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The
Beatitudes At Work |
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According to Monsignor Philbert Aikambe, extreme poverty is the
biggest obstacle young people face in answering their call to the priesthood or
religious life. Monsignor Philbert is the rector of a regional seminary in
Tanzania which serves 23 dioceses in this East African nation.
Monsignor Philbert notes that without the prayerful and financial support of
the faithful to the Society of St. Peter Apostle, the education of priests in
his country would be virtually impossible.
“Thanks to the benevolence of Catholics in the United States and all over the
world, we can move forward in the training of indigenous priests for our vast
dioceses,” he said
 Recently,
the seminarians collected clothes, unused pieces of soap, paper and even some
money they had earned from doing odd jobs and donated these to orphaned
children living near the seminary. They also helped these children to cultivate
small pieces of land near their homes so they could grow bananas.
“Our seminarians are truly learning the practical meaning of the Beatitudes and
putting that knowledge into practice. I know they will become good priests
because they understand the plight of the poor, just as Christ did,” said
Monsignor Philbert.
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| Zambia Ordination (cont.)
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The ordination is a sign that the Church in Zambia is
growing Makadani noted. “The Zambia Church is still young,” he said. “We are
still a missionary church but, the ordination of the young men to the
priesthood and deaconate is a sign of great joy and optimism.”
Makadani explained that the faith in Zambia is the “fruit” of the seeds of
faith first planted in his country some 100 years ago by Catholic missionaries.
“It is gratifying to see that there are many young people aspiring to be
priests and religious,” he said. “We thank the solidarity of the universal
Church for walking with us in training these young men.
“We thank all people of good will for supporting the pastoral ministry of the
church in Zambia. This support brings dynamism to the life of the local
church.” |
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