July - August 2005

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

June Consulta
General Notes

Six-year Plans
The General Council (GC) examined the drafts of the six-year plans already received. It thanks the provinces and delegations for their work. The plans denote commitment, attention and fidelity to the Chapter Acts.
Furthermore, the plans assist the GC in understanding the situations and activities of the prov-inces/delegations; they are also an opportunity and an instrument of communion between the prov-ince/delegation, the continent and the General Administration.
In the Particular Notes, the General Assistants will provide detailed remarks to the provincials and delegates. A Number of provinces are completing their work. The GC hopes to receive and study the six-year plans not yet received.

Ratio Missionis
The GC notes with satisfaction the commitment shown in the process of reflection carried out and organised in many provinces/delegations and encourages the continuation of the workshops to reassess, evaluate and increasingly qualify our missionary presence and action.

Commission for the “Code of Conduct”
Fr. David Kinnear Glenday (A), moderator, Fr. John Converset (RSA), Fr. Danilo Cimitan (C) and Bro. Gui-llermo Casas Rosell (C) have been appointed members of the Commission which has as its purpose the final edition of the text of the “Code of Conduct.”
The following members of the continental councils of provincials and delegates have been chosen as consul-tors of this commission: Fr. Anton Schneider (DSP) for Europe, Fr. Luigi Codianni (BNE) for America and Asia, Fr. Giuseppe Filippi (U) for English-speaking Africa and Fr. Manuel João Pereira Correia (T) for Francophone Africa. These may propose other confreres from their continents to act as consultors.

Core-Committee for the Ratio Missionis
Fr. Simon Mwaura Mbuthia has been nominated member of the core-committee to replace Fr. Jeremias dos Santos Martins.
The GC wishes to thank Fr. Jeremias for his work and offers him their best wishes in his new service as for-mator of the Pietermaritzburg scholasticate.

Committee for the revision of the Formation structure
The GC is consulting various confreres in order to form a committee for this purpose. It will also consult the formators who are due to meet in July at Palencia, Spain.

Novitiate in Eritrea
Given the political situation in Eritrea and the fact that it is impossible for our candidates to leave that country, the GC has decided to start a temporary novitiate for the delegation of Eritrea at Decameré. The novitiate is dedicated to St. Daniel Comboni and will be officially opened on 8 October 2005.

Appointments

Fr. Tesfaghiorghis Hailè Berhane has been appointed superior and novice master of the novitiate of De-cameré (ER) from 1 September 2005.

Fr. Umberto Pescantini has been appointed Secretary General for Mission promotion as from 1 Oc-tober 2005. The GC wishes to thank the outgoing Secretary, Fr. Jaime Calvera Pi, for the work he carried out in recent years and wishes him well in his future appointment.

Renovation work at the General Curia House
The GC has approved the plan to renovate the General Curia House to bring it into line with the legal re-quirements. It has also approved the plan to improve the first and fourth floor rooms.
The work will last several months. In order to assist confreres passing through, we shall keep you up to date regarding the progress of the work.

The Comboni Year of Ongoing Formation (CYOF) in South Africa
The GC has given the go-ahead for the alterations to the Lynwood Ridge house in Pretoria and to make it the permanent location of the CYOF in English.
Since the house is not yet ready, the CYOF for 2005-2006 will again be held in Mexico. This has obliged the GC to review the group of participants according to the languages they know.

Renewal Course in Rome
The 2005 Renewal Course was happily concluded with the pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The appointment of Fr. Giuseppe Franzelli as the bishop of Lira, Uganda, has again created an emergency for the GC. In order to safeguard continuity for 2006, the Course has been entrusted to Fr. Girolamo Miante, general secretary for Vocation Promotion and Formation, and to Fr. Danilo Cimitan, coordinator of the commit-tee for ongoing formation.
Those confreres interested in taking part in the 2006 course (January to May) are reminded that bookings should be made before the end of September 2005.
Letters and e-mails are to be addressed to Fr. Miante at the General Curia (formamccj@comboni.org).

Spiritual Retreat
The members of the GC and other members of the General Administration will take part in the annual retreat from 18 to 24 September 2005. A remembrance in prayer will be appreciated.

Radio Sudan Project
The first steps towards the setting up of a radio station for South Sudan are being taken. The project was conceived as a significant one for the canonisation of St. Daniel Comboni, in communion with the bishops of Southern Sudan and the Comboni Missionary Sisters. We trust the project may be soon completed.

Intercapitular Assembly 2006
Provincials and delegates are reminded to keep the month of September 2006 free for the Intercapitular As-sembly which will be held in Mexico City from 3 to 24 September 2006. The full programme will be sent later.

VIVAT
The GC has decided that our Institute will take part, as an associate member, for two years in the VIVAT pro-ject (ONLUS of the Divine Word Missionaries). An evaluation will then be made of the usefulness of our partici-pation in this UN lobbying organisation.


