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Hope Demands Action, “more than a vague feeling”: Catholic Archbishop in Mozambique Cautions against Despair

João Vissesse

By João Vissesse

Beira, 15 April, 2025 / 5:11 pm (ACI Africa).

Archbishop Claudio Dalla Zuanna of the Catholic Archdiocese of Beira in Mozambique has called upon the people of God under his pastoral care to foster hope that can be sustained despite challenges they experience. 

In his homily on Palm Sunday, April 13, Archbishop Zuanna advocated for hope against hope and cautioned against despair, “even when everything seems lost.”

“Hope must be more than a vague feeling. It must become action, reconciliation, reconstruction, and a deep commitment to the common good,” he said during the Eucharistic celebration at the courtyard of Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral of Beira Archdiocese.

Referring to the theme of the ongoing Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, Archbishop Zuanna said,  “This year we’ve spoken a lot about hope. We are pilgrims of hope.”

“True hope is not folding our arms and waiting for someone else to solve our problems. It means standing up, forgiving, and starting again, even when everything seems lost,” the Argentine member of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCI) said. 

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He expressed his awareness of the challenges many families in Mozambique face, such as unemployment, illness, loneliness, misunderstandings in families and among members of Christian communities.

He said, “Sometimes even within the Christian community we grow distant from one another. We begin to say: so, this is the Church? So, this is what it means to be a Christian? It’s not worth it. And little by little, we begin to leave Jesus; we begin to lose hope in Him and chase after lesser hopes.”

These “lesser hopes,” he continued, “include the pursuit of immediate success, money, recognition, and even stability, when sought at the expense of integrity and truth.” 

“These illusions, though understandable, end up draining the spirit of solidarity,” the Catholic Archbishop of Beira since his Episcopal Consecration in October 2012, said on Palm Sunday.

Reflecting on the passion narrative that sets the tone for the Holy Week, Archbishop Zuanna recounted how Peter denied knowing Jesus three time in His moment of greatest suffering. 

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“Those who once praised Him disappeared. Even His closest friends left Him,” he recalled, adding, “Yet in that abandonment, true hope was born.”

The Catholic Church leader also recalled the reaction of the repentant thief crucified alongside Jesus, who simply asked to be remembered, to whom Jesus replied, “Today you will be with me.” This, Archbishop Zuanna said, “is the foundation of Christian hope; that even when all seems lost, there is still a way forward.”

He called upon Christians to take concrete steps toward renewal during Holy Week. “This week is important. It’s a time to reconnect with hope, to begin again with courage,” he said.

João Vissesse

João Vissesse is an Angolan Journalist with a passion and rich experience in Catholic Church Communication and Media Apostolate. 

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