Daswa is SA's 'own Teresa'
Some of Catholic martyr Tshimangadzo Daswa's killers might have been among the 25,000 people who descended on Limpopo's Tshitanini valley for his beatification Mass yesterday. On February 2 1990 a mob of villagers murdered him when he refused to support their superstitions.Yesterday, the Catholic church confirmed Daswa as a "venerable servant of God".Pope Francis has declared February 1 the feast day of Blessed Daswa. A shrine will be built in the area at which he may be venerated.Evangelical Lutheran Church of SA pastor Tshenuwani Farisani said the event was a "rueful" one because "I am sure his killers, or their descendants, are here".Daswa - a lay preacher, teacher and father - was clubbed to death and had boiling water poured into his ears and nostrils after he refused to pay a sangoma to ferret out "a witch causing lightning".His final words were: "God, into Your hands, receive my spirit."Father Joseph Wilson, of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, said Daswa "is well on his way to becoming a saint"."He now has the same status as Mother Teresa."..
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