Plans of the GC

Fr. Teresino Serra
10-15 July: Palencia, Spain, for the general assembly of formators; 27 July – 10 August: retreat for the con-freres in Ecuador; 25 August – 8 September: visits the communities of Taipei and Macau of the Asia Delega-tion; 17-24 September takes part in retreat in Pesaro (I); 26-27 September attends a symposium in Rome or-ganised by the Congregation for Institutes of Religious Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; first two weeks of November: preaches retreat for the confreres of the LP; 15 December directs retreat for the confreres of Uganda and visits the province.

Fr. Fabio Carlo Baldan
3-12 July: brief visit to Uganda; 16-21 July: visits Poland; 25 August – 16 September: visits Malawi-Zambia; 20 November – 15 December: visits Uganda.

Fr. Odelir José Magri
10-31 July: attends the general assembly of formators in Palencia, Spain; 12-14 September: attends the workshop on the Ratio Missionis for the communities of the Curia; 17-24 September: participates in the GC re-treat in Pesaro; 4 November – 5 December: directs retreat for the confreres of Chad and visits the province.

Fr. Tesfamariam Ghebrecristos Woldeghebriel
10-30 July: visits some communities of the Italian province; 23 August – 14 September: GC retreat at Pesaro; second half of November: visits communities of Spain (to be confirmed); early December: visits LP.

Bro. Romero Arias Hernán
10-31 July: attends the general assembly of formators in Palencia, Spain; 12-28 August: attends meeting of provincial/delegation treasurers in Bogotá (CO) and visits the C.I.F.; 28 August – 12 September: travels to Ec-uador to meet especially the Brothers; 17-24 September: GC retreat at Pesaro (I).

Next Consulta: starts on 3 October 2005.

General Secretariats
Annuario Comboniano 2005
The despatch of the Annuario Comboniano, dated 1 April 2005, to provincials and delegates and some communi-ties, either by post or through the offices of confreres passing through Rome, began on 20 June 2005.
Provincials and delegates must make sure that all confreres, including those with temporary vows, receive a copy.
Anyone who has not already received it by the end of July should contact the general secretary. The same holds if you need extra copies, indicating clearly the number of copies and the mode of despatch. As already stated previously, those confreres passing through Rome, or in Rome while for visits or to attend the various meetings, could deliver the Annuario. They are requested to contact the general secretariat of the Curia.
Each confrere is warmly invited to check the 2005 Annuario, especially regarding his personal details. Any cor-rections, updates or suggestions aimed at improving it should be sent as soon as possible to the general secre-tary: this is very important since the electronic version is updated daily. It is hoped that an updated version of the Annuario Comboniano will become available, either via the internet or on CD, before the end of July, 2005.

New issue of “Archivio Comboniano”
Number 83 of “Archivio Comboniano” has recently been sent to all subscribers. It proceeds with the publication of the Writings of Comboni.
Furthermore, the Studi e Ricerche section includes the pastoral letter of Cardinale Gabriel Zubeir Wako on the occasion of the closure of the year dedicated to St. Daniel Comboni and a study by Fr. Francesco Pierli and Sr. Maria Teresa Ratti on the challenge of the regeneration of ministries as specific to the Comboni Family at the begin-ning of the Third Millennium and starting from a re-reading of the Plan of Comboni.
The section Memoria Comboniana carries an article by the Comboni Missionary Sisters which helps to under-stand the missionary journey marked out by their XVIII General Chapter. Lastly, the Archivio also includes a review by Fr. Pietro Ravasio of Fr. Renato Kizito Sesana’s book: “Io sono un Nuba”.

Workshop for animators of Francophone Africa
The provinces of Francophone Africa have begun the preparation of the Ratio Missionis by means of a course of formation for the provincial animators who will assist the communities of Central Africa, Congo, Togo-Ghana-Benin and Chad to become involved in this process of renewal of the Institute and of personal conver-sion for the mission of the Comboni Missionaries at the beginning of the Third Millennium. The workshop was carried out at the Kinshasa provincial house from 18-25 May, of this year.
In an atmosphere of great commitment and co-responsibility Fr. Norbert Rangu Mogoro (T), Fr. Justin Dossou-Yovo (T), Fr. Giovanni Zaffanelli (CA), Fr. Gianpaolo Pezzi Trebeschi (CN), Fr. Albert Ndula Motoya (CN), Fr. Tul-lio Donati (CN), Fr. Jesús Ruiz Molina (TC) and Fr. David Arturo Esquivel Hernández (TC), directed by Fr. Enri-que Javier Rosich Vargas and Fr. Fernando Zolli (members of the sub-committee), went through the programme required in order to clarify both the manner of being and of living of the Comboni Missionaries. The dynamics of the workshop helped all the participants to start from their own personally lived experience and to gradually begin to listen to each other. The analysis of the reality and the challenges that the mission must face today provided the possibility of understanding some of the requirements for a more authentic and ever more specific mission in a globalised world.
The workshop demonstrated that the preparation of the Ratio is, first of all, an exercise in ongoing formation, which must stimulate every Comboni Missionary to adopt an exodus attitude in order to renew himself and be converted more and more towards the mission among the poorest and most abandoned. All the participants expressed their appreciation of the dynamics of the workshop and the prospects held out by it.
The meeting was concluded with a research session to find out the most suitable methodologies in order to involve all the confreres in the respective provinces. The participants agreed to meet again at Bangui in May 2006 in order to examine the progress made and to prepare the next steps towards the Ratio Missionis.

