Needs and Priorities

The Good news: Tabora, and other dioceses in Tanzania are currently blessed by an amazing abundance of good and holy young men who feel called to the priesthood. These young men represent great hope for the future of the Church not only in Tabora, but indeed for the Universal Church and for places like the United States, Canada and Europe.

The Challenge: It is a very significant burden for the Archdiocese to meet the bill for the seminary tuition and upkeep. Even though the costs for training a priest in Tanzania are a fraction of what it would cost overseas. As the saying goes, it is a nice problem to have. But it is still a problem!

We particularly welcome those who can help us invest in the future by grants or sponsorship for seminarians.

Again, while parishes are consolidating in parts of the United States and Europe, we have the opposite challenge. We have way too few church buildings, and the ones we have are way too small to accommodate the growing Catholic population. A number of parishes and sub parishes are engaged in projects to build, expand or replace churches. In all cases, local Catholic Christians are providing the largest part of the cost themselves, frequently tithing a percentage of the annual harvest. Nevertheless, given the high costs of building materials like cement and metal roofing sheets, it may take many years for an urgently needed church building to be completely. The Archdiocese welcomes foundations, parishes, and individuals who may partner with a parish to help complete construction of a new Church. ‘The House of God I will build will be very great, for great is our God above all gods’ (2 Chronicles 2:5).

A recent initiative of the Archdiocese of Tabora, and part of the new evangelization is the local TAA BORA radio station. ‘TAA BORA’ is a clever and meaningful play on words. Breaking ‘Tabora’ into two words and adding an extra ‘a’, it now carries the extra meaning of ‘taa’ (light) and ‘bora’ (great or best). Isaiah 9:2 states ‘among the people who walked in darkness, a great light has shown. And of course Jesus tells us in John 8:12 ‘I am the light of the world’. TAA BORA thus exists to bring the great light of the gospel to the people of Tabora.

The current number of priests and, the level of education among catechists make it very challenging to reach all people, and especially those in remote and rural areas. Radio obviously has a wonderful ‘multiplier effect’. One well-prepared program, such as a reflection on the Sunday Mass readings, can literally reach thousands of Christians as they work in the fields or go about their daily activities. Most people can access radio even on the simplest telephone handsets. It is many times more efficient than sending out a person to physically travel to a place and maybe only reach 20-30 people in one settlement.

Operating TAA BORA radio does present challenges including the preparation of quality content, and most pressingly, the sheer cost of electricity to operate the radio towers and broadcast over the whole large listening area. Again we seek and welcome support and partnership to allow TAA Bora to continue to send its signal, and its light, around the Archdiocese.

As mentioned above, beginning with the Missionaries of Africa, the Archdiocese of Tabora has had a special interest, and has acquired experience in working with special need students, and especially the hearing impaired. The Tabora Deaf-Mute Institute, founded in 1963, was Tanzania’s first school for hearing impaired of school age. The school continues to be operated by the Archdiocese with cooperation from parents and families, as well as the Government of Tanzania.

In February 2023, we initiated our most recent initiative, the Archbishop Ruzoka Secondary School at Igange, Tabora. This boarding and day school for both girls and boys will mainstream graduates of our primary school for the hearing impaired, with hearing students. This approach, which incorporates current international best practice, will empower hearing impaired students to live more normal and productive lives in society. It similarly exposes hearing students to what should be a normal part of life- living and working with those who have differences or special challenges.

The Missionaries of Charity, founded by St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta, are well-known for serving those on the very margins of society. The sisters in Tabora focus especially on the destitute urban elderly, who for one reason or another, do not have children or extended families to help look after them. The Sisters provide a home meals, health care, a place to bathe and other very basic support to these very vulnerable and often overlooked elders. They also operate an orphanage for orphaned and abandoned children.

The Archdiocese of Tabora welcomes partnership, support and assistance in serving these and other vulnerable populations.