Shared gift of mission ‘must be the way forward’

“The Church is either missionary or not Church at all,” said Archbishop Dermot Farrell at the 80th anniversary Mass of Irish Carmelite missionary presence in Zimbabwe on March 22. Joined by the Carmelite priory of Whitefriar Street Church, clergy from Zimbabwe, and a large congregation, Archbishop Farrell celebrated the gift of mission between the two countries, one that continues to sustain hope and faith 80 years after the first Irish Carmelites arrived in Zimbabwe.

“The Carmelites did not come simply to build structures, but to share life with the people, to walk with the people,” said Provincial of the Carmelite Order in Ireland Fr Simon Nolan in his homily. “The gift once given by Irish Carmelites to Zimbabwe has in God’s providence returned as a gift to the Church in Ireland. We see it in the ministry of Zimbabwean Carmelites among us,” he continued, acknowledging the interchange of ministry between Ireland and Zimbabwe.

A Zimbabwean priest who travelled from his home diocese of Mutare in eastern Zimbabwe to Dublin for the anniversary celebration spoke to The Irish Catholic about the exchange of mission, explaining that, “It must be the way forward…it’s a way for us to evangelise, to pay back, to give back to those who evangelise us.”

“There are Irish in Zimbabwe and there are Zimbabweans in Ireland, and that enriches that missionary aspect,” he said. Fr James Eivers O. Carm, prior of Whitefriar Street Church, where the celebration took place, shared a similar sentiment in a statement prior to the celebration. “Perhaps, in this moment, the Irish Church is being invited to see itself anew – not only as a sender of missionaries, but as a receiver of grace,” he said, applauding the quiet impact of the Zimbabwean Carmelites ministering in Ireland on their parish communities

This impact was felt at the Whitefriar Street celebration, where music from the Zimbabwean Catholic guests expressed the joy of the congregation. St John’s Tralee parishioner Shylit, who is from Zimbabwe and has lived in Ireland for two years, spoke to The Irish Catholic after Mass about the importance of having a familiar community in an unfamiliar place. “It’s a big change to come here,” she said. “Missing home, missing some people to speak the same language with, that’s why we make sure that we attend these masses.” Still, she praised the first Irish Carmelite missionaries to arrive in Zimbabwe, who she said probably felt the same way.