ALMA
link
News
Logo

Death of Fr. Julião Mutemba

27 May 2013

Juliao Mutemba
Fr. Julião Mutemba

Lebombo holds the funeral of Fr Julião Mutemba today.

Julião felt unwell during mass at a clergy retreat at Maciene Cathedral on Tuesday (21 May) and although taken immediately to hospital his life could not be saved. It appears that he had a completely unexpected heart attack.

Julião was known to many of us from his visit to his twin parish in 2002, through his hospitality to visitors to Maputo, and to many more of us through his emails, parish website, facebook and skype capacity. He will be hugely missed. Julião was priest at St Barnabas Bagamoyo (linked with St John’s Greenhill Harrow) and several satellite churches, including Santa Monica (linked with St Paul’s Bow Common), St Augustine Magoanine, St Michael and All Angels in Marracuene, St Anne Mapandane, and St. Mary Magdalene (Maguluine). This list may not be exhaustive! In addition Julião worked at the Christian Council of Mozambique, was on the board of Hope Africa and worked tirelessly for the people at the Hulene rubbish dump, particularly on the issue of birth registration.  His passion was urban transformation and we have included some of his writing below.

Please will you remember Julião’s family especially his wife Josephine (who is our ALMA link officer in Lebombo), their teenage son Tintswalo and daughter Mkateko in your prayers, along with the congregations he served, Bishop Dinis and the Lebombo clergy, and Julião’s friends in Sweden, America and the UK.

Rest eternal grant to him, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him

On Wednesday the ALMA Reps meeting remembered both Fr Julião and Fr Nunes, and held their families in prayer.

There are tributes to Fr Julião on the Hope Africa web site.

Last November, Fr Julião sent us a report on the Rubbish Dump Ministry of Maputo.

We have received a message from Julião’s family, and pictures from the funeral:

From Tintswalo Josephine Mutemba, Tintswalo Mutemba and Mkateko Mutemba

Romans 8:26 says: "And in the same way the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep". So we, wife and children of Father Julião Mutemba thank you and everyone for the support, whether material or spiritual, provided when missed the physical presence of our father. We recognize that your presence and help was unconditional, because we would not have achieved alone to manage this sad and difficult mission.

We are hopeful that God will reward all your efforts, because he said in Proverbs 11:24 that: "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth ..."

For all, our thanks!

Funeral
Funeral
Juliao and Josephine Mutemba
Fr Mutemba with his wife Josephine in December 2012
Juliao Mutemba and family
Fr Mutemba with his wife Josephine and son Tintswalo and daughter Mkateko
Juliao Mutemba at rubbish dump
Fr Mutemba at Hulene rubbish dump in 2007
Juliao Mutemba and children
Fr Mutemba with his children

Click on the image for an enlarged picture

Two pieces of Fr Julião Mutemba’s writings:

The church’s role in social development and urban transformation

The church has so long been involved in social development programs, as a way of caring for the human life and life of everything around. In social development, we should seek to make use of the existing resources (church members, church finances, transport and buildings) for raising awareness among people, about the need for working together in development of our society, and slowly getting a new liberation from hunger, illiteracy, homelessness, or any sort of poverty. “Development is an aspect of this self-recovery and self-awareness as an agent within the world, capable of making a difference that will serve human dignity”. A difference is made when I start making steps to respond to a challenge around me, by means of widening the knowledge about the issue which is a problem to be solved, engaging myself and motivating others to be part of the action that will reach the affected people and places.

My interest in social development

My interest in social development is urban transformation, addressing the challenges of the urban poor, by doing so, joining to those who are “seeking the welfare of the city…” (Jeremiah 29:7). The city where I am living, there are challenges of homelessness, street children, people living on the dump, human trafficking, sequesters, child abuse, unemployment, and the church need to participate as God’s agent for transformation, so to have a city as a home for the human being to live.

visit London Diocese website