Leonard Ncube in Victora Falls
THE Bishop of Hwange Diocese, His Lordship Raphael Ncube on 25 February 2023 officially opened a Priest’s house at St. Luke’s, Chisuma outside Victoria Falls.
St. Luke’s is an outstation of St. Josephine Bakhita in Victoria Falls.
Building and commissioning of a priest’s house is the first step towards establishment of a mission at St. Luke’s which will mark its weaning off as St. Josephine Bakhita outstation.
Scores of Catholic Church members drawn from Victoria Falls Deanery which stretches from the resort city to Makwa along the Zambezi River converged on Chisuma to celebrate mass led by Bishop Ncube.
The Bishop said after assessing the area, the initial idea was to renovate an old house within the church premises but engineers that eventually built the new house advised against the idea.
“This house is a priest’s house. We are here to open it as we continue planning. This love you have exhibited from your parishes shows that the political and administrative growth of the city of Victoria Falls will also see the church grow.
“What I want to tell you is that St. Luke is likely to become a mission. That’s why you see all these preparations. So in our pastoral priorities, this is one of the mission growth points,” said the Bishop.
He said last year the Diocese opened St. Cecelia in Tshongogwe (Lupane Deanery), Divine Mercy in Lubimbi (Binga Deanery) and St. Francs of Assis in Dete Deanery while St. Augustine in Siachilaba, Binga Deanery is outstanding.
St. Augustine and Chisuma are likely to be opened this year.
“This year St Augustine and Chisuma could become missions if all goes well. For a place to be a mission there is a lot of work to be done but you have done part of the work which is donating all these household goods.
“This means that the house is now furnished. I am no longer scared about the welfare of the priest that will be stationed here. This means we are left with less work,” he said.
The Bishop called for unity among the community members.
St. Josephine’s outstations are Sizinda, Chisuma, Jenkwe and BH57 while Monde, Lupinyu, Sikabela and Masue are under St. Kizito.
The Bishop said newly ordained Reverend Deacon Brian Dube will be stationed at St. Luke to prepare for the establishment of the mission while Fr. Serafin Swarez will be doing administration work at the centre in preparation for the conferment of mission status.
He said the mission is likely to be established on June 17 if all preparations are met.
“So if all goes well on 17 June we will be here to open a new mission and for now we will be busy making boundaries,” he said.