In the Eucharistic celebration at St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Cathedral grounds of Tabora Archdiocese on July 3, the Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle, Cardinal Rugambwa said that in receiving the Pallium, an Archbishop has “to ensure that in his Metropolitan See, faith is protected and the discipline of Christian discipleship is followed and respected.”
“As I pray for myself to have strong faith, I also want to pray for you to be strong in faith, which will push all of us together to confess without hesitation that, ‘The Lord is our God’ in the example of the Apostle Thomas, who was the first to make the confession in these words, ‘My Lord and my God’".
“I’m praying for strong faith, and asking the Apostle Thomas to intercede for us, because today, the lack of strong faith causes great division in our Church, starting with our families and our small Christian communities; and this division is even in the Church at the national Church and even internationally,” the Cardinal, who had just returned from Rome added.
He emphasized, “The lack of firm and unwavering faith makes us lose the unity and the communion I am asked to have with this insignia of the Pallium, and even the love and zeal to serve as God Himself desires.”
The Cardinal cautioned against tendencies towards secular values that he said are enticing and deceptive.
“We are deceived by worldly things that please us and lead us to follow untrue faiths, which are contrary to our traditions and the teachings of our Church,” he lamented, and emphasized the need to remain firm in “the faith and the teachings that we have received, and that is built on the foundations of the Apostles and the teachings of the Church.”
The Tanzanian Catholic Church leader, who began his Episcopal Ministry in April 2008 as Bishop of Tanzania’s Kigoma Diocese challenged the people of God to follow the footsteps of St. Thomas who he said sought to confirm and know well that the one he was to follow was Jesus Christ and no one else.
“Why don't we be like Apostle Thomas? We seek to see the nail marks in His hands and put our fingers into His side so that we are not deceived by those we encounter every day bringing us teachings of untrue faith that leave us in doubt,” he said.
St. Thomas, the 64-year-old Cardinal continued, “is a good example for us; if you do not have faith today, do not be afraid, but instead seek that faith; seek the one with those marks, and put your fingers in His marks so that you may get that faith.”
Cardinal Rugambwa, who was Appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Tabora in April 2023 and elevated to Cardinal in September 2023 implored the grace to always be guided by God, “who I want to be the one to open the door for me, as He did for the prophets and apostles and even for all others who believed in Him and were always with Him in everything they did.”
