The Standing Committee of the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa, “IMBISA”, gathered at the IMBISA house in Harare from the 22nd to the 25th November 2022. The purpose for this meeting was to be on the ground and see the developments which need to be done at IMBISA house and the offices. The President of the Standing Committee Archbishop Liborius Ndumbukuti Nashenda OMI in his opening address welcomed all the members to the first meeting of the recently elected committee then he introduced the Secretariat and the bishops who make up the Standing Committee. In attendance were nine Bishops of the Standing Committee and four members from the secretariat.
The Director of the Secretariat Fr Rafael Baciano Sapato shared with the house on the structure of the Secretariat clarifying the two Departments we have which are the Pastoral and the Social Department. This was followed by the allocation of portfolios and choosing the IMBISA delegate to SECAM. The portfolios were allocated as follows:
Pastoral Department:
- Bishop Dionisio Hisiilenapo (CEAST)
- Bishop John Tlhomola, SCP (LCBC)
Social Department:
- Bishop Antonio Sandramo (CEM)
- Bishop Raymond Mupandasekwa, CSsR (ZCBC)
Finance
- Bishop Siphiwo Vanqa, SAC (SACBC)
- Bishop Willem Christiaans, OSFS (NCBC)
Delegate to SECAM
- Bishop Willem Christiaans, OSFS (NCBC)
The Standing Committee had an opportunity to tour the IMBISA offices. The following resolutions were made
- The Standing Committee confirmed the positions of the Director of the Secretariat Fr Rafael Baciano Sapato and the Coordinator of the Social Department Fr Gilbert Chibira.
- The Standing Committee resolved that there will be a lot of engagement with the youths in the Imbisa region and agreed to have a youth day for the region.
- The Standing committee resolved to work hard to ensure that Imbisa is known throughout the region.