New Chapter of Malawi
The Supreme Council of the Confraternity of the Knights of St. Peter & St. Paul in the meeting of Wednesday 17 March, 2021 establish a chapter in Malawi, Africa by appointing Fr. Joseph Sikwese as knight and Prior.
Fr. Joseph is the Chancellor for the Diocese of Karonga.
Chevalier Rev. Fr. Joseph Sikwese - Prior.
Chevalier Rev. Fr. Joseph Mkinga Chevalier Rev. Fr. Peter Ntayamanja
Investiture of new knights
On the Solemnity of the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, 29th June 2021, Fr Joseph Sikwese and Fr. Joseph Mkinga took the oath of the Confraternity at St Joseph the Worker Cathedral Parish at the Mass which was presided over by Msgr. Denis Chitete, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Karonga.
Congratulations to the new knights.
Blessings of the Lord.
Chevalier Rev. Fr Joseph Mkinga Deputy Prior
Steven gets Baptised after 21 Years of waiting
By Chevalier Rev. Joseph Sikwese
Saturday, 9th October 2021, remains an important historical day for Steven Mwakyusa. It was the day he who is 88 years old was baptised, after waiting for 21 years. He was baptised together with his daughter Esnart.
Since the year 2000, Steven has been longing to be baptized in the Catholic Church, but he could not be baptised because he was unable to finish the catechumenate programme. He dedicated his time to taking care of his disabled daughter who had been abused by unknown men. There was nobody to take care of his daughter as his wife, Tomaida, died many years ago. His other 3 children are married and relocated to other villages.
Every time he went away, unknown men came to abuse the powerless Esnart, who ended up having 3 children from unknown men. When we listened to the story of Steven and Esnart, the parish made arrangements with catechist to be visiting them at their home once a week for three months to prepare them for Baptism and Confirmation.
They were baptised and confirmed during the beautiful Eucharistic celebration which took place at their home in St. Michael’s Small Christian Community in St Martin de Porres Parish. The local chapter of the Confraternity of the Knights of St. Peter & St. Paul donated a wheelchair to Esnart and some food items. Because Steven has become old and is getting frail, the family depend on people of goodwill for food. Their house is also in very bad shape.
St Martin de Porres Parish Officially Opened
By Chevalier Fr. Joseph Sikwese
Prior
On 5th September 2021, was a day of great joy for the parishioners of St Martin de Porres Parish. It was the day that the Bishop, Rt. Rev. Martin Mtumbuka officially inaugurated the parish. St Martin de Porres Parish was formerly an
Outstation of St Steven’s Parish, and was raised into a parish on Good Friday, 2nd April 2021, and on 5th September 2021, it was officially inaugurated, during the Silver Jubilee of the priesthood of Msgr. Denis Chitete (Vicar General) and Fr Charles Chinula (parish priest of St Steven’s Parish). The liturgy was very colourful .
We thank God for His merciful love He has shown to His people through the establishment of St Martin de Porres Parish.
Picture, the parish priest, Chevalier Rev Joseph Sikwese receiving baptism registers from the parish priest of St Steven's Parish through Bishop Martin.
Parish of St Martin de Porres
By Chevalier Rev. Fr. Joseph Sikwese
Prior
Greetings from Malawi.
I write to share with you my joy about the first Cofirmands in my parish. My Parish, St Martin de Porres, was established on 2 April 2021 from St Steven’s Parish. I was asked to be a caretaker Parish Priest. I work in the parish during weekends, and yesterday was pleased to confirm 45 Christians. I was delegated by the Bishop. It was a beautiful celebration.
Wishing you God's blessings.
St Joseph the Worker Cathedral
Diocese of Karonga
By Chevalier Rev. Fr. Joseph Mkinga
Deputy Prior
Curate at St Joseph the Worker Cathedral.
St Joseph the Worker Cathedral Parish is a cathedral of the Catholic diocese of Karonga found in the Northern part of Malawi which is a landlocked country in South Eastern Africa with a size of about 118,000 square kilometers. Malawi is bordered by Tanzania to the North East, Zambia to the North West and Mozambique to the South East and South West. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Though we tirelessly preach about self-reliance, we must admit that Malawians are far behind economically.
The Diocese of Karonga was created from the Diocese of Mzuzu on 21 st July, 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. On the latter date the first Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev. Martin Mtumbuka was also consecrated. Before its creation, the whole area that is now covered by this new Diocese was the Northern Deanery of Mzuzu Diocese.
St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral Parish was created on 5 th November 2016 at a solemn Mass which was presided over by Fernando Cardinal Filoni, the Prefect of Propaganda Fide, when the Cathedral was also consecrated. Before its creation, what is now St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral Parish was part of St. Mary’s Parish, Karonga.
Our recent statistics show that St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral Parish has 4,460 Catholic Christians. And we have 369 Catechumens. Every year the number of Catholics continues to grow.
At the moment the Parish has a total of 23 Churches which are clustered into 8 Out-Stations and 3 Zones. We have 52 Small Christian Communities. There are two Priests, a nun, three trained Catechists and many Lay Christian Leaders ministering in the Parish at the local level.
1. THE PASTORAL SITUATION IN ST JOSEPH THE WORKER CATHEDRAL PARISH
The Catholic presence in the bigger part of this parish is not significant. There is a stronger presence of other Christian denominations like, Church of Central African Presbyterian(CCAP), Lutheran and other Churches of Evangelical origins.
There are also local African Independent Churches like the Blackmans Church and Ngemera. The presence of the Catholic Church is thus under serious challenge.
The area under the jurisdiction of St Joseph the Worker Cathedral parish is one of the most underdeveloped places in Malawi as it can be seen by poor road network. The people in the area live on a less than a dollar a day. They earn their living through subsistence farming. Because of poor farming methods they do not produce enough food. During the months of January, February and March there is acute food shortages. The Diocese is engaged in uplifting the socio-economic life of the people through the Caritas Commission. The Caritas Commission is involved in different interventions in the area of livelihood, justice and peace, Health and education. As such, we cannot expect such Christians to support their priests and contribute to the development of the parish. However, the Christians under this parish do their best to support the parish with the little they have.
The area under St Joseph the worker Cathedral Parish has very insignificant Catholic presence. Even amongst the Catholics in the area there are signs of weak faith: numerous cases of lapsed catholic Christians or families, polygamy, divorce, killings of people with albinism, killings of people suspected of witchcraft and violence.
Amongst those Catholics that come to Church, few receive sacraments of the Eucharist, Anointing, Confession and marry in the Church. Due to lack of proper catechesis, a good number of Christians do not appreciate the importance of sacraments in their Christian life. The parish is territorially very wide with a poor road network.
God bless.
