Catholic before partisan: African leaders unite to aid orphanage

Lilongwe, Malawi, Aug 7, 2016 / 02:02 am

In an orphanage near the capital city of Lilongwe, Malawi, children are reaping the fruits of the Year of Mercy.

The Mother Teresa Children's House, which is a Kawale-based orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity, received food donations this week from the country's Catholic members of Parliament who were inspired by the call from Pope Francis to enact works of mercy during the Jubilee Year.

"You know this is the Year of Mercy as it has been declared by our Pope – Pope Francis – and as a Catholic Community at Parliament, we thought that we do something in order to support those that need our support," Hon. Francis Kasaila said in a statement from the Episcopal Conference of Malawi.

"This is just a small donation, of course, and otherwise we know that these sisters need a lot of support from well wishers and people of goodwill. They really need quite a lot in order to care for these children," Kasaila continued.

Kasaila is the leader of the National Assembly and a Parliamentarian for Democratic Progressive Party. He was joined by other Parliament members such as Hon. Juliana Lunguzi, a Member of Parliament for Dedza East.

Although some of the leaders had opposing political views, they set aside their differences to support the children in need. Kasaila said that he believes Catholicism comes before politics.

Fr. Henry Chinkanda, the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Officer of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, applauded the Catholic Parliamentarians in their efforts, and encouraged them to be a fruitful witness of charity by loving each other despite any political differences.

In addition to donating food items such as maize, beans, cooking oil and milk, some members of Parliament also spent time in the orphanage singing songs with the children.

The Missionaries of Charity expressed gratitude for the donations, which will be used to feed the 52 children that take refuge at the orphanage.

"As a community, we would like to thank our Catholic members of Parliament for the love they have shown to these children," Sister Mira of the Missionaries of Charity said.

Sister Mira also used the opportunity to condemn the act of abortion, saying that their orphanage would readily house any "unwanted" children who would otherwise be victims of abortion.

"We would want to discourage the tendency of aborting innocent children as well. Therefore, let those that feel they wouldn't manage to care for their children, bring them to this center rather than aborting or abandoning the innocent souls," she said.

"As you know, life is a gift from God. So too these children are a gift from God and who knows, these will be our future leaders."