Bishop Kalilombe no more
Bishop Emeritus Patrick Kalilombe of the Lilongwe Archdiocese died on Monday around 6pm at Zomba Central Hospital following bowel obstruction and diabetes. He was 79.
Zomba Diocese communications secretary Father Steven Likhucha said in a statement on Tuesday Bishop Kalilombe will be buried at Likuni Parish Cemetery in Lilongwe on Friday.
Likhucha said there will be mass on Wednesday at Zomba Cathedral before the body leaves for Mua Parish in Dedza Diocese.
“Then the body will leave Mua Parish tomorrow [Thursday] for the Archdiocese of Lilongwe where mass will be said at the Poor Clares Monastery at noon before taking it to Likuni Parish at 3 pm where mass will also be said,†he said.
Kalilombe studied Philosophy and Theology at Kachebere Major Seminary in Mchinji between 1949 and 1954.
In 1954, he joined the Society of Missionaries of Africa and studied Theology in Tunisia (Thibar) from 1955 to 1957.
On February 3 1958, he was ordained priest and went to Gregorian University in Italy to study scriptures until 1962.
In 1964, he became the first Malawian lecturer at Kachebere Major Seminary and in 1968, he became the first local rector at the same seminary. On June 12 1972, he was appointed Bishop of Lilongwe.
In 1973, Kalilombe wrote his first pastoral letter in the diocese entitled ‘Christ’s Church in Lilongwe-Today and Tomorrow’, calling on Christians to build a self-reliant Church through small Christian communities (Mphakati). This did not go down well with the MCP government, which interrogated him for six hours in 1976 before asking him to leave the country.
From 1977 to 1979, he pursued his PhD studies at University of California, Berkeley, and served in various positions as university lecturer and director in the United Kingdom and other Western countries.
He returned in 1996 and was from 1998 to 2008, teaching religious studies at Chancellor College (University of Malawi).
From 2008 to 2012, he was working with the Bible Society of Malawi, especially by making commentaries on some books.
