2025 Jubilee “a year of great joy and abundant gratitude to God”: Catholic Bishop in Tanzania

Referring to the novitiates as a special gift from God to His Church, the Tanzanian Catholic Church leader emphasized the depth of their vocation, noting that they have of their own volition presented themselves to the altar, becoming an offering and consecrated specifically to freely partake in the mission of Christ, who he said calls and sends them to “go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to all people” making them his disciples."

The Prelate, who began his episcopal ministry in 1989 as the Coadjutor Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sumbawanga prayed that the Sisters “become instruments in God's hands, instruments in the hands of the Church, and instruments in the hands of Christ, whom they regard as their bridegroom” and contribute in the restoration of the world. 

“May they, in these circumstances, proclaim the Good News and give the world the original image it had when God created it. A world that was good and pure but later defiled by me, defiled by you. Christ comes to purify it. These women are to be instruments to cleanse the sins of the world,” the Bishop said.

He implored the Sisters to follow the example of St. Agnes to be steadfast, and to be “as good as she was”.

He called on the people of God in his Diocese to continue praying for the Sisters in their journey of consecrated life, saying, “Beloved, Let us pray for these 21 Sisters to have the zeal and passion to live the Gospel, to live the life of Christ with love, comfort, humility, simplicity, and faithfulness.”

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He added, “We pray that they remain steadfast and firm until the time when we will be with them as they offer their whole lives to God and His Church within the congregation that welcomes and continues to nurture them so that they may be adorned with all virtues, which reflect divine beauty.” 

Catholic Bishops in Tanzania joined the rest of the world on December 29, 2024, in their respective dioceses to formally launch the 2025 Jubilee Year by passing through the main door of each diocese's cathedral. Later, on January 1, Parish Priests presided over the launch at the Parish level.

Speaking on January 3, at a special sensitization seminar that was organized for members of Radio Maria Tanzania on the Church Jubilee 2025, in Mikocheni, Dar-es-Salaam, Fr. Clement Kihiyo, the Executive Secretary of the Liturgy Department at the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC), explained that the Church in Tanzania considered it appropriate to launch the Jubilee at the parish level as well.

Fr. Kihiyo further clarified the translation of the 2025 Jubilee Year's motto as published in Tanzania’s Jubilee Guidebook, which appears to differ from the interpretation of the motto elsewhere.

“From a technical perspective, we translated it as ‘Pilgrims in Hope’,” the Priets said.

He continued, “In other languages, such as English, they may say ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. We don’t know why instead of ‘in hope’ they said ‘of hope’. It depends on the cultural context of the language. So, someone without a proper understanding might quickly think we made a mistake in our translation, but the Holy Father invites us to be pilgrims in that unwavering hope.