Newly Appointed Bishop in Mozambique Renews Plea to Support Victims of Extremist Attacks

Pope Francis appointed Bishop Juliasse as the Local Ordinary of Pemba Diocese on March 8, filling the position that had been vacant since February 2021 following the transfer of Bishop Luiz Fernando Lisboa to the Brazilian Diocese of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim.

Until his appointment as Bishop of Pemba, Bishop Juliasse has been serving as the Apostolic Administrator of the Mozambican Diocese and Auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Maputo.

Once installed as Bishop of Pemba Diocese, Bishop Juliasse will oversee the 82,625 square-kilometer Catholic Diocese that was erected in April 1957, and with a population of 695,289 Catholics, according to 2019 statistics.

In recent times, Bishop Juliasse has been vocal on the ongoing violent conflict in Cabo Delgado Province. In a March 9 2021 report, he expressed solidarity with the people of God affected by Mozambique’s Palma attack that left dozens of foreigners and locals killed.

He called for an immediate end to violence in the Southern African nation, saying, “God show us another way; not the way of violence; not the way of cruelty, but the way of love, of fraternity.”

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In a June 2021 report, the Mozambican Bishop urged charity groups and authorities giving aid to displaced people who have settled in the provincial capital not to discriminate against the local community.

“The interventions must integrate aspects of good coexistence between the displaced and the local population. The aid should not go only to the displaced, totally ignoring the local population,” Bishop Juliasse said.

He advocated for equitable sharing of resources as the way forward in handling animosity between local communities and people who have fled the violent conflict.

“It is necessary for people to share utilities if they are to stay together without any conflict. Resources from land, building materials for houses to basic necessities need to be shared,” the Mozambican Catholic Bishop said.

In the March 14 ACN Portugal report, the Catholic Bishop who will turn 54 on March 20 recalls that the resettlement camps in Cabo Delgado host thousands of “needy people,” and that many “are unable to have daily food.”

He says that displaced people in Cabo Delgado are also in dire need of medical and medicinal assistance, and appeals for “everyone’s solidarity with this very impoverished region of Mozambique.”

In the message to ACN Portugal, Bishop Juliasse expresses “deep gratitude” to Pope Francis, recalling that the Holy Father “is attentive to what is happening” in Mozambique, as well as “to the needs of the Catholic Church” in the Portuguese-speaking African country.

The Catholic Bishop also mentions a “special attention of communion and closeness of Pope Francis to the peculiarities of the diocesan Church of Pemba, Cabo Delgado, which is going through difficult moments caused by the violence of terrorism.”

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.