Zambia's Mongu Bishop, Chinyemba deliberates on Outstations

Zambia’s Mongu Diocese whose shepherd is Bishop Evans Chinyemba, OMI, covers a vast area of roughly 88,000 sq. km. The diocese corresponds, though not entirely, to the geographical territory of the country's Western Province. According to a 2010 census, it has a population of about 881, 524 inhabitants. Of these, approximately 80, 000 are Catholics scattered over a vast area.

Mongu Diocese comprises the Barotse floodplains of the Zambezi river, said to be the second largest wetland in Zambia. The Barotse floodplains provide some of the most spectacular views when the waters are high. The rest of the diocese is covered by Kalahari sand. There are numerous lagoons and seasonal swamps as well as dry grassland plains.

Even by Zambian own standards, the Western Province is said to be the poorest in the country largely due to remoteness and many years of political neglect.

Ministering to the needs of Catholics scattered in such a vast terrain is a huge challenge. The Diocese of Mongu has less than 20 fully-fledged parishes with very few diocesan and missionary priests.

In order to provide for the pastoral needs of Catholics, the villagers in many remote parts of the diocese have built for themselves small village churches known as outstations. These are usually very simple structures made of local poles and some brick work. Many of them don't have windows as we know them.

Outstations that are officially recognised by the diocese are attached to a parish for pastoral care and administration. Some parishes have as many as 30 outstations. When all is well, the parish priest visits the outstation every two months to celebrate Mass and minister to the people. The reality, however, is that many outstations only get the chance for Mass twice or three times in a year. The reasons for this infrequent contact are many and range from inadequate priests, distance, lack of resources to reach the outstations and the fact that some areas are literally cut-off during the months when the plains are flooded.

The Church in these outstations is in the hands of the lay faithful. There are a handful of trained Catechists but mostly the outstations depend on volunteer laity who live in the particular villages. Sometimes, these lay volunteers are Government teachers, retired civil servants or ordinary villagers who feel called to provide leadership such as conducting the Sunday service in the village. These are the unsung heroes of the Catholic faith in Mongu Diocese.

The Diocese of Mongu is concerned about the pastoral life of its outstations. Recently, the clergy, religious and laity of the diocese met at Limulunga Multipurpose Pastoral Cente for the annual diocesan pastoral council meeting. The focus of the meeting was to look at the life of parishes through the eyes of the diocese’s pastoral agents. The Bishop of Mongu, Right Rev. Evans Chinyemba used the occasion of the pastoral council meeting to introduce to the diocese, the diocesan theme for 2015, “Evangelizing the Diocese through Outstations”.

Below are the views of Mongu Diocese’s Bishop Evans Chinyemba:

“In a diocese of more than 340 outstations, it calls for some deliberate effort in order for evangelization to bear the required fruit. The honest sharing at the Diocesan Pastoral Council meeting allowed us to explore more on what we can do together as pastoral agents in order to make evangelization a life-giving event in our lives. From the deliberations, one thing was clear:  Notwithstanding all the pastoral challenges that we face in evangelizing outstations, every human being has a right to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

One of the observations made in our deliberations was the issue of the many laity who offer their time so that others are introduced to the faith. Some of our outstations have  such leaders who sustain these communities. In the absence of priests our dedicated lay leaders continue to hold firmly to their faith and sustain the continued existence of the outstations. I have in mind, outstations that are difficult to reach during the rainy season while others are not reached at all due of lack of reliable transport by our pastoral agents. In many such situations, our lay leaders, in these far-flung places have continued to hold the communities together. 

As we think and plan about evangelizing these outstations, in the diocese, this coming year, I am reminded of Blessed Victoria Rasoamanarivo of Madagascar. She was born in Antananarivo, in 1848 to a royal family. When she was 15 years old she was baptised and was married-off at 17 years. It is said that during the reign of Queen Ranavalonarivo, it was decreed that anything European was not to be allowed in Madagascar. Since Christianity was seen as European its practice was prohibited. Believing in Jesus Christ merited persecution and eventual death. With these decrees all Catholic missionaries were expelled from Madagascar. As a young devout Catholic, Blessed Victoria Rasoamanarivo resisted the pressure to abandon her faith. She also refused to join the Protestant movement. Blessed Victoria stood her ground and continued to protect the Catholic faith in the absence of the clergy and religious. Through her efforts, Catholic schools and Catholic Churches remained open and she encouraged many Catholics who lived in the countryside to forge ahead with their faith. She also appealed to the Queen and eventually in 1886 Catholic Missionaries were allowed back into Madagascar. During the absence of the Catholic Missionaries, the faith through her works continued to be alive. Through her efforts, Blessed Victoria kept the faith of her community and spent many hours in prayer throughout her life. She died on 21 August, 1864. In 1989 Pope John Paul II (now Saint Pope John Paul II) beatified this holy and courageous lay woman.

This brief history of Blessed Victoria is an inspiration for many of our lay faithful especially those in our outstations who keep the faith going even in the absence of priests. In many of the outstations, we have outstanding lay people who have taken pride in providing the needed leadership. Through their leadership skills they continue to inspire and call others to a deeper faith in Christ.  I therefore, encourage our lay faithful to take their rightful place in the ministry of evangelization especially this coming year as we seek to find ways to animate our outstations”.

Signed: Right Rev. Evans Chinyemba, Bishop of Mongu Diocese.

e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va