Women Can Overcome Inferiority Complex by Church Participation, Catholic Bishop in Malawi

Bishop Chifukwa further encouraged women to make good use of natural family planning as a way of birth control in order to give birth to children they can easily raise.

“Children need to be taken care of; don’t give birth to a child if you are not ready to take care of them. It feels sad to see children in the villages who are suffering because of poverty; so we should all bear children who we can afford to raise,” he said.

The AGM meeting was officially opened on Thursday, December 16 with Holy Mass that was presided over by Bishop Chifukwa, with Bishop Montfort Sitima of the Catholic Diocese of Mangochi being among the concelebrants.

The AGM meeting that is being held at Bembeke Teacher’s Training College in the Diocese of Dedza aims at challenging women to take care of Christian families, especially families that experiencing various threats.

Bishop Sitima spoke widely on the year’s theme, “Caring for Christian Families especially those who are at various risks/threats following the example of Saint Joseph.” 

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In his address, Bishop Sitima called upon women to live the Catholic faith by honoring the sacrament of Matrimony.

“We should realize that the sacrament of marriage is a gift from God, hence a need to make it exemplary to others. If you are called to marriage life, make sure your lifestyle should not discourage others from getting married,” Bishop Sitima said.

The Local Ordinary of Malawi’s Mangochi Diocese added, “I know that issues of male dominance in the families, domestic violence, and sexual abuse are no longer news, hence a need to unite and fight against it.”

On his part, the National Pastoral Coordinator in Malawi, Fr. Henry Chinkanda, used Pope Francis’ message on Synod to encourage the women to always work in unity by fostering collaboration in their daily undertakings.

“Pope Francis is calling on each one of us to live in communion, create space for everyone to participate and be at the service of the mission of the Church,” Fr. Chinkanda said.

Madam Juliana Lunguzi who was invited as guest of honor at the function that is set to end Sunday, December 19, encouraged women to be courageous in reporting cases of child abuse and gender based violence.

“Child abuse is one of the dangers we are facing in our families, so women should always voice out whenever they see violence of any form; don’t say because this one is a bread winner, I can’t report her no; speak out because I have noted that may children and women are suffering in silence,” Madam Lunguzi said.

Another issue that was discussed in the meeting included the use of social media by women as a way of embracing exemplary life.

At the meeting, the National chairlady for Malawi’s CWO, Lucy Vokhiwa, also encouraged women in the Southern African nation to participate in tree planting in their respective Dioceses during the rainy season as a way of taking care of the environment.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.