Benedict Daswa to be Beatified as Pope Francis gives his assent

It is the news that Catholics in South Africa and the rest of the African continent have been waiting to hear.

On 22 January 2015, Pope Francis met in private audience, Cardinal Angelo Amato SDB, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In that Audience the Holy Father authorised the Congregation to promulgate various decrees.

Among the decrees authorised for promulgation is the decision taken by the Holy Father that Servant of God Tshimangadzo Samuel Benedict Daswa died a martyr’s death. This opens the way for Benedict Daswa to be beatified as the juridical process has concluded. What remains now is a process towards a date for Benedict Daswa's betification. 

Already a group of theologians tasked to review the life of South Africa’s Benedict Daswa, unanimously voted late last year that Daswa be named a martyr. The matter was then discussed by the Congregation of the Causes of Saints and referred for recommendation to Pope Francis for the final decision. That decision has now come back with Pope Francis accepting the recommendation that indeed Daswa died a martyr's death. 

The Church in South Africa and in Africa will be gratified by the news of a new "Blessed" soon to be beatified.

Tshimangadzo Samuel Benedict Daswa was a primary school headmaster and devout Catholic who shed his blood at the hands of a gang that meted out mob justice on him. He had been cornered into a pub where he had sought refuge. He was beaten to death.

At the time, the elders of the village had wanted to hire a witchfinder but Daswa objected to their wishes. His opposition to some traditional practices earned him many enemies. Today, he is revered greatly in his South African home village of Nweli and stories about his great acts of courage and kindness resound everywhere in South Africa.

(Fr. Paul Samasumo)

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