Stigmatines Prepare for Silver Jubilee in Botswana

by Erin Carelse · Published May 10, 2018 · Updated May 6, 2018

Parish priest of St Bernadette’s in Gaborone Fr Vitalis Phakisi and pastoral council and finance council members met at the Bertoni Centre to discuss preparations for the silver jubilee of their parish in September and that of the Stigmatines in Botswana too.

The Stigmatines will be celebrating 25 years of their presence in Botswana, and at the parish of St Bernadette in Gaborone West, this September.

The Apostolic Missionaries of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigma of Our Lord Jesus Christ, known as the Stigmatines, officially established themselves in Botswana in the Gaborone diocese. They were given land to begin working as apostolic missionaries under the service of the bishop, as their constitution dictates.

In 1993 the Stigmatines established the community in Gaborone West and built St Bernadette’s church.

As part of preparations for the silver jubilee celebration, the parish pastoral council and parish finance council of St Bernadette’s came together for a meeting with parish priest Fr Vitalis Phakisi at the Bertoni Centre.

Fr Paul Tatu, the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s communication and media officer, was also present, and conducted a workshop on the role of communication and media in evangelisation and in advancing parish programmes.

For more information about the meeting and other details, contact Fr Vitalis Phakisi on 0026 775 216264 or Mrs Chakalisa on 0026 776 778316 or 0026 772 413757.