Holy Childhood animators in the Diocese of Moshi, have had the opportunity to strengthen themselves spiritually for their work in formation of children from 13-17 December, 2024 at Uru Seminary. In this retreat which was held for two days and one day was set aside for the seminar, the number of participants was 119. During the retreat, the animators were deeply moved that they should be confident in their work in raising children, and that they should see themselves as very valuable people in the church and before God.

They were also inspired to love their mission and feel that they are serving a very important group that even God Almighty desires to embrace because it is a group without guilt before him by saying; Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such. (Mt 19:14). Therefore, they were encouraged to love children as much as Jesus himself loves them, and not to see raising children as a waste of time, but as storing up their treasure in heaven.

It is a great blessing that, within this period that was set aside for the spiritual empowerment of the animators, they were also able to attend a one-day seminar that dealt with; The Mission of Animators and their Contributions, in line with the Child Protection and Safety Policy.

From: PMS National Office

Today the studios of Radio Maria Tanzania roared with the voices of praying the Universal Holy Rosary, while they invited people from every group: elders, youth, businessmen, farmers, and other groups, with the concept of living the message of Pope Francis for Mission Sunday 2024 which says; Go and invite everyone to the banquet (Mt 22:9).

In honor of the Virgin Mary, Star of Evangelization, today October 19, 2024, the children of Tanzania raised their voices together through Radio Maria and other radio stations of the Catholic Church joining spiritually with all the children in the world to pray the holy rosary that is prayed every year in October on the Saturday before Mission Sunday. The specific goal of today’s rosary for the children of Tanzania was to pray for peace, unity and the success of the missionary works in the Local Church of Tanzania and the world at large.

Since it has become a formula for the PMS National Office to choose every year 7 dioceses that take turns in leading others in the rosary, this year the leading dioceses were: Dioceses of Musoma (first mystery), Mahenge (second mystery), Archdiocese of Tabora (third mystery), diocese of Lindi (forth mystery), Mafinga (fifth mystery), Moshi (the litany) and the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam which is given a chance every year considering that they are close to radio headquarters and if unexpected communication errors occur in a certain diocese they can support (their leading part was the opening and closing prayers).

By comparing the statistics that the PMS National Office has been taking every year to know the number of children who were praying the rosary on the scheduled day and time, the office admits that this year the number of children has been more surprising than previous years. For instance; archdiocese of Arusha gathered about 4000 children, Bukoba 2500, Bunda 500, Dar es Salaam 5000, Dodoma 3000 children, Ifakara 210, Kayanga 230, Moshi 5000 children, Mbulu 6400, Mbeya 6000, 1500 Kahama, Singida 3200 children, Mahenge 500, Njombe 1500, Songea 1900, Lindi 300 children, Iringa 3200, Mafinga 200, Musoma 300 to name a few. There were also priests (Diocesan PMS Directors), nuns and animators who were leading the children in the event of praying the rosary for each diocese. The PMS national team (Fr Alfred S. Kwene – PMS National Director, Sr Idda J. Mketi – PMS Secretary and Sr Anagladness Mrumah – National Childhood Secretary) joined to pray at the main center, that is, Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima Parish-Msimbazi, where the children of the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam gathered. Hence, with this assessment that the office has done, it has clearly shown that missionary work in Tanzania is growing and spreading rapidly like the seeds of the sower that fell on good soil (Ref. Mk 4:3-9)

It was a joy for us in Tanzania that we were able to have two bishops joining the children’s rosary (His Eminence Protase Cardinal Rugambwa and Rt. Rev. Jovitus Mwijage). Correspondingly, before the blessing His Eminence Cardinal Rugambwa was able to talk to the children and encourage them in living their missionary work tirelessly. In a special way, he was able to encourage all believers to live the message of the holy father of Mission Sunday 2024, which encourages all people to go and invite everyone wherever they are, so that they can follow Christ.

From PMS National Office