A solemn requiem mass is underway at St. Patrick’s Parish to bid farewell to Vice President the late Saulos Chilima.

Presided over by Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Mwakhwawa and Archbishop George Desmond Tambala, the ceremony is marked by reverence and communal grief.

The church is filled to capacity with mourners, while outside, hundreds more watch the proceedings on large screens.

President Lazarus Chakwera has joined the congregation to honor Chilima’s memory.

Fr. Henry Zulu, parish priest at St. Patrick’s, noted Chilima’s devout Catholicism, mentioning that he never missed attending daily morning Mass and was devoted to receiving the Eucharist.

Fr. Zulu recounted administering the sacrament to Chilima on the morning of the day he passed away.

“On the day he died, before leaving for Nkhatabay, he attended the morning Mass and I was the one who administered to him the sacrament of the Eucharistic,” said Fr Zulu.