Today Vatican Information Service news tells of a new diocese being created in Tanzania. Here is the announcement:
Erected the new diocese of Bunda (area 5,530, population 1,023,390, Catholics 335,000, priests 2, religious 2) Tanzania, with territory taken from the archdiocese of Mwanza and from the diocese of Musoma, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Mwanza. He appointed Fr. Renatus Leonard Nkwande, diocesan administrator of Mwanza, as first bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Mantare, Tanzania in 1965 and ordained a priest in 1995.
335,000 Catholics and two priests!
11 comments:
I think this was the situation in mind when the permission for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion was granted. The cottage industry of these 'ministers' in this country, for example, is yet another example of deceit where the true application of a permission has been hijacked by those with their own agenda. I attended a Mass in Newcastle a few years ago when there were 12 people in the congregation and three of those joined the priest at Communion time, thus making four 'ministers' for nine people. Perhaps we could send some of these enthusiasts to Bunda where they would be more usefully employed?
Is it not deeply immoral to seek to solve our priest-shortage by recruiting priests from the "Third World", as advocated by those who tell us we need not worry about a lack of vocations in Europe?
I'm led to believe that the UK has one of the highest priest to people ratios.
When you consider America, parishes often have thousands of worshippers.
Always suspected that the people here are too well provided for. It can end up depriving people of the opportunity to live the sacrificial nature of Catholicism
So, the new diocese has only two priests for the 335,000 Catholics in Tanzania. Yet, today, a major depression seems to have descended over England, not because of the state of Tanzanian Catholicism (or even what remains of English Catholicism) , but because ‘England’ has failed in its attempt to ’host’ about twenty games of football in eight (yes, eight!) years time. Can anyone explain how all those clever and highly paid folk on television were unanimous in saying that England had a strong, clever, inspirational and even wonderful 'pitch' for the 2018 World Cup and yet were apparently eliminated in the first round of voting? Oh, yes, and why, when the country was at almost a standstill due to the weather (so what’s so surprising that it snows in November?), bankers, politicians and benefit cheats, was our Prime Minister sunning himself in Switzerland and talking about football - and leaving the country in the charge of Nick Clegg? I just would like to know about these things. Indeed, we should all be told. And what on earth was Seb Lord Coe doing in Zurich; was he a footballer once upon a time? Perhaps its time we all came back into the real world or even get a life!
Sceptical Believer has raised some very valid points concerning the seemingly infatuation with football among the English populace. I am given to understand by bloggers on the web that the main reason we failed in our bid was because of a sudden shortage of brown envelopes in Zurich. Russian oligarchs were seen in W.H.Schmitt buying up the complete stock. Thus, without any traditional means of transmitting the "paper persuaders" to the 22 members of the FIFA voting bloc, the English bid was fatally doomed.
However, I must take issue with the Believer when he accuses the Prime Minister of "sunning himself" in Zurich whilst "bankers, politicians and benefit cheats" are making the most of the bad weather.
It must be pointed out in defence of David Cameron (not, of course, that I have a political axe to grind), that he went to the Gnomish City on Tuesday, did some schmoozing, flew home on Wednesday, beat up the Junior Millipede at Prime Minister's Questions, back to Zurich, for some more lobbying. He is, of course, too honest to realise that without the brown envelopes, all efforts would be in vain.
In any case,how do you "sun" yourself in Zurich in December?, and who is Nick Clegg?
1569 Rising is way off the mark: brown envelopes were not necessary to the Russians. The English bid was simply not good enough!
Those of us who have daughters apparently wealthy enough to go skiing seemingly almost daily know that one is able to get quite a sun tan on ‘the slopes’, even at this time of the year, through the sunlight being reflected off white snow. Zurich also has snow and, I am told by weather forecasters, also lots of sunshine just now. So it was not inaccurate to say that Dave was sunning himself.
I do not think I know who Nick Clegg is but I have heard his name mentioned somewhere. Maybe in Private Eye.
I am grateful to 1569 for reminding readers of this blog that ‘Sceptical Believer has raised some very valid points concerning the seemingly infatuation with football among the English populace’ but (ain’t there always a ‘but’ in thanking people?) I do not think that many members of ‘the English populace’ are infatuated with football; they are simply told by the media that they are infatuated with football. Worryingly (is that a word?) we have come to believe it!
The Sceptical Believer has based his scurrilous and unfounded allegations against the Prime Minister on the say-so of a daughter who apparently spends every day on the "slopes" getting a tan. He presumes that "Dave", as he has the temerity to familiarly call him, went to Zurich solely to go skiing. As I pointed out earlier, he did not have the time, what with the schmoozing, lobbying and flying back to London to de-fenestrate the Millipede.
I still maintain that brown envelopes played a large part in the failure of a quite splendid English bid, the only question being which currency was stuffed into the envelopes - Swiss Francs, Roubles, Euros, Punts -(no, forget about that one)
I note that the Sceptic is familiar with Private Eye - I understand Ugandan Discussions were going on in Zurich into the small hours involving intriguing babushakas of a provocative bent.
I shall enquire of a certain relative in Austria whether tans can be obtained on the "slopes" in the short time the PM was there.
1569 Uprising can ask his relative (who has been surprisingly quiet recently) if he wises but Austrian 'slopes' are not Swiss slopes and Dave was in Switzerland (looking foolish, I thought).
The Austrian relative has had rather a lot to do preparing for the Kinderchor Christmas Musical and carol concert.
The PM is unlikely to get a tan in the short time he was there (and was he actually on the slopes or just in the city). He is more likely to get sunburn and end up looking red. That would never do.
I never before knew that 1569 Uprising had Austrian blood, It makes a lot of things clearer now. Thank you, Em
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