Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
In a memo addressed to all rectors, members of staff and students of major seminaries in Zambia, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) has direct that all the major seminaries be closed down indefinitely by Friday, March 20.
“The Government of the Republic of Zambia has just announced the indefinite closure of all Schools, Colleges and Universities this Friday 20th March, 2020 due to the global outbreak of COVID-19 ,” reads part of the ZCCB memo signed by the Bishop director of seminaries Rt. Rev. Justin Mulenga.
“It is for this reason that I want to officially communicate to you the indefinite closure of all major seminaries, namely; Emmaus Spirituality Centre, St. Augustine's Major Seminary and St. Dominic’s Major Seminary,” Bishop Mulenga of Zambia’s Mpika Diocese stated in the statement dated Tuesday, March 17.
He added, “Kindly, heed to this directive and make all necessary arrangements for the departure of all students. The completion of the second semester will resume as soon as the outbreak is contained. This is a very sad development.”
In Kenya, the major seminaries have also followed suit and closed down till further notice. In an interview with the Rector of St. Thomas Major Seminar located in Kenya’s Nairobi Archdiocese, Very. Rev. Fr. John Kiplimo Lelei said, “Following the given directives by the government on Coronavirus, we are going to close the seminary tomorrow (Thursday, March 19).”
“This abrupt closure has interrupted learning, there is anxiety among student questioning themselves whether to go home or not because they see themselves safe when they are within the seminary since they do not go out quite often,” Fr. Lelei said noting the impact of the sudden closure of the seminary.
He continued, “It has also interfered with the fourth year students who were supposed to finish their exams in April and graduate afterwards.”
According to the Rector of Christ the King Major Seminary in Kenya’s Nyeri Archdiocese, the government gave orders for all learning institutions and there is no exemption for their seminary.
“The seminary is like any other institution and our students are going home too,” Very Rev. Peter Maingi Mutune said in an interview Wednesday, March 18, and explained further, “We are in uncertainty. We don’t know when we are going to resume for the students to finish the semester formation and do their exams.”
He explained that the closure of the seminary has also affected the pastoral program for the future priests in formation especially those who were to finish this semester.
Fr. Maingi said that the seminary is affiliated to the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and Urbaniana University in Rome, Italy, the Kenyan cleric underscored that the fourth year students could not do their exams since the two universities are already closed.
“Because we are affiliated to CUEA which has also closed, even if the students do exams, we don’t know when we will hand over the exams to the University. At the same time the university normally sends a representative during the examination time so we will have to wait until CUEA opens,” Fr. Maingi disclosed.
According to the Academic Prefect of St. Mbaaga's Major Seminary, Ggaba, Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni addressed the nations and ordered all schools, Universities and Tertiary Institutions to close for a period of one month as from Friday, March 20, even though Uganda has not recorded any case of COVID-19. These instructions have been echoed by the Chairman of the Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) Bishop Anthony Joseph Zziwa, in a statement issued by the Secretariat.
“All seminaries have to close and seminarians have to go back to their respective dioceses,” Fr. Ambrose John Bwangatto said in an interview with AMECEA Online and added, “Although it is done in good faith to save the lives of the people, we cannot rule out the disruption in the academic formation of the seminary.”
He expressed the consequence of closure in a country that has six major seminaries and 20 minor seminaries saying, “We have got no facilities to cater for distance learning and so, we cannot develop, accompany and evaluate students using online modules.”
Additionally, “students, especially in the final years of Philosophy and Theology have to sit for comprehensive examinations in the first week of May 2020. So, they may not have enough guidance from their lecturers,” the Ugandan cleric concluded.