‘Slightly unwell’  Archbishop Ziyaye misses priestly ordination: Hospitalised in Namibia

Archbishop Tarcizio Ziyaye of Lilongwe Archdiocese will not preside over priestly ordination of his three deacons this Saturday because he is unwell and admitted to a hospital in Namibia.

Ziyaye has since asked Zambian Bishop George Lungu of Chipata diocese to ordain the three on his behalf.

The ordination will take place at St. Mark Mkanda Catholic Parish in Mchinji, a boundary disstrict with Chipata where Bishop Lungu resides.

The three deacons to be ordained priests are Hodges Mzunga, John Chibweza and Alphonso Kaphira.

An invitation to the event from the Archdiocese of Lilongwe reads: “The Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe and St Mark Mkanda Catholic Parish jointly invites Most Rev. /Rt.Rev./ Fr./ Sr. …to the ordination of Rev. Hodges Mzunga, Rev. John Chibweza, Rev. Alphonso Kaphira on 12th December, 2020 at St. Mark, Mkanda Parish by  The Rt. Rev. Bishop George Cosmas Zumaile Lungu of the Diocese of Chipata-Zambia.”

Catholic Church authorities in Malawi were tongue-tied to disclose reasons for the missing of Archbishop Ziyaye at the ordination.

But several sources from the Archbishop’s House, the Episcopal Conference of Malawi and the laity have disclosed and corroborated that Ziyaye is unwell and was taken and admitted to a hospital in Namibia.

“It’s now two weeks since he left for Namibia,” said one source.

“He went with Fr. Vincent Mwakhwawa,” the source added.

The information from the source was corroborated by other sources who added that Fr. Mwakhwawa is the archbishop’s advisor.

Some members of the laity and even clergy in Lilongwe Archdiocese have since called for an Auxiliary Bishop who should take charge of the archdiocese in times of sickness or death of the incumbent.

They argue that the archdiocese is quite big and deserves to have an Auxiliary Bishop as was the case before.