OUR HISTORY:

We are a recently founded independent Catholic and authentically African Church. From about 2001 we laboured quietly and prudently to advocate for the inclusion of a married priesthood in the Roman Church to which we belonged then. As time went on it became clear that the Roman Church would not budge on this crucial issue. Therefore, inspired by the mission of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo, our Zambian icon and others we embarked on the process of registering our own Church with the Zambian government Registrar of Societies. We duly obtained our Certificate of Registration on 5^th December, 2007. It was a great moment of joy and grace to us. On Christmas day 25^th December, 2007 we made our official address to the nation to announce the fact of our existence. Both the electronic and print media covered the press briefing which took place in Lusaka, the capital city of the Republic of Zambia.

The response to the press briefing was overwhelming to say the least. The media sought interviews with us incessantly. We were pitted against Roman officials on National Television and Radio stations of all sorts. Clearly, we came on top despite the vilest insults that were hurled at us, left, right and centre. The Roman church has threatened to drag us to court over the use of the word ‘Catholic’ which simply means universal and is not a preserve of any Church in the world. Our founder, the Most Rev. Luciano Anzanga Mbewe, has been the target of the most demagogic and unchristian attacks. He has even been threatened with death from some quarters of Zambia. We are prepared to pay whatever price that will be demanded of us.

What encourages us now is the knowledge that priests who have married and those still serving in the Zambian Roman Church are expressing the desire to come on board, albeit quietly, for fear of reprisals.

Some Protestants Pastors with their members have already crossed over to join us. The people of Zambia, all of a sudden, now openly express their desire to disassociate themselves from those who thrive on  double standards and are unable to come to terms with reality. Mandatory celibacy in Zambia can continue to be in vogue only by hypocrisy and deceit. It has failed the Zambian people. It has failed Africa. This was the message inculcated upon the Zambian people especially on the MUVI Television interview which pitted our founder against a certain Fr. Miha Drevenski ofm of the Roman Church Diocese of Ndola on the Copperbelt province of Zambia. This took place on the night of Monday 14^th January, 2008. But our adversaries are not talking all this lying down. They are viciously hitting us back with all the dirty tricks in the book and elsewhere. This is where we need you, the reader of this article, to come to our aid. Find it in your heart to come to our aid (I know you will because you love truth, honesty, and integrity above hypocrisy and everything else). We need you to show solidarity with us by giving us the tools to fight and win this war against our adversaries.

Do not allow our adversaries to prevail over us because by so doing you would have allowed the devil and his principalities to be victors. We know you will rise to the occasion. We need transport to go out to preach this good news to all the 9 provinces of Zambia. We urgently need to erect church buildings for worship, for Mass. We need funds to train our future church leadership both lay and clergy, both male and female. We need other logistics to set up very basic structures, that is, base congregations, parishes, dioceses and of course the national secretariat. We need the services of a lawyer as a matter of urgency. I know you will not fail us because you love decency and because you love God. And so may God abundantly bless your efforts as you make concrete plans to come to our aid.

Praying Hands by Ashkar

Art for sale to support The Catholic Apostolic National Church of Zambia