“I come as your pastor, as your father,” Zambian Bishop Says at His Installation

“I do not come to you with an agenda or a preconceived mind, I am coming so that we can work together,” Bishop Phiri told the Clergy and Religious that he will be collaborating with in his pastoral and administrative ministry.

He added, “As long as we are able to work as one, as a united clergy and religious, as one Church, as one leadership, then I can assure you that you have my support.”

During the August 15 event, which was attended by among others, all members of the Zambia Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCCB) as well as the Apostolic Nuncio in Zambia and Malawi, Archbishop Gianfranco Gallone, Bishop Phiri announced that he had appointed Fr. Christopher Chowa as his Vicar General.

A clergy of Chipata Diocese, Bishop Phiri succeeds Archbishop Banda who was transferred to Lusaka Archdiocese in January 2018 and who had been serving as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese.

During the 3-hour event attended by the country’s President, Edgar Lungu, Bishop Phiri appealed to the country’s politicians not to involve the Church in their politicking but instead strive for collaboration for the sake of the people.

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“A word to you politicians; do not drag us the Church into politics; our job is to unite. I am not ashamed to say that throughout my life I have never owned a party card; so I do not belong to any party,” the Zambian Bishop said and added, “But as long as we are able to cooperate to serve our people well, then we are going to be partners.”

Acknowledging Bishop Phiri’s call for collaboration, President Lungu said, “The Church and the government cannot afford to work in isolation. The two institutions serve the same constituents, hence a need for closer collaboration.”

President Lungu went on to express his government’s commitment “to draw more lessons from the Church by tapping into their wisdom in regards to service delivery to the less privileged in our society and also to cooperate in various fields for the good of all Zambians.”