Reintroducing the Catholic Professionals Network of Zimbabwe

The natural progression of the average Zimbabwean Catholic's spiritual journey goes like this. You are baptised as an infant, then enrolled in catechism lessons as soon as you turn six (or sooner if your mom is a catechist). You receive your First Holy Communion around age ten, then continue with lessons until you're fourteen when you are confirmed. If you're lucky, you'll even have lunch with the bishop on this auspicious occasion.

After this, you could join a guild and participate in youth and parish activities, at which point you are also trying to balance university life and, eventually, a career. You gradually learn to separate your church life from everything else until one day you wake up and church - and by extension, God - is a cocurricular activity, not your main focus. At this point, you might a) take on more responsibility in your parish to fill the void, b) resign yourself to a sluggish spiritual life because that seems normal in Catholic culture or c) subconsciously - and then actively - start shopping for a better experience of God - and church - elsewhere. In this article, I want to offer hope to those who, like me, felt drawn to option a) but were overwhelmed by the thought of starting something new.

I recently attended an event hosted by the Catholic Professionals Network of Zimbabwe (CPNZ) which revived my spirit. Firstly, I was consoled by the mere existence of such a network. I've just reached the ten-year mark since I joined the workforce and my biggest frustration on this journey was the lack of guidance on navigating workspaces as a practising Catholic. My upbringing was the only reason I could hold my own in the sometimes hostile spaces I'd find myself in. But the average Catholic doesn't have a catechist for a mother, let alone a natural curiosity for knowledge.

Secondly, I was impressed by the turnout of men at the event. Usually, there's an 80-20 female-to-male distribution at church events. I attended a weekend retreat earlier in the year with about six guys out of almost thirty retreatants. For reasons I won't explore in this article, it appears men aren't drawn to participate in as many church activities as women. I'm obviously painting in the broadest strokes here, but I believe the point stands. Seeing more men actively contributing to the success of the CPNZ event assured me that we still had warriors in our midst, men of valour who were willing to be used by God to protect His church.

Among these distinguished men was CPNZ spiritual director Fr Ashton Mugozhi SJ, CPNZ national chairperson Mr Albert Dhafana and Advocate Tapiwa Muchineripi, who delivered the keynote address. In his speech, Advocate Muchineripi reminded us of the "daunting task of illuminating the path of justice" as we live up to our motto and Christ's call to be the salt of the earth. I was especially challenged to practice good stewardship. My friend's refrain lately has been "bloom where you're planted", and I believe that can only happen if I properly manage the resources I already have.

Finally, I was encouraged by the humble yet beautiful beginnings of CPNZ. In the age of social media, events sometimes buckle under the pressure to be aesthetic and glamorous. For this reason, people (including myself) are reluctant to start because they feel they don't have the resources to meet the high standards keyboard warriors demand. The CPNZ event didn't seem to concern itself with all that, resulting in a relaxed environment that allowed authentic conversation to flow. I felt my heart grow lighter as the conversation progressed because I finally had the physical representation of what I imagined an organised effort to equip Catholics for evangelisation and service in daily life would look like.

I say beginnings, but the network has actually existed in Zimbabwe since 2011, and - even better - it's part of the broader international Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs (ICMICA-Pax Romana) which was founded by some Swiss Catholic students at the end of the 19th century. Pope Benedict XV officially recognised the movement in July 1921. There are over 60 member states across the globe now, which brings a wealth of opportunities to any young professional who, like me, believes in creating impact beyond one's borders.

Praise God for these existing structures, and for allowing their revival to happen in my lifetime! May He bless CPNZ and all its affiliates and endeavours. There is hope yet, y'all.