De la part du P. Louis Blondel Provincial de la Province Afrique du Sud
et du P. Piet van Hulten Supérieur de Secteur du Malawi


Nous avons le grand regret de vous annoncer le décès du Père

With regret we inform you of the death of our confrère Father

John Kuwezabiro

.

Sancta Maria
Photos of the burial of Fr. John Kuwezabiro

He has passed away in Namitete Hospital in Malawi on Friday 7th 2007.

At the age of 55 years of which 20 of missionary life in Malawi and Uganda

A l'âge de 55 ans dont 20 de vie missionnaire en au Malawi et en Ouganda

The funeral will take place in Likuni Parish on the 10th of September at 10.oo am

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Dear Confrères and friends,

I come to announce to you the sad news of the death of our confrere, Fr. John Leonard Kuwezabiro, who passed away last night (Thursday evening, between nine and ten o'clock) at Namitete hospital.

For a long time John has been struggling with sickness. In July, he started feeling a persistent fever accompanied with a loss of appetite. He was taken to Namitete hospital and after a few days, he came back to the sector's house and seemed to be recovering. His appetite was back and he put on a few kilos. But sometime at the beginning of last week, the same symptoms started reappearing. John was again taken to the hospital last Tuesday but there was little the doctors and medical staff could do but making him as comfortable as possible in his last days.

John was born on July 24, 1952 at Bafumira Island, Ssese County, in Uganda. After his primary education, he attended the Bukalasa Minor Seminary before joining Katigondo Major Seminary where he obtained a diploma in philosophy. He continued his priestly formation at Ggaba Major Seminary where he got a diploma in theology from Makerere University. He was ordained a priest for his diocese (Masaka) on August 26, 1979.

After working for four years in his diocese, John joined the Missionaries of Africa and following his novitiate in Kasama, Zambia, pronounced his missionary oath on August 8, 1984. He was appointed to Malawi. His first appointment was to the parish of Nkhata Bay (1984) in the diocese of Mzuzu, followed, in 1990, by an appointment to Kaseye/Chitipa where he became parish priest in March 1991.

In the first months of 1993, John had his brush with the political system of the time. We may remember that the letter of the Bishops of 1992 was producing its effects. With his confreres of Kaseye, John was accused of unacceptable political language in his homilies and had to spend 30 hours in a police cell and prison. That was an experience that was certainly a bit traumatizing but to which he habitually referred with his well known sense of humor!

In 1994, he went to Ireland for a year of pastoral updating followed by three years of service in his home province. On his return to Malawi, John passed to Lilongwe diocese, learned Chichewa and was the last Missionary of Africa to be parish priest of Likuni that we left in 2001. He was then transferred to Chezi parish and ended his mission as parish priest of Mua. He was one of the few missionaries of Africa to have served in the three dioceses where we work in Malawi. In 2005, he was a very happy man when he returned from Jerusalem where he attended the session on Missionary Discipleship. May he rest in the peace and the joy of the Lord to which he was so vividly aspiring!

Piet van Hulten.

"Il ne faut pas que vous vous attristiez comme les autres qui n'ont pas d'Espérance". Thess 4,13

Nous le recommandons instamment à votre prière.