Missionary Trip to MOZAMBIQUE AND SOUTH AFRICA—Reported by Raymond de Souza, August 2010 

As HLI’s regional coordinator for Portuguese-speaking countries, I had been planning a visit to the African country of Mozambique in hopes of re-establishing contacts with Church officials and, with their help, mobilizing pro-life action. Incidentally, our HLI affiliate, “HLI South Africa (Cape Town),” and specifically the “Culture of Life Campaign” group of Johannesburg, had some time ago invited me to tour the country of South Africa. They wanted me to conduct a series of speaking engagements on the Gospel of Life and the culture of death in the context of Catholic apologetics. Since South Africa is just next door to Mozambique, HLI was blessed to be able to save time, energy and funds by combining what would have been two trips into one.

HLI Materials at the Bishops’ Conference in Mozambique

The Church in Mozambique finds Herself in a difficult situation, after over two decades of communist domination and a protracted civil war. She is now in great need of assistance in promoting the Gospel of Life. The HLI programs offer an ideal response to this need.

During my visit, I stayed in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital city. I was there for a relatively short while — only four days. But these days were richly filled with establishing contacts and planning for exciting future projects. On my first day in Maputo, Rev. Fr. Alberto Buque, manager of the local station, Radio Maria, came to see me at my hotel. Fr. Buque eagerly agreed to broadcast HLI educational materials, which I have already recorded in Portuguese and will send to him in print for the station’s program hosts to read over the airways. Also, starting in October 2010, God-willing, I will be recording the Catechism against Abortion, written by a Brazilian priest, to be broadcast from Radio Maria.  The station’s airwaves reach out to various countries around Mozambique, impacting a wide audience.

I also visited the apostolic nuncio, His Excellency, Antonio Macari, at the Nunciature in Mozambique. Archbishop Macari received me most kindly and fully validated the impressions I had gathered about the difficult situation of the Church there. Of his own initiative, he volunteered to present folders filled with HLI materials at the Bishops Conference, which will take place in November this year!  His Excellency was very supportive of putting together a major pro-life event in Mozambique, comprising a weekend of talks in various parishes and involving clergy, catechists, seminarians, youth and others. Also, on his behalf, he asked me to contact and network on pro-life matters with the apostolic nuncio in Luanda, Angola, on the occasion of a future visit I am making to that major Portuguese-speaking country.

After meeting with Archbishop Macari, Rev. Fr. Manuel Tavares, a member of the missionary group, the Consolata, came to meet with me at my hotel. I had met him before, on my first visit to the country. Fr. Tavares works two days a week at the nunciature. He is most supportive of the nuncio’s initiative to help with HLI’s work in Mozambique. When the major pro-life event discussed with Archbishop Macari takes place, Fr. Tavares and his colleagues will assist by advertising, recruiting people to help, and performing other tasks as needed.

Promoting HLI’s Prayer Campaign for the Conversion of Abortionists

On the last day of my visit, Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kawesi, Secretary to Archbishop Fransisco Chimoio of Mozambique, called to inform me that the

Raymond de Souza  with Archbishop Francisco Chimoio of Mozambique, Africa.

Archbishop would receive me at his parish. In my discussions with him, Archbishop Chimoio was extremely supportive of HLI’s work and very keen to receive our pledge of assisting the Archdiocese, and the country as a whole, in the task of forming the people in the Gospel of Life. He received an HLI information folder with eagerness and promised to distribute among the parishes the 500 HLI St. Michael the Archangel prayer cards in Portuguese I offered him.

His Excellency fully supported the apostolic nuncio’s plan to address the Bishops’ Conference, and he even preferred having a full week’s pro-life event, not just a weekend. The archdiocese graciously offered to provide my accommodations, food and transportation for the duration of that event.

At the end of the conversation, I mentioned to the archbishop that I would need to be in regular correspondence with the archdiocese, to plan for and develop the upcoming event. He immediately nominated his own secretary, Fr. Kawesi, and Fr. Buque of Radio Maria as the HLI contacts for the planning process.

