Malasa consecration

President Bingu wa Mutharika on Sunday called on all Malawians to care and love one another for peace in the country to continue prevailing.  

The president said this at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral Ground in Mangochi at the consecration of the Very Reverend Brighton Vitta Malasa  as Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire.  

"Let us extend our love and care to our friends and even our enemies. We should love and care for the elderly, the disabled and all those who have fallen from the grace of God," he said. 

Dr. Mutharika said God loves Malawi saying he provides the country with natural resources like rains and therefore urged Christians to live  exemplary lives through the extension of God's love as a way of promoting togetherness.  

The President also thanked all denominations in the country for their peaceful co-existence as demonstrated by the dignitaries present at the consecration.  

"Today I have witnessed that we have people from different churches celebrating this mass. This has touched me and it is a clear indication that Christians in Malawi are united. As the church, you all have one duty and that is to serve the Lord and look after His flock," he said. 

The President again thanked the clergy in the country for their prayers of peace towards the general elections that took place on 19 May this year .  

"Your prayers helped in because peace prevailed after the elections," he said.  

Mutharika then congratulated the Bishop Malasa saying that God should guide him in his work in serving the church and helping government.  

Apart from presenting an upright fridge as a gift to the new bishop, the president also pledged to give the bishop and his diocese a car and money amounting to MK 2 million.  

Speaking earlier, Dean of the Province of Central Africa the Right Rev. Albert Chama asked the new bishop to look after all the people in the diocese irrespective of their social and economic status.  

Rev. Chama, who led the consecration ceremony, also thanked President Bingu wa Mutharika for gracing the occasion.  

Bishop Malasa becomes the second bishop of the Upper Shire which became a diocese after receiving autonomy from the Diocese of Southern Malawi in 1998.  

He succeeds Archbishop Bernard Amos Malango who retired in December 2007.  

The diocese of the upper Shire of the Anglican has 24 parishes and covers the political districts of the Eastern Region and parts of Mwanza and Phalombe.  

Mana