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Fungi Kwaramba At the National Heroes Acre

Roman Catholic cleric Father Ribeiro who has been buried at the National Heroes Acre becomes the first priest to be buried at the sacred burial shrine with his life works befitting for such an honour, President Mnangagwa said.

The late father Ribeiro, who died last Thursday at St Anne’s hospital in Harare after a short illness had a career spanning decades and in his selfless service to the nationalists he helped the country’s independence course through actively assisting the country’s freedom fighters such as President Mnangagwa.

“A dark cloud hovers over our country and the church at large, as we gather here at the National Shrine to lay to rest, mourn and celebrate the life of our Roman Catholic Cleric Father Emmanuel Francis Ribeiro.

“We thus, mourn a great son of the soil, a Roman Catholic priest, Father (Baba), a brother, a comrade, composer and novelist. He worked tirelessly and used his diverse talents to nurture souls of many people in our beloved country,” said the President.

The President added that the burial of Fr Emmanuel Ribeiro is special considering the many people he saved during his illustrious life.

“I am personally pained by his demise, for our lives and fates intersected under extremely difficult and unenviable circumstances. Those circumstances knit us together, after he saved me from the gallows, with his sheer compassionately goodness and astuteness,” he said.

From the exemplary life of the late Fr Emmanuel Ribeiro the country’s youth should be inspired to live vice free lives, shun drugs and corruption, the President said.