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| Rt. Rev. Charles Kasonde takes oath of office as Chancellor of CUEA |
On Thursday, October 18, 2018 the Catholic University of Eastern Africa-CUEA, which is the only university giving Ecclesiastical degrees in the whole of African Anglophone speaking countries witnessed a very important occasion, the investiture of the new University Chancellor.
Rt. Rev. Charles Kasonde, Catholic Bishop of Solwezi Diocese in Zambia ceremoniously vested himself in the academic gowns of the University Chancellor as he took oath of office. Having already been installed as Chairman by the regional Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA) at the end of its 19th Plenary Assembly in Ethiopia in July 2018, Bishop Kasonde needed to do this in conformity with the Catholic University tradition.
As University Chancellor, Bishop Kasonde is the official link of the University Council and Faculty of Theology Council at CUEA to the Holy See. This was affirmed by the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Theology Dr. Frederick Wanjala reading an extract from the Holy See in the official language of the Catholic Church, Latin.
The message from the extract summarised in three points stated that the Chancellor represents
the Holy See in matters of the Catholic University; that the Vice Chancellor who has been appointed by the competent authority of the University will have to be approved by the Holy See so as to become also Rector of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa; and that the Dean of Theology is also to be approved by the Holy See in order to become the substantive Dean of the Faculty of Theology.
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| Bishop Kasonde signs his oath |
“With great care and fidelity, I shall carry out the duties recumbent on me towards the Church both universal and particular in which according to the provisions of the Lord I have been called to exercise my service in fulfilling the duties entrusted to me in the name of the Church,” he pronounced.
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| Rev. Dr. Frederick Wanjala, Dean of the Faculty of Theology Reads in Latin an Extract from the Holy See during the investiture ceremony of the chancellor |
Bishop Kasonde promised to follow and foster communion and the common discipline of the entire church as seeking to observe all ecclesiastical laws especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law.
He is now the sixth Chancellor of the university which started in a modest way as a Graduate school of Theology known as the Catholic Higher Institute of Eastern Africa (CHIEA), founded in 1984 by AMECEA. On 2nd May 1984, CHIEA was authorized by the Congregation for Catholic Education, Vatican City to offer two-year Licentiate/MA programmes in Theology and officially inaugurated in September 1984 by Rt. Rev. Bishop Madaldo Mazombwe, later Cardinal Mazombwe (deceased) the then Chairman of AMECEA.
Since its inception, the Chancellors of CHIEA/CUEA have been as follows: H.E. Maurice Cardinal Otunga (CHIEA/CUEA: 1980-1995); Most. Rev. Josaphat Lebulu (CUEA: 1995-2002); Most Rev. Paul Bakyenga (CUEA: 2002-2008); Most Rev. Tarcisio Gervazio Ziyaye (CUEA: 2008-2014); H.E. Berhaneyesus Cardinal Souraphiel (CUEA: 2014-2018) and now Rt. Rev. Charles Kasonde (CUEA: 2018).
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