentality.

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He emphasized, “We need to support each other and journey together as bishops to see how to bring this synodal journey to our contexts.”

The Golden Jubilee celebration of the nine-nation entity of Catholic Bishops in Southern Africa has been organized on the theme, “IMBISA Golden Jubilee: A synodal journey, nourished by compassion and blossoming in faith as pilgrims of hope.”

In his speech at the opening Eucharistic celebration for the launch of the Jubilee in  May last year, Bishop Siphiwo Paul Vanqa of South Africa’s Catholic Diocese of Queenstown said the theme is in line with that of the Synod on Synodality, in which the people of God are called upon to listen, discern, and walk together.

“The theme captures the essential activities of IMBISA, namely, to bring the Bishops of the region together and enable them to act in common,” Bishop Vanqua said about the theme of the event that will gather Bishops from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

In the Wednesday, August 27 interview with SACBC communications, Bishop Ponce de León said the event is a huge one, especially given that “the one organizing everything is a country with just one diocese.”

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“I foresee about 120 people attending the event, of which only two or three are from Eswatini,” he said, and added, “We expect about 70 Bishops, including Cardinals, Archbishops, and Bishops, about 30 Priests, and 20 laypeople to be in Eswatini.”

He explained further that Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa and President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), will be among the attendees.

On the progress of the preparations, Bishop Ponce de León said, “We have very good people working towards the preparation of this event, but everything comes from God.”

“We have to entrust it daily to Him, so that this is not just a nice moment, but truly a blessing—a blessing for our region and for the whole Church,” the Bishop said during the August 27 interview.

Underscoring the importance of IMBISA’s envisioned celebration, he said, “To celebrate a Golden Jubilee indicates being alive, fully alive. This is not just about remembering the past. We are fully alive as IMBISA, especially in the last few years.”

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The Bishop of Manzini said that the history of IMBISA had been very important, “adapting constantly to the different changes which are not only the changes of political situations or the context in which we work.”

Silas Isenjia

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.