The retiring Bishop of Hwange, Bishop Emeritus Albert Serrano SMI urged the new Bishop of Hwange Diocese, His Grace Raphael Ncube, to be ‘bold like a prophet but gentle like a father’ as he takes over the reins.
Bishop Serrano was speaking at the new Bishop’s episcopal ordination on Saturday the 30th of October, at Hwange Colliery Stadium, a celebration marked with well fashioned and inclusive liturgy
“May you have the boldness of a prophet, the fortitude of a witness and the clear sightedness of a teacher and the confidence and the gentleness of a father.”
Bishop Emeritus Serrano, said he asked in April 5 years, for the priests of the diocese, “to pray for a new bishop of Hwange, to pray for the best Bishop for the diocese of Hwange’ and the “prayers have been heard.”
Ordained by Archbishop Alex Thomas Kiliyan SVD of Bulawayo, Bishop Raphael Ncube becomes the 6th Bishop of the Diocese, taking over from Bishop Jose Albert Antony Serrano SMI who has been shepherding the coal diocese since 2015.
Until the time of his appointment, on the 5th of July 2021, he was a senior theologian, forming priest in training at the national Sts John Fisher and Thomas Moore Seminary in Chishawasha, Harare.
In his address and congratulatory message, Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, the Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe, emphasized Bishop Ncube’s love and commitment to theology, saying he must lead and watch that there is discipline in the flock.
“Pope Francis has chosen you because of your theological knowledge, lead the people of God with the wisdom that comes from high, Pope Francis has chosen you because of your moral integrity, watch that the discipline of Christ flock and do not compromise on the demands of the Christian life.”
The faithful of Hwange diocese, a largely rural and very diverse of culture and languages diocese is host to over 40 000 Catholics that include the Shona, Nambia, Ndebele, Tonga, Lozi among other minority languages.
Archbishop Robert Ndlovu (Harare), the President of the Zimbabwe Catholic bishop’s Conference and former bishop of Hwange, welcomed Bishop Ncube to the conference, which he described as a group of “joyful people”
He also exhorted the priest of Hwange diocese to support their bishop.
“I know that generally speaking, the faithful, these people there have no problem with whomever they are given, the problem is with us, the priests. Please support your bishop.”
In his thanksgiving speech, the Bishop Ncube expressed his gratitude for a ‘new home’ saying to the people of Hwange, “in you God has shown me the new horizons.”
“To the members of my church, my fellow Catholics of Hwange I come here fully aware that demographically Hwange diocese is a very rich conglomeration of different ethnic cultural and tribal groups, people of diverse cultural and ethnic as well as tribal backgrounds and yet an amazingly united people.”
“It is a great privilege for me to have the opportunity to spend my years here celebrating and fostering that unity and diversity,” said Bishop Ncube.
Amongst those participating in the celebrations were all the country’s bishops, clergy and religious from various dioceses, the Ambassador of Spain to Zimbabwe and several international visitors.
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