A 1,030-Person Choir to Animate Public Papal Mass in Mozambique

Listen to these great voices accompanied by a variety of instruments used in Africa. A glimpse of the Public Papal Mass in Maputo, #Mozambique this Friday. #PopeinAfrica #PopeFrancis pic.twitter.com/OOBZH2Hh4i

— ACI Africa (@aciafricanews) September 2, 2019

On the following day, however, the Holy Father will be involved in a series of activities in Maputo, beginning with a courtesy call to the President of the republic, Filipe Nyusi followed by a meeting with civil society leaders and diplomatic corps.

He will then have an encounter with young people of different faiths. After lunch, which he will have at the Apostolic Nunciature, the Holy Family will have a session that will bring together bishops, priests, religious women and men, seminarians, catechists, and other pastoral animators.  

Friday, his last full day in Mozambique, the Pontiff will stop at a Catholic-run HIV treatment center on his way to stadium in Maputo for his public Mass.  

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“Maputo is representative of Mozambique,” the liturgist for the Papal visit in Mozambique, Fr. Simbini said referring to the composition of choir members for the Papal Mass and the metropolitan nature of his country’s capital where people from various tribes and nationalities call home.

“Other choir members come from Gaza region,” Fr. Simbini added and clarified that Gaza neighbors Maputo.

Asked if linguistic diversity in Mozambique was factored in the choice of the Papal Mass songs, he said that other than Portuguese, songs selected for the Friday Mass are in a variety of native languages including “Nyungwe, Ronga, Changana, Makhuwa, Gitonga, Nyanja, and Chiwabo.”

“We have been around preparing for the visit of the Holy Father since February,” Fr. Simbini also said, clarifying that the choir started preparing in June.

He explained how the preparations for the visit of the Holy Father have provided an opportunity for people to practice sacrifice and generosity saying, “those involved in the liturgy including the choir members have always paid for themselves to come for practice on Saturdays and Sundays.”

“This has been a period of both blessings and challenges,” Fr. Simbini who is the Vicar General of Mozambique’s Xai Xai diocese said and continued, “This has been new for us. The last Papal visit, we were not here. It has been a moment for us to learn. We have had difficulty. But we have also had many moments of grace and blessings.”

The Zimpeto Stadium, venue of Public Papal Mass in Maputo, is ready to host #PopeFrancis in #Mozambique this week. #PopeinAfrica

Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla is ACI Africa’s founding Editor-in-Chief. He was formed in the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans), and later incardinated in Rumbek Diocese, South Sudan. He has a PhD in Media Studies from Daystar University in Kenya, and a Master’s degree in Organizational Communication from Marist College, New York, USA.