Lilongwe archdiocese launches K10bn endowment fund as minister Mwanamvekha hails Church ‘partnership’

Malawi’s Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralisation, Joseph Mwanamvekha, has described the Catholic Church as a key partner of government in advancing national and human development, speaking at a gala dinner to mark the launch of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe’s Tiyende Limodzi Endowment Fund.

The gala dinner followed the fund’s official launch earlier the same day at Maula Cathedral in Lilongwe.

Mwanamvekha said initiatives of this kind should be encouraged, and urged the Church to manage the fund with transparency and accountability so that it fulfils its intended purpose.

Speaking earlier at the launch, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Lilongwe, Vincent Mwakhwawa, said the archdiocese aims to raise K10 billion through the fund to support evangelisation and strengthen the Church’s contribution to education, healthcare and community development.

Bishop Mwakhwawa said the fund had been established to provide sustainable financing as the archdiocese responds to growing pastoral and social needs, and that it would complement the archdiocese’s existing investments, which include its shareholding in Centenary Bank of Malawi.

The Archdiocese of Lilongwe serves an estimated 1.7 million Catholics across 52 parishes, and operates more than 300 schools, six hospitals and 13 community health centres.