The Name Shall Be: The Association of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Credit: Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)

While ECM and ZCCB are member conferences of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA), ZCBC is part of the Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA).

In their July 19 statement that Presidents of ECM, ZCCB, and ZCBC signed, the three-nation Church leaders say, “The three conferences commit themselves to presenting this project to their respective regional bodies namely IMBISA and AMECEA, the membership of which they will uphold until further notice.”

Credit: Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)

The July 15-19 Sub-Region Conference assembly follows the maiden consultative meeting held in Zambia in February 2020, during which ECM, ZCCB, and ZCBC members outlined their long-term intention to establish an independent sub-regional association.

The latest assembly continues the objective of the inaugural February 2020 meeting, which is to “provide a platform for Bishops to come together, fostering unity among different regions and promoting collaboration on common issues.”

Credit: Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)

Besides settling on ACBC-MAZAZI as the name of the regional forum to be established, ECM, ZCCB, and ZCBC members resolved to have Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka, as the headquarters of the association.

They also resolved “to incorporate other members outside the Sub-Region as Associates when requested” and that “critical and technical issues suggested in the presentation should be implemented when the Sub-Region is fully operational.”

Credit: Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)

“The next meeting is to take place in Zimbabwe in three years time,” the Catholic Church leaders say in their three-page statement issued on July 19 in which they also say they resolved to approve “the statutes and operational guidelines of the Association”.

They implore the Lord to “bless the implementation of the resolutions of this consultative meeting” and “entrust the Sub Region to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

During the five-day meeting, the three-nation Catholic Church leaders deliberated on “the significance of strengthening” the formation of the Clergy in a manner that is “robust and thorough so that they become credible witnesses of Christ.”

The strengthening of the existing Sabbatical Centres in their sub-region and the need to train Chaplains and Directors to serve in the Centres were also discussed.

Credit: Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)

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The ECM, ZCCB, and ZCBC members deliberated on the need for “pastoral strategies that promote sanctity of life and traditional family values and lives of the Youth” as well as “catechesis to deepen the faith of our people”.

The need for the “Sub-Region Catholic Churches to be self-reliant”, the “care of the environment and the earth”, and the furtherance of “good governance and politics of integrity” in the three neighbouring Southern African nations were among the topics they discussed during the July 15-19 assembly.

Credit: Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)

In their pastoral reflections, they also delved into the need for “solidarity among Church groups (children, youth, men and women) and institutions (education, media etc),” they say in their July 19 statement. 

Earlier, Pope Francis expressed his best wishes for the members of the Sub-Region, praying that their “fraternal dialogue will bear fruits for the benefit of the Clergy, Religious and lay faithful of their respective countries so that they may grow even stronger in communion with God and one another”.

Credit: Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM)

On July 16, the President of ECM, Archbishop George Desmond Tambala of Malawi’s Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe, highlighted poverty and the disintegration of African traditional family structures among the “wolves” attacking the people of God in the sub-region.

Meanwhile, in his Good Will message, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the Pro-Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization described the July 15-19 assembly as “an extraordinary moment” that gives the ECM, ZCCB, and ZCBC members an opportunity “to share ideas on the pertinent changes and challenges facing the local church of Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and look for solutions with the hope that the coming years would usher in even more unity and transformations.”