The Maravi Post

BLANTYRE--Malawi Catholic bishops have agreed on key issues that give challenge to its faithful , including that they should get circumcised at recommended hospitals in order to stem Aids infection.

At its first Annual Plenary Meeting of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, the umbrella body of the Catholic Bishops in Malawi, in the presence of the Vatican Chargé d’Affaires for Malawi, Very Reverend Monsignor Hubertus Van Megen, among other things, agreed on the following:
 
1.   The Conference resolved to implement Pope Benedict XVI’s Exhortation on the African Synod highlighting the role of women, the youth and the right to life as outlined in the document entitled: “Africae Munus”
 
2.   Through the Pastoral Commission, the Conference resolved to prepare a comprehensive catechetical syllabus which should be ready before the ‘Year of Faith’ to be celebrated from 11th October, 2012
 
3.   The Conference endorsed the suggested names of persons to start the preparatory work for the 2014 AMECEA Plenary Session scheduled to take place in Malawi.
 
4.   Regarding boarding and school fees in Catholic Schools, the Conference endorsed the recommendation that was made by the Education Commission to raise the fees up to MK21, 000 per student per term.
 
5.   After making a few observations and changes, the Conference approved in principle the draft Catholic Education Policy in Malawi which shall be used ad experimentum until all the corrections and observations have been taken on board.
 
6.   After a long debate and scrutiny on the draft document, the Conference approved the newly formulated Strategic Framework for the Catholic Church in Malawi to be implemented in the next five years.
 
7.   The Bishops resolved not to allow anybody to make his/her own Chichewa translation of the new people’s responses as found in the new English Missal to give room to the Conference to come up with a unified version.
 
8.   In order to encourage men and women who want to associate themselves with the Church while discharging their duties, the Conference approved the Association of the Catholic Journalists in Malawi.
 
9.   In the wake of the medical recommendation for male circumcision, the Conference agreed to allow this kind of operation to be carried out in Church’s Health Facilities that have been identified as centres for the exercise.
 
10. After a reflective deliberation on the hard and difficult political, social and economic times Malawi is currently experiencing, the Bishops make an appeal to all the citizenry of this country, namely:
-        Government
-        Political Parties
-        Faith Communities
-        Civil Societies
-        Diplomats and everybody else
to handle the current situation with sober minds, guided by the Spirit of truth and love that will lead different stakeholders to engage into a meaningful and listening dialogue thereby enabling all people to respect each other and uphold the rights of everybody, especially children and women. They further appeal to all the citizenry to refrain from any form of violence that would only result into the disruption of the much desired development and peace we cherish in this country.
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©2012 The Maravi Post. Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment