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The Local Ordinary of Botswana’s Gaborone Diocese has said his last week’s elevation to the rank of an Archbishop “was a surprise.”
Pope Francis has appointed Local Ordinaries for the Dioceses of Hwange in Zimbabwe and Francistown in Botswana.
The Bishop of Botswana’s Gaborone Diocese has recounted his experience of Ash Wednesday amid COVID-19 restrictions in the Southern African nation where public worship remains suspended.
As Catholics globally marked World Mission Sunday on October 18, a Bishop in Botswana has reminded all the baptized in the Southern African nation that they can still be missionaries in the comfort of their home countries.
As residents of Botswana mark the month of October that is dedicated to creating awareness about gender-based violence (GBV) in the Southern African nation, an appeal has been made to perpetrators to “exorcise” the vice.
A Ghanaian-born Bishop ministering in Botswana has expressed concern that Ghanaians are risking COVID-19 contagion to organize expensive weddings and burial ceremonies in complete oblivion of the poor people that need help in the West African country.
A bishop in Botswana who wrote an emotional letter to George Floyd, citing a strong bond of friendship with the black man who was killed by police in Minnesota, U.S., says the widely protested violence continues to play out in African countries that are characterized by police brutalities.
Catholic Church leaders in Southern Africa are calling for a change of approach in tackling the increasing cases of gender-based violence (GBV), proposing an “aggressive and holistic approach” that brings together various stakeholders in the way COVID-19 is being fought against.
The announcement by South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa May 26 that places of worship may reopen beginning from June 1 has elicited mixed reactions from church leaders in the country, some welcoming the move and others terming it as questionable.
With Botswana under a five-week COVID-19 lockdown, various activities in the landlocked Southern Africa nation have been affected, including those of the Sisters of Calvary, Bishops in the region have shared in a publication shared with ACI Africa, providing a highlight of how the members of the indigenous Religious Order are coping.
The members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) have, in a pastoral letter, expressed solidarity with their laity who they say are experiencing stress owing to the COVID-19-related restrictions in Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland.
Following the decision by the parliament of the landlocked Southern African nation of Botswana to begin a gradual lifting of the five-week COVID-19 lockdown, a Bishop in the two-diocese country has welcomed the move, terming it “light at the end of the turnel.”
As youths around the world prepare for the next World Youth Day to be held in Portugal in 2022, Church leaders in Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa have “approved in principle” the plan to have a Mini World Youth Day (MWYD) proposed for December 2020 in Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa.
The newly-launched pastoral plan of the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) is expected to be “a light in darkness” for Botswana, Eswatini and South Africa, to guide the three countries on the path of evangelization in contemporary times, and possibly redeem the people of God there from economic instability, corruption and social evils to become, once again, “the model and envy of the world,” a section of SACBC members have said.
At the ongoing Plenary Assembly of the Bishops in Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland, the Papal representative in the region, Archbishop Peter Bryan Wells outlined, on Wednesday, January 22, five characteristics of missionary episcopate that the Holy Father desires of serving Bishops as explained in Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and that “the bishop must become a model of the joy of Christ.”
As the Church leaders in Botswana, South Africa, and Swaziland prepare to officially launch their new Pastoral Plan this Sunday, January 26, the President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) that brings together the three countries, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka has explained why the new pastoral plan, which will replace the one that has guided evangelization activities of the Church in the region for the last 30 years, is important.
The Church in Southern Africa is set to launch a new pastoral plan that will replace the one that has guided evangelization activities in the countries of Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland for the last 30 years.
As the global community continues to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence that started November 25 advocating for the elimination of all forms of gender violence, Church leaders under the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), a region that has recorded the highest cases of femicide in Africa, have called on all people to use the upcoming Advent season to promote the dignity of women and girls, taking deliberate initiatives to end gender-based violence that usually targets the female gender.
As citizens of Botswana prepare to take part in general elections slated to take place next Wednesday, October 23, a Bishop in the landlocked Southern Africa country has encouraged eligible voters to participate in the poll, seeking to elect candidates that promote human welfare through social responsibility, Vatican news reported.