Initiatives for the preparation of the Ratio Missionis
From 20 to 24 June 2005, the sub-committee for the preparation of the Ratio Missionis organised a planning meet-ing at the provincial house of Lisbon. The following were present: Fr. Anton Schneider, Fr. Giacomo Palagi, Fr. Enri-que Javier Rosich Vargas, Fr. Danilo Cimitan, Fr. Fernando Zolli, Bro. Hans Eigner and Bro. Joel Cruz Reyes, in-vited to participate.
In an atmosphere of great commitment and serenity, having been fraternally welcomed by the Lisbon community which spared no effort to make the work run smoothly and reach its objectives, the committee completed the prepa-ration of the material to be periodically inserted in Familia Comboniana; it also prepared the outline of a course of spiritual exercises to be suggested in conjunction with the workshop.
Much of the time was dedicated to the revision of the outline of the workshop for the formation of the provincial animators, in view of the meetings or assemblies which will soon take place: Nairobi, 25-29 July 2005, for the anima-tors of the provinces of English-speaking Africa and Mozambique; Spain, August 2005, for the provincial assembly; Rome, 12-14 September 2005, for the communities of the Curia; Mexico City, 3-7 October 2005, for the provinces of NAP, Mexico and Centramerica; Quito, 10-14 October 2005, for the provinces of Ecuador, Peru and Colombia; Lomé, 10-14 October 2005, for Togo-Ghana-Benin; Fortaleza, 24-29 October 2005, for Brazil do Sul and Brazil Nord Est.
The committee also prepared some concrete proposals to involve the formators of the scholasticates/CIF and novitiates due to meet at Palencia in July 2005; the Continental Assemblies of Mission promotion and the meet-ings planned for the economic sector. The committee adopted a small aid, prepared by Bro. Joel Cruz, to in-volve the younger confreres, especially those from the Americas, Asia and Africa. It prepared some proposals for the continental groups for theological reflection and studied ways of involving elderly and sick confreres.
Lastly, the committee proposed an agenda for the wortk to be done up to the Intercapitular Assembly.

Meeting of French-speaking bursars
From 25 to 28 April 2005 the provincial bursars of French-speaking Africa have met in the Comboni House of Issy-les-Moulineaux (Paris) for the continental assembly, in which they shared information and opinions on cur-rent issues of the Institute: Ratio Missionis, Inalienable Assets (Patrimonio Stabile) and pointers of the 2003 General Chapter concerning finances. In their meeting they have also discussed the topics proposed by the provincials of the French-speaking areas, in particular the situation and suggestions about the implementation of the Provincial Common Fund, already practised in Congo, Central Africa and Chad.

First Professions
Sc. Tudaj Stefan (PO) Warszawa (PL) 30-05-2005
Sc. Bwanali Moses Francis (MZ) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Sc. Fesahaye Shekan (ER) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Sc. Gomanjira Harold Felix (MZ) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Sc. João Dinis João (MO) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Sc. Kidane Wodajo Korabza (ET) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Sc. Mateus Jacob Albino (MO) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Sc. Mkhari Anthony Abedenego (RSA) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Sc. Nkosi Bamncedile Sydwell (RSA) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Sc. Tesfaye Erbelo Anulo (ET) Lusaka (Z) 01-05-2005
Bro. Chacón Huamán César (PE) Huánuco (PE) 07-05-2005
Sc. Ramírez Torres Miguel Oswaldo (PE) Huánuco (PE) 07-05-2005
Sc. Andruga Phillip Kenyi (SS) Moyo (UG) 08-05-2005
Sc. Mawadri Alfred (U) Moyo (UG) 08-05-2005
Sc. Kangogo Collins John Kipkemoi (KE) Ongata Rongai (KE) 08-05-2005
Sc. Nyakundi Isaiah Sangwera (KE) Ongata Rongai (KE) 08-05-2005
Sc. Agbeti Kokou Daniel (T) Lomé (TG) 14-05-2005
Sc. Amlon Ketekle Attiogbe Koffivi (Jaques) (T) Lomé (TG) 14-05-2005
Sc. Koudjrako Kodjovi (Frédéric de Ma Joie) (T) Lomé (TG) 14-05-2005
Sc. Ngomnan Simon (TC) Lomé (TG) 14-05-2005
Sc. Yadjimadji Ondongar Claude (TC) Lomé (TG) 14-05-2005
Sc. Zadji Sègnandè Eric (T) Lomé (TG) 14-05-2005
Sc. Espinoza Angulo Isaias Moreti (EC) Quito (EC) 14-05-2005
Sc. Pozo Navarrete Oscar Rolando (EC) Quito (EