Africa is a continent of immense hope for the Catholic Church, because not only is the number of believers growing there, but also the number of vocations. Today, one out of every eight priests in the world comes from the African continent.
African priests follow their vocation with joy and commitment, even though conditions are often very difficult. This is also the case in the Diocese of Masvingo, in southeastern Zimbabwe, where 65 priests serve some 250,000 faithful in a territory of 70,000 km², as large as Ireland. There, the distances are enormous and most of the diocese is rural.
This year’s drought has severely affected large parts of this southern African country – to the extent that the government declared a state of natural disaster in April – and, as a result, only half of the expected harvest has been harvested. People living in poverty have been further impoverished; the Church has obviously also been affected by this.
Bishop Raymond Mupandasekwa, who has been bishop of this diocese since December 2023, faces many challenges. Like his predecessor, he is particularly concerned about the priests. Most of the parishes are very poor and can barely support their priests and the bishop’s hands are empty, no matter how much he wants to support them.
Many of their priests work in remote and hard-to-reach areas. Some try to cultivate the land to feed themselves, but pastoral care is suffering. This is due to the fact that the priests have to take care of numerous communities far away from each other at the same time. As a result, they spend a lot of time traveling to administer the sacraments, visit the sick, teach Religion classes and fulfill their many duties. They cannot work in the field and, at the same time, attend intensely to the faithful.
That is why Bishop Mupandasekwa is asking us for Mass stipends, which were for the priests of the Diocese of Masvingo of great help in the past. “Also this year, we would like to extend your Mass stipends to the 65 priests, the bishop himself and the bishop emeritus of the diocese, who are desirous of celebrating the Holy Mass for their intentions. Thus, at the same time, you make a valuable contribution to the performance of their priestly ministry by helping them to be at the disposal of their faithful. Thank you in advance for your help!”, states in a message addressed to the benefactors of ACN.