Help to Repair Three Churches in Mozambique 

Last year, on the Third Sunday of Advent, in the early morning, tropical cyclone Chido cut a swath of devastation through the province of Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique, a region sadly already plagued for several years by Islamic jihadist terrorism, and where hundreds of thousands of civilians are homeless refugees.  

With wind speeds initially bordering on 125 miles an hour, the cyclone tore through homes, schools, hospital clinics, and kindergartens, flattening trees and electricity pylons and knocking out the electricity and water supply systems in the regional capital, Pemba, and in other towns and cities. Church buildings and premises were also severely affected, and chapels, convents, parish houses, and other church establishments were destroyed or badly damaged.  

The Parish of St. Isabel (St. Elizabeth) in Chiuré is in one of the most densely populated districts of Cabo Delgado and serves a wide area, with 96 outlying communities. In recent years, thousands of people have sought refuge here after fleeing the jihadist terrorism that has afflicted the region. And indeed, in 2024, even some villages of the parish were themselves victims of the murderous raids of jihadist rebels. 

The parish itself is in the care of two diocesan priests and two Jesuits. There is also a community of Salesian religious sisters and a total of 187 lay catechists. Additionally, the parish has Fazenda da Esperança (or “Farm of Hope”), an initiative born in Brazil, offering a center for the recovery of addicts. 

The cyclone tore the roof of the parish church and broke the windows.  

In the same region, in the parish of Christ the King in Metoro, the parish church was damaged. This parish is home to the catechists’ training center for the Diocese of Pemba, so the church is also used for the meetings of the trainee catechists. Some of the villages here have been attacked and pillaged by terrorists, so the parish was already facing major challenges, even before the cyclone.  

The parish church of Mieze is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Hundreds of people attend Sunday Mass here, including many children and young people. And here, too, the cyclone has torn off the roof of the church. So the faithful now quite literally have no roof over their heads when they attend Holy Mass, and not even any trees to shelter beneath, since these, too, were ripped up by the storm. And this is a parish that has taken in hundreds of refugees.  

ACN is helping with $34,265 for the repair of these three churches and has received requests for help with other similar repair projects from the Diocese of Pemba.  

Will you join us in helping them?  

139-08-19