By Prince Henderson, ECM
Catholic Bishops in Malawi have set aside Pentecost Sunday, the day the Catholic Faithful commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, according to the scriptures, to be a Seminary Day.
That means, from this year’s celebration (on 4th June), the collection of the Pentecost Feast Day from all Parishes within the 8 dioceses will go towards supporting the operations of two major seminaries in Malawi- St Peter’s Seminary in Zomba and St Anthony, Kachebere Seminary in Mchinji.
Meanwhile, a National Seminary Fund has been set in order to reach out to Catholic Faithful and people of goodwill so that they can support the Seminaries through their contributions, which will ensure smooth training of seminarians –the future Priests.
According to the National Pastoral Secretary, Fr. Regis Kamela; the Church in Malawi has limited number of Priests against the increasing number of Catholic Faithful. “The number of Catholic Faithful is growing day by day but Priests are very few. For instance, you find a Parish with at least ten out-stations being served by one or two priests. It is obvious that Christians will not be able to access Sacraments as required. We therefore need more priests,” said Fr. Kamela.
Fr. Enock Kanjira of Kachebere Major Seminary said the two major seminaries are faced with numerous challenges because the donors who used to provide financial assistance are no longer doing so.
“Despite our own initiatives like farming, we still face challenges in our operations. Actually, we need an annual budget of about MK120,000,000.00 (USD160,000) and MK80,000,000.00 (USD 1,066.6) to run Kachebere and St Peters Major Seminaries respectively,” said Fr. Kanjira.
National Laity Council Chairman, Dr. Ernest Misomali said time has come for the lay faithful to take part in supporting their own Seminaries so that more Priests are produced and serve in various Parishes across the country.
He commended ECM for resolving to come up with the idea of a ‘Seminary Day’ and National Seminary Fund, which will be managed by the Faithful themselves. He said that the Fund will enable the seminaries create a conducive learning and teaching environment and at the same time contribute to instilling the spirit of self-reliance among laity in Malawi.
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