The great cultural richness of Malawi is countered by the scarcity of means, especially in the diocese of Karonga, a young and small diocese in need of many priests. This is Paul's dream: to be well trained in Pamplona in order to return and serve effectively the diocesan church of his country.
This young African, 23 years old, resides in the Bidasoa international seminar and is studying theology at the University of Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarre. The bishop of the diocese of Karonga, in the north of Malawi, has sent him to Pamplona to receive a solid and integral formation so that, when he returns, he can put all the preparation he has acquired to work in the Church in his country.
"The need of my diocese is to have more priests. There are very few of us and it is a young, new and small diocese, founded in 2010," Paul explains. For this reason, he is very excited about the complete preparation he is receiving in Pamplona.
Not only does your diocese need well-trained priests, but it also needs more missionaries to help the few who are not well trained. diocesan priestsThe diocese has only 19 diocesan priests and 28 seminarians.
In his diocese there is also a shortage of health and education professionals. Paul explains, "We certainly need the help of these health facilities to improve the living conditions of Christians, but also of the entire population of the diocese. But we are grateful that the diocese has done all it can to help with new schools and some health centers, even though the demand is still very high."
Had it not been for the help of the CARF Foundation and benefactors, Paul would not have had the opportunity to receive a complete formation as a priest that will do so much good for his people.
Certainly, your diocese has scarce economic means, but a great wealth in terms of coexistence.
"Catholics in Malawi live in peace, celebrate their faith joyfully and demonstrate it culturally. Malawi is a very peaceful country, we live in harmony and cooperation with other Christians, Muslims and African traditions without killing each other. Religious expression is not a problem," he says happily.
In this African country, Catholics have a higher percentage (17.2 %) than other Christian denominations; it should be remembered that there are many other groups of Christian confessions, because Great Britain colonized the country and the first Christians who evangelized were Protestants from England and Scotland. A few years later, the Catholic White Fathers from France went as missionaries, when Protestantism had already spread in the country.
The example of Catholic priests and missionaries in Malawi had a positive influence on Paul, as well as the strength of his environment. He comes from a large family of seven siblings with strong Catholic roots: four boys and three girls. Paul is the sixth.
The departure of his mother to Heaven in 2014, when he was only 13 years old, caused him great sorrow. But this grief turned into hope and faith thanks to the support of her family and religious, an example that was decisive in helping her to move forward and shape her vocation.
He began to discern his vocation to the priesthood as a child, when he participated in the activities that took place in his school, in the minor seminary. But he did not know if he could carry out such a mission.
"As a child I thought I could live like them, like the priests who took care of me and educated me. And I told the Lord: let me try, I'm going to give everything so that one day I can be a priest," he says.
Finally, he entered the major seminary at the age of 19. In this vocational journey that he has undertaken, he hopes to alleviate the need of his diocese for well-trained priests, especially to reach out to the youth.
"Young people are very influential in spreading the Gospel through the media, but also in the annual youth meetings and conferences that are organized to keep the faith and spread it; they gather in large numbers, which is very promising," Paul Benson proudly expresses.
For him, young priests are able to understand what young people need by developing new approaches to explaining Catholic doctrine, giving arguments and thus being able to live and witness to the Catholic faith in Malawi.
Africa has great challenges, but so does Europe, because Europeans must learn great virtues from African Catholics: "audacity and resilience to resist and keep the faith, the tradition itself; to proclaim the truth and help this broken generation, where many things are happening contrary to our Christian customs, among them, many sexual immoralities," Paul laments.
This is one of the reasons why he believes that the formation of a priest is paramount: "We must help everyone, those who believe and those who don't, those of one class and those of another. That is why we need priests who are well trained".
With enthusiasm and joy he thanks the CARF Foundation for all it does for his academic studies. "Our formation is academic, spiritual and pastoral, and I am very happy for your help."
Marta Santín, journalist specializing in religion.
