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Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter

THE Roman Catholic Church’s St Mary’s Cathedral Minor Basilica in Bulawayo has lived up to expectations as a religious tourist attraction and heritage site.

On 31 August 2013, St Mary’s Cathedral, one of the oldest buildings in Bulawayo, was blessed to become a basilica not only in Zimbabwe, but the whole of Southern Africa.

It is one of only 22 basilicas in the whole of Africa, making it an important monument and man-made religious heritage site.

This followed the conferment of the Basilica status by Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church.

Located at the corner of Lobengula Street and 9th Avenue, St Mary’s Cathedral was built by Jesuit Priests in 1903, becoming the third Catholic building in Matabeleland after Empandeni in 1887) and St Patrick’s in Makokoba in 1902.

It was named in honour of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ and the Jesuits named the street, Lobengula Street, in honour of King Lobengula, who although did not embrace Christianity, was very friendly and sociable and treated the Catholic missionaries with dignity and respect.

The church building’s stone walls and Gothic elements and contribution to spiritual faith and socio-political development in the country led to the conferment of the minor basilica status.

The former Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe Archbishop George Kocherry blessed the building in 2013 and congratulated Zimbabweans for their fidelity to Christianity and the church, at a celebration Mass attended by bishops from across the country. The nuncio or pro-nuncio is the ambassador of the Holy See and the representative of the Pope.

A Basilica is a designation or status given to a church by the Pope through a proclamation passed by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Sacraments, the governing body of the Roman Catholic Church to the churches of historical significance to the church at large as well as the local area; diocese or even region where the church is located.

It is used to identify churches of historic and spiritual importance and the Basilica is an important pilgrimage in Catholic liturgy.

Since its establishment in 1903, St Mary’s has played a very important role in the evangelisation of, not only Bulawayo but also the entire Matabeleland region and the country at large.

In June 2021, President Mnangagwa toured the Basilica as part of his tour of heritage sites in Bulawayo when he launched a heritage corridor.

There are two classes of basilicas in the Catholic Church – minor and major. There are only seven major basilicas in the world: St Peter’s, St John Lateran, St Mary Major, St Paul Outside the Walls, St Lawrence, and St Sebastian, all of which are in Rome, and the Holy Cross in Jerusalem.

A minor basilica is any other important church in Rome or throughout the world which has been officially designated basilica by the Pope.

The nearest basilica is in Nairobi, Kenya, in East Africa. The word basilica also has an architectural meaning, which has a close relationship with the religious meaning of a basilica.

A cathedral is the chief church of a diocese and in itself is also a parish church with the archbishop or bishop the priest in charge and he appoints an administrator or rector.

St Mary’s Cathedral is, therefore, not a shrine but now a minor basilica which is expected to attract several pilgrims thereby boosting the country’s tourism.

A shrine is where something of historical significance has taken place where a relic is preserved for special devotion. In the Archdiocese of Bulawayo, there is Our Lady of Fatima in Pumula South and Empandeni Mission in Mangwe District.

A cathedral basilica is more like the main church for the diocese and the Archdiocese of Bulawayo covers the whole of Bulawayo, Matabeleland South excluding Beitbridge, and Lupane, Nkayi and Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North.

Many people have been visiting the basilica for pilgrimage over the years. The Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bulawayo, Alex Thomas Kaliyanil, said the granting of a minor basilica status to St Mary’s was an exceptional privilege.

“St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica was officially blessed and launched on 31 August 2013 and this is the only basilica in Southern Africa. The status of a basilica is given by the Pope himself taking into consideration the history of the church, architectural nature, historical importance of that church to the nation and to the faith,” he said.

“If you look at St Mary’s Cathedral, it was built in 1903 and its structure is a Gothic style which is expected of a Cathedral and it was built purely by stones extracted 40km away and brought by scotch carts. You can imagine the difficulties those people had to go through cutting those stones, shaping them and bringing them.”

Archbishop Kaliyanil said the church considered all issues around the particular building and its importance as a Cathedral to the faith of the nation and politics as political leaders went through it.

“Ever since that Cathedral was established, so many other churches were established and the growth of the Catholic Church is really amazing and marvellous. During the course of the years that cathedral contributed to the liberation struggle and the leaders of this nation who were there include the late Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe and President Mnangagwa,” he said.

“They all came and prayed there and had so many events honouring leaders of this country. That is what gives credibility to a basilica. When it is a basilica it is also required that it contributes to the faith formation of the people.”

Archbishop Kaliyanil was excited by the way the basilica was attracting people.

“I am very happy with the way people are coming and participating. Our task as the leaders of the church is to be sure that we assist the people spiritually, pastorally and emotionally and there are people who are undergoing so many struggles and we are part of the people, we want them revived,” he said.

The theme for the Archdiocese of Bulawayo for this year is; “Renewal and revival of the faith” which seeks to revive people from an all-time low caused by Covid-19 when many stopped worshipping because of the lockdown.

Speaking during his tour of the basilica, President Mnangagwa said: “This has been a great honour to me personally as well as to my team in the Second Republic to visit this historical heritage basilica cathedral here in Bulawayo. It’s a great heritage in our country, it shows how deep rooted the spirit lies in our people.”

“It shows that as early as that time in 1903 our people in this city were already rooted in faith.”

The Catholic Church in Bulawayo had 480 members when St Mary’s was blessed in 1904 and today there are close to 50 000.

The church has also played a significant role in the economic and religious development of Matabeleland and Zimbabwe where it built hospitals and schools.