Marian Sanctuary of the Archdiocese of Lusaka
El Mariano Sanctuary of the Archdiocese of Lusaka, built in the Matero district, is the main place of the Marian pilgrimage of Zambia. He was born around 1974, when Archbishop Adam Kozlowiecki SJ brought from Fatima an image of Our Lady and entrusted a diocesan committee to guard it and establish a stable place of prayer. Today he calls hundreds of faithful on monthly pilgrimages and on the great rostrum of the Assumption, around a grotto inspired by that of St. Peter of the Vatican.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The archdiocese of Lusaka is rooted in the Jesuit mission of the 19th century: since 1880 the Fathers of the Company tried to settle in the territory of the present Zambia; in 1927 the Apostolic Prefecture of Broken Hill was erected and in 1959, through the Bula Cum fides christiana of John XXIII, the Archdiocese of Lusaka was born.
- Archbishop Adam Kozlowiecki SJ, a Polish missionary who survived the concentration camps of Dachau and Mauthausen, moved to Lusaka from the shrine of Fatima (Portugal) an image of Our Lady towards 1974 and promoted her veneration in all the parishes of the diocese.
- The Jesuit Lawrence Tomasin, a well-known builder of the mission, raised the cave of the sanctuary to a small imitation of that of St. Peter in Rome; the diocesan Mariano Committee has since organized monthly pilgrimages that bring together faithful from all corners of the archdiocese.
- The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archdiocese bears the title of the Holy Child Jesus; it was blessed by John Paul II in 1989 - when the place was still a descamped - and consecrated on April 30, 2006, becoming the prized seat of the Catholic Church in Zambia.
- John Paul II celebrated mass on the site of the future cathedral on 2 May 1989 and returned on 4 May to bless his first stone, stressing the importance of Lusaka as a Catholic heart of Zambia; the archdiocese covers 35,000 km ² with more than 1.7 million faithful and 79 parishes.
Our Lady of Fatima (Marian Sanctuary of Matero)
The main Marian pilgrimage place in Zambia, located in the Matero district of Lusaka. The image of Our Lady of Fatima was brought from Portugal by Archbishop Kozlowiecki SJ in 1974; Father Tomasin SJ built the grotto. The monthly pilgrimages and the great pilgrimage of the Assumption bring together the faithful of all the archdiocese.
"Our Lady of Fatima, a pilgrim in the land of Africa, accompanies those who seek you in this sanctuary and brings to the Lord the intentions of your Zambian people.
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Si no encuentras la advocación mariana de tu ciudad o pueblo, cuéntanosla: la investigaremos para ubicarla y darla a conocer en este mapa del amor de la Madre por el mundo.
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