By Fr. Dumisani Vilakati (Director of the IMBISA Secretariat)
The IMBISA Secretariat has learnt, with sadness, of the passing away of the Rev. Fr. John Coleman SDB on the 28th July 2022.
Fr. Coleman is an important figure in IMBISA as he, besides being one of the first Directors of the Secretariat, was instrumental in transferring the IMBISA Secretariat Offices from Manzini (Eswatini) to Harare (Zimbabwe) in the early eighties and thus establishing a permanent home for the Secretariat. He can rightly be called a pioneer in IMBISA having also worked very closely with the then formidable IMBISA Secretary General Bishop Mandlenkhosi Aloysius Zwane of Manzini.
The IMBISA Secretariat takes this opportunity to thank the Lord God for the good work that Fr. Coleman has done for the Church not only as IMBISA Director of the Secretariat but also in the other roles including being Rector within the Salesians in Manzini, Parish Priest in Manzini and Vicar for Liturgy in Johannesburg.
We also express our sincere condolences to his family, the Salesians of Don Bosco and all who mourn his death as we raise incessant prayers to the Lord, the giver of all consolation, that he may receive him into his eternal kingdom for which he dedicated his entire life.
Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine; et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.