Malawi: Lilongwe Archdiocese set to build new Cathedral

The Archdiocese of Lilongwe is planning to build a new state of the art Cathedral to be constructed in the Capital, Lilongwe and has since launched a fundraising drive to solicit funds for the project worth Billions of Malawi Kwacha.

As part of this fundraising drive, the fundraising committee has lined up a number of initiatives, the latest one being on Saturday, May 20, 2017 where they will launch the fundraising campaign at Maula Cathedral Podium, a site ear-marked for the new project.

Several Catholic faithful and people of goodwill including guest of honor; Retired Chief Justice Anastazia Msosa have been invited for the launch.

According to a press release by the Archdiocesan leadership, at the launch all faithful and the clergy shall be briefed on the nature and scope of the project hence sensitize them on the project activities in order for them to understand its importance and the need for everyone’s participation and contribution towards the realization of the project.

“This decision has been arrived at because the old cathedral of the archdiocese which is at Maula was built a long time ago and as such, it does not have facilities characteristic of a cathedral and its seating capacity cannot contain the population of the archdiocese which has grown,” reads part of the statement as co-signed by Fr. Gerald Kubetcha and Wilfred Dodoli; Financial Administrator and Fundraising Committee Chairperson respectively.

The statement says, it is against this background therefore that the Archdiocese has considered building a new cathedral that will match the modern world and spacious enough to accommodate the growing population.

According to the statement, this campaign launch will help sensitize the people to cooperate in the activities of the project, considering the fact that the construction of a new cathedral is a big project that will require a lot of resources and participation of all the Christians in the archdiocese.

“The construction of the new cathedral is a big project which will require a lot of resources; it is for this reason that the Archdiocese, through the fundraising committee, is launching the fundraising campaign for the project,” reads the statement.

We gathered in a separate interview with Fr. Kubetcha, that the launch will be marked by various activities which include parish contributions towards the set targets, Christians and individual contributions.

“A Church and a Cathedral are houses of God which symbolize the body of Christ; as such the archdiocese of Lilongwe needs to have a befitting house of God that corresponds with the modern world as God deserves the best from us all the times." said Fr. Kubetcha.

A Cathedral is a mother of all church buildings in a diocese in which the local ordinary, Bishop of a diocese has his Cathedra or throne. It symbolizes the unity of all Christians in the Diocese.

By Stella Zulu and Prince Henderson- Episcopal Conference of Malawi