(BICI, July-August 1991, p.105)
The Catholic Church in Zambia is celebrating its first centenary this year, taking as its starting point the arrival of the White Fathers with Bishop J. Dupont in 1891. The Capuchins have shared in 60 years of that history, mostly in the diocese of Livingstone, whose first bishop was the Irish Capuchin Timothy Phelim O’Shea.
The centenary is being used as an occasion for the whole church in Zambia to reflect on a range of issues, including the vocations’ crisis, the limited inculturation of the faith, the drastic decline of the economy, the change from a single-party to a multi-party political system, and problems connected with the rapid growth of AIDS.
Capuchins have been involved in the life of the Church at all levels, from parishes to schools to medical assistance. With the future erection of the Vice Province of Zambia (1992) and the opening of a new house of formation in collaboration with the Franciscans, the role of the Capuchins will begin to take on a different aspect. In the future, there will be more emphasis on the formation of young friars who will one day replace the missionaries from abroad. This is one of the ways to make the Church in Zambia more of a “local Church” as it enters the second century of its existence.