MY PASTORAL PRIORITIES

A big celebration in Chililabombwe.

In my pastoral work in Zambia, I spent most of the years with Fr. Manuel Castro, who is now in Portugal in charge of the spiritual year, an year of special spiritual formation for those who are preparing themselves to enter the Good News Missionary Society. This year, there are only two, one from the North of Mozambique and the other from the South of Mozambique. I was given the opportunity to talk to them about my missionary experience, and I spoke about what were my pastoral priorities during my years at the service of Lubengele Parish in Chililabombwe.

1. Catechesis, well organised, with catechists well prepared, because that is the basis of everything else. Christians must know and understand what they believe in.
2. Youth. The Bemba proverb tells it all: imiti ikula, e mpanga (the growing trees are the forest). They are the future. We must have always time for them, being with them and sharing with them.
3. Marriage and family are another pillar of the Church and of society. We need strong families, deeply rooted in Jesus Christ. When we pay attention to the youth, we are preparing future good families. We must pay attention to young couples, even if they are not ready yet to have their marriage in church.
4. Liturgy. The Liturgy must be always well prepared and well celebrated, but special attention must be given to the great feast of the Christian calendar, like Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, Christmas. People must have something to remember and to refer to. The feasts must be always special celebrations that touch the hearts and minds of everybody.
5. Leadership training is another very important priority. A parish priest must be always ready to spend time with leadership training. What he learnt in the seminary is enough for that. As he prepares material, he has to research, to read and to reflect, and that will keep him up to date in many areas of our faith and our christian teaching.
6. Women. They are the majority in the Church, and they do most of the work. They must be recognised and empowered to participate. We must remember that in society and in the church there are still many things that oppress women.
7. Poor. Poverty is a huge problem, and the Christian community alone cannot solve it. In fact, that is the first responsibility of the government, and they must put in place policies that improve the social situation of the underprivileged. However, a Christian community that does not pay attention to the poor, does not deserve to be called Christian. Even if the majority have very little, there is always something to share. With the poor, we must put as well the sick. Many parishes are doing a very good work with Home Based Care groups. But this is a work for all and not for just a few.

Others may have slightly different pastoral priorities, but if they are at the service of the Church they move around the same or similar issues. May God bless them all.