I must say I am very pleasantly surprised at the immense support I have received from the Church in Mozambique. Should things develop according to plan, in November, the apostolic nuncio and the archbishop of Maputo will present the HLI pro-life event proposal to the Bishops’ Conference. Then, God-willing, early next year, I will spend about a week giving talks and chairing workshops, seminars, and question and answer sessions to the clergy and laity, particularly the youth. The sessions will be recorded and broadcast far and wide by Radio Maria.

Addressing More Than 1,500 South Africans with the Gospel of Life

My nine-day speaking tour of South Africa spanned three different cities (Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria).  I gave eight talks – two in Archdiocesan Cathedrals (Johannesburg and Cape Town), two in Catholic high schools, one in a seminary, three on radio interviews (in both Portuguese and English), and one at an informal tea with clergy and “Culture of Life Campaign” members at the Johannesburg Cathedral parish hall. Altogether, over 1,500 people attended the talks and heard HLI’s pro-life message!

My presentations focused on describing the culture of death, the de-Christianization of the western world, and the duty of Catholics to respond to and promote the Gospel of Life.

Worthy of note was my address to about 80 seminarians at the Saint John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria. After the question and answer session, a priest, on behalf of the rector, warmly invited me to return any time to re-address the seminarians and faculty with HLI’s pro-life message.

Also, in Cape Town, Archbishop Stephen Brislin kindly came to see me prior to my talk; and, acknowledging my work as a Catholic speaker, he opened the door of the archdiocese for future visits, especially to speak to the youth. I gave him a folder full of HLI activities and materials, and he renewed a specific invitation for me to visit the archdiocese in 2011, to address a large number of young people.

Fulfilling a Hunger for Knowledge

Raymond gives a talk at the Archdiocesan Cathedral in Johannesburg, South Africa.

At the Johannesburg Cathedral, where about 700 people attended the talk, the parish priest publicly praised the pro-life work of HLI – as well as the apologetics apostolate I promoted and shared with them – and he openly invited me to come for future visits.

The address to some 20 Catholic teachers who work in major regional Catholic schools was very well-received, and the response of some 45

Raymond de Souza addresses Catholic High School teachers in South Africa.

teenage boys who were being prepared to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation was particularly encouraging. Several parents attended the event and were also highly supportive of the work of HLI.

A Saturday morning seminar to a group of about 90 Catholic men, lasting over three hours, made it very evident to me that there is a deep hunger among the people for knowledge of the Faith and the Gospel of Life, a hunger that one notices everywhere in South Africa.

After an interview at Radio Veritas studios, I met Rev. Fr. Emil Blasier, the station director. He formally asked my permission to broadcast my CD talks on Catholic apologetics and the Gospel of Life, on a pro bono basis, as the station cannot afford to pay anything for them. Although the sale of my CD talks is essential to my family income, I could not say no. Radio Veritas is not a huge station, but it does reach out to many countries throughout Southern Africa, such as South Africa,

Interview at Radio Veritas, in Portuguese and English.

Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi and Angola.  So, after a vast promotional effort from September to November 2010, full broadcasting will begin in December, at the beginning of the new liturgical year. The HLI message and the truths of the Catholic Faith will thus be multiplied one hundredfold in southern Africa, and we may certainly count on Our Lord’s blessings for a fruitful outcome to this exciting venture.

Catholic Apologetics and a Culture of Life

I believe this was the best speaking tour I have ever given. The tour kept me busy in a marathon of talks, constantly rushing from parish to seminary, from cathedral to radio station, from high school to airport; and I am certain that HLI’s work in South Africa will cause a major push forward in the promotion of the Gospel of Life.

Combining the Gospel of Life with Catholic apologetics has proven very rewarding and powerful in its impact; people attending such talks have their understanding of the Faith strengthened, which in turn spurs them towards a greater commitment to defend the Right to Life.