Tanzania’s National Eucharistic Congress draws thousands
Angella Rwezaula – Vatican City.
At the closing Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress held at the Uhuru National Stadium, the Capuchin Franciscan Bishop Wolfgang Pisa, who is President of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) and Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lindi, said Christians should be known for love, care and forgiveness.
Procession with the Eucharist
The Eucharistic Congress in Tanzania took place from 12 September to Sunday, 15 September. Thousands of the Catholic faithful from all over Tanzania thronged the capital, Dar es Salaam, for the four days event,
Earlier on Saturday, 14 September, there was a huge Eucharistic procession from the Dar es Salaam University School of Education campus at Kurasini to the Msimbazi Centre.
Bishop Pisa further explained that the National Eucharistic Congress was designed to coincide with the International Eucharistic Congress 2024, which also concluded in Quito, Ecuador, South America, on Sunday, under the same theme: “brotherhood to heal the world.”
The Eucharist is a Sacrament of fraternity.
Bishop Pasi echoed Pope Francis’s message that the Eucharist teaches us fraternity.
“This is a Sacrament of love, so we should not discriminate against each other because of ideology, race or for any other reason. We all have one God. My brothers and sisters, let’s approach this Sacrament without sin, let’s ask God to change us through this Sacrament so that we will be whole and new,” Bishop Pisa said.
He emphasised that Christian witness should propel the faithful to a life of compassion, love and care for one another.
“If you receive Jesus in the Eucharist and remain as you were, then there is something wrong in your life. This Sacrament makes us new,” emphasised the TEC President.
Pope Francis’ goodwill message
The Apostolic Nuncio to Tanzania, Archbishop Angelo Accattino, conveyed Pope Francis’ greetings to the Catholic faithful of Tanzania gathered in a National Eucharistic Congress. The Nuncio commended religious freedom prevailing in Tanzania, as demonstrated by the atmosphere at the Congress.
Tanzania’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Dr Doto Mashaka Biteko, greeted the Christian faithful attending the Congress and encouraged Tanzanians as a whole to embrace tolerance, mutual respect and love for one another. He also said differences in opinion among citizens should not divide them.
The Tanzania Episcopal Conference seized the occasion of the Congress to strongly condemn the recent wave of killings and abductions in the country.
Stop the killings and abductions
TEC Vice President and Bishop of Mpanda Diocese, Eusebius Alfred Nzigilwa, read out, in KiSwahili, the Bishops’ Statement regarding the recent abductions and killings in Tanzania.
The killing of Ali Mohamed Kibao, a senior member of the main opposition Chadema party, two weeks ago, shocked the country. Kibao was found dead after two armed men forced him off a bus heading from Dar-es-Salaam to the city of Tanga. His body was later found with marks of severe beatings and had been doused with acid.
“Tanzania has always been known as an Island of peace”, and because of this, the Bishops “strongly condemned the incidents of abductions and killings that are going on in the country and want the relevant state institutions to live up to their responsibilities and restore the honour of Tanzania as an Island of peace,” Bishop Nzigilwa said.
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