11/05/2018 Tanzania (International Christian Concern) – On Sunday, thousands of Tanzanian Christians gathered alongside the country’s president, John Magufuli, and other dignitaries to celebrate the 150 anniversary of the Catholic faith in Tanzania.
Pope Francis’s was not in attendance himself, but he sent a representative on his behalf. John Cardinal Nuju, the Archbishop of Nairobi. The Archbishop, spoke to the people gathered saying, “This is the time to question ourselves; whether the seeds of peace preached by the first missionaries in the early days of the Church have borne fruit and been protected.”
During the ceremony, the crowd gathered at Bagamoyo port, a location of both great pain and great celebration for the Tanzanian Christians. Here Tanzania men and women were sold into slavery and exported from the port, but this is the same port where the missionaries came into.
To symbolize the location, the Archbishop stated that they, “Installed the Holy Cross (at Bagamoyo), a symbol of redemption from slavery, a symbol of faith to us.”
The church is thankful for the growth they have experienced these past 150 years and claims their next step is to create most sustainable pastoral strategies to help deepen the faith of believers and expand their theology.
For interviews with Nathan Johnson, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: press@persecution.org.
