Manica Secretary of State on premature marriages: Mary became pregnant with Jesus at the age of 14 – Carta

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Manica Secretary of State on premature marriages: Mary became pregnant with Jesus at the age of 14 – Carta

8:08 CAT | 21 Nov 2023

Image: Save the Children Mozambique

In January this year, President Filipe Nyusi appointed Stefan Dick Kassotche Mphiri secretary of state for the province of Manica. In addition to being a politician, Mphiri is a well-known writer affiliated with the unofficial Association of Mozambican Writers (AEMO).

Florentino Dick Kassotche was born in the province of Tete and made his literary debut in 1996 with the book “Confabulâncias e a Estória da Morte Anunciada”. In 1999, he published “Globalization: the Fears of Developing Countries” in both English and Spanish. In 2005 he published “Inventário Passional”, which was translated into Spanish and published in Spain in 2009, and in 2007 he released “Sem Ti”.

Kassotche studied international relations at the former ISRI, now Universidade Joaquim Chissano. He is a fervent Frelimo activist, and served as a diplomat in London before becoming Director of the Maputo International School, an entity subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

Last Thursday (15-11), he made a controversial speech in Gondola, Manica province, which was broadcast on television, where he called for a reflection on the Law to Prevent and Combat Premature Unions, allegedly to legitimize the involvement of minors in premature unions.

Here is a transcription of the speech.

“When Mary became pregnant with Jesus, how old would she have been? Have you ever asked yourself? Premature questions come from a long way away. Nowadays in Europe they are discussing whether a 16-year-old child can have an abortion alone or not, without the parents’ consent! And within the contexts we realise that there are 10-year-old children who have the body of a 23-year-old mother. There are 23-year-old women who have the body of an eight-year-old child… These are contexts. We went to school… It’s not just copying for the sake of copying. I’m on the Premature Unions bench, I’m fighting. But we need to sit down and ask ourselves. And a friend of mine asked? Mary, how old was she when she had Jesus? 14 years old. What does this mean? Was she an adult? Let’s leave it.”

Source: Carta de Moçambique