Lusaka, 01 April, 2023 / 9:52 pm (ACI Africa).
The Catholic Church in Zambia has a “fraternal” relationship with Malawi, two members of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) have said, adding that the ties that exist between the two neighboring countries came to the fore when Malawi suffered the devastating Cyclone Freddy.
Bishop Charles Joseph Sampa Kasonde of the Catholic Diocese of Solwezi and Archbishop Ignatius Chama of Kasama Archdiocese in Zambia said that the Church in Zambia had responded without delay to the humanitarian crisis in Malawi when the cyclone hit the Southern part of the country, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
“As a Bishops’ Conference, we immediately sent aid to our brothers in Malawi, with whom we have very strong ties,” Bishop Chama told Agenzia Fides, the information service of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Propaganda Fide.
Bishop Chama’s sentiments were echoed by Bishop Kasonde, who said, “Our government did the same, which sent loads of food, clothing, blankets and medicine to our brothers and sisters in Malawi.”
“The peoples of Zambia and Malawi are very close, to the point that we feel almost the same country because of the ties that unite us, including the linguistic ones,” the Bishop of Solwezi who doubles as the Chairman of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) added.