In 2025 Jubilee Year Spirit, Catholic Nuns in Eastern, Central Africa Urged Not to “shut the family apostolate out”

According to him, members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (ICLSAL) “are called to support and promote the well-being and faith development of and in families.”

ICLSAL members are, by their calling, expected to participate in family apostolate, Bishop Chaima said, adding, “If you think this is coming from me, you would be making a huge mistake.”

“The Religious are called to be actively involved in activities such as marriage preparation,” he said at the April 14 virtual session, which ACWECA Secretary organized.

In the invitation note on the virtual session that Sr. Teresa Banda and Albert Miruka moderated, organizers of the event indicated that participants would be joining “the Universal Church in celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope, walking alongside people with disabilities, families, children, youth and the elderly just as the Holy Father invites and encourages us to do.”

In his presentation as guest speaker, Bishop Chaima cautioned ACWECA members against allowing their celibate status to discourage or deter them from teaching on marriage.

“The Church has teachings; we have resources from which we can draw enough material – enough resources to impart to the people who are preparing to get married,” he said, adding, “This is where also our interest should be.”

Some of the activities women Religious can engage in the family apostolate include marriage preparation, counselling, family catechesis, and provision of “resources”, the Malawian Catholic Church leader said.

The Local Ordinary of Zomba Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in August 2023 clarified that “resources” women Religious can provide to families does not have to be in monetary terms. 

“These resources are first of all, printed material. It could sometimes be electronic material, where we give people appropriate websites where they can get information,” he said, and added, “We can take the information, digest it, and give it to them, whether printed or in the form of a session.”

In his April 14 presentation, Bishop Chaima challenged ACWECA members, who include women Religious in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to nurture hope in themselves before they can share it. 

“We can't give hope if we don't have it. So, how do we resuscitate? How do we sustain? How do we make sure that we are people who are full of hope?” he posed and continued, “If we are not full, at least we are people who can share a bit of hope with others.”

Bishop Chaima emphasized the important place of personal and communal prayer in the life of ICLSAL members, adding that meditation and discernment can boost hope.

“We, as agents, active agents of evangelism, need time to listen and meditate, read and reflect on the Word of God,” the 54-year-old Malawian Catholic Bishop said.

He went on to caution the Clergy and women and men Religious against undermining the Sacrament of Confession, which he said contributes to fostering hope.

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Referring to the yearlong Jubilee, which Pope Francis officially launched on the Eve of 2024 Christmas with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica of Rome, Bishop Chaima said, “Some of us will celebrate from 24th December 2024 to 6th January 2026 and never go for Confession and we are active members of evangelization; we are Priests, and Religious and we think confession is for others, not us.”

“Every Jubilee offers new opportunities, and the possibility of a new person. And each person will have those opportunities. Efforts made by each person shape the family and the wider community,” he said in his April 14 presentation at the two-hour virtual session, which the Kenya-based ACWECA Secretariat organized.

The Holy Father announced the start of a Year of Prayer on 21 January 2024 in preparation for the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, the second in his Pontificate after the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015.

He said that the 2025 Jubilee Year will be “a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in one’s personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world.”

Months later, on the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ on 9 May 2024, the Holy Father solemnly proclaimed the upcoming Jubilee Year 2025 at a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica, during which he delivered the Bull of Indiction of the planned Jubilee, “Spes non confundit” (Hope does not disappoint).

The Jubilee Year provides the people of God across the globe an opportunity to participate in various planned jubilee events at the Vatican and in their respective Episcopal Sees and ICLSAL.