Our Lady of Namaacha pilgrims called to promote reconciliation in Mozambique

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Our Lady of Namaacha pilgrims called to promote reconciliation in Mozambique

12:00 CAT | 15 May 2017

Noticias

An estimated 50,000 pilgrims visited the Namaacha Shrine in Maputo to celebrate the centennial of the apparition of Our Lady Mary and three shepherds in the Portuguese village of Fatima in 1917.

Most of the pilgrims started the walk to the village of Namaacha from various points of Maputo and other parts of the country on Friday.

The motto of the centenary pilgrimage was “Mary, guide to true reconciliation”, which aims to guide Mozambicans in prayer for the current political and socio-economic situation of the country. “Our desire is that each pilgrim should reconcile with himself, with others and with God,” the priest said.

The thousands of pilgrims who filled the Fatima shrine in Namaacha, Maputo province, this weekend were encouraged to work together to bring reconciliation among Mozambican families, a basic condition for peace in the country.

In the sermon on Saturday, Father Salvador Bila stressed that peace was not a matter between just two people, important as they were, but of all citizens, who must all contribute, forsaking harsh words and promoting peaceful coexistence.

Father Bila appealed to the pilgrims to take advantage of the occasion to bring peace to their families, which today have become “battlefields” In a social context in which evil seems to be winning over good. He implored the believers, who flooded the sanctuary despite the cold, to let nothing distract them from the purpose of the pilgrimage, which he defined as “the continuous search for God, through the intercession of Mary”.

At one point, Father Bila said: “Let us not be distracted by anything here or in our lives, so that the love of God may be present in us and, in return, each one will lead those who could not be here to peace and reconciliation.”

Meanwhile, in a brief intervention due to what he called “the accursed flu”, Dom Januário Machaze, who presided over the celebrations, once again drew the attention of Catholics to the fight against gossip in families, in church and in society.

As in previous years, hundreds of young people and adults from various parts of Maputo city and province gathered to eat, drink and party to music loud enough to disturb the peace hoped for by the thousands of believers praying in the sanctuary over the two days.

Called upon to intervene, Maputo Governor Raimundo Diomba reiterated the importance of the Catholic Church in promoting morals in society and peace in the country. He said that the motto “Mary, guide to true reconciliation” highlighted the church’s desire to promote these values, especially at this delicate moment in the country’s history. He echoed Saturday’s homily, saying that peace is everyone’s business, so everyone must spread the message among their family, in their neighbourhood, and everywhere they went.

Agostinho Raul, the priest responsible for the Namaacha shrine, wished the pilgrims a good trip home, appealing to them to conduct themselves prudently, a call that failed to reach the driver of a Toyota Hiace, which crashed leaving 14 wounded in Mandevo.

By Jose Chissano

Source: Noticias