Achiever: Father Jean-Marie Didh’o is the first Francophone priest in Joburg .

Deacon Father Jean Marie Didh’o is the first francophone priest to have been ordained in the Archdiocese  of Johannesburg. He was ordained on Saturday January 23, 2010 by his Excellency Archibishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale in Christ the King Cathedral.

Father Jean – Marie Didh’o is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he studied philosophy before coming to South Africa. In 2005, he was admitted by Archbishop Buti Thlaga to the John Vianney seminary where he studied theology. He also achieved an MA degree in Antropology at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits ). In his ministerial work.. Father Jean Marie has severed in the parish St Francis of assist in Yeoville where he taught catechism to young boys and girls preparing for sacraments. There he preached in English to a cosmopolitant parish, like most of the central Jobourg parishes. He stresses the fact that unity among parishioners is real and lived on an every day basis. Almost all African nationalities worship together and make Jesus Christ “word of tolerance, unity and love a dailly reality. He currently serves at Mohlakeng, parish our lady of Africa, in the Western Rand. For Father Jean-Marie becoming a catholic priest and serving the people of God; is a calling he was been following since his childhood. Father Jean Marie Didh’o find South African a very welcoming people who know and serve God wholeheartedly. He was never treated as an out sider among them, and experience love, care and support from South Africans. His little knowledge of Isizulu and Sesotho certainly helped. This experience has convinced him  that there is one important message to be brought to South Africans and immigrants that alike: unity and togetherness, with requires an effort on both sides. Immigrant are to integrate into the host community and embrace its culture and custom. South Africans are to accept their fellow Africans and also learn valuable things from immigrants cultures and customs. Father Didh’o is convinced that  there will be no effective unity and integration as long as there is no tolerance and acceptance that people are difference. “Our differences push us to unite.

We cannot speak about unity if we were not different “.

Father Didh’o is currently writing  a book on how to overcome xenophobia, racism in the light of the Bible.

 Source

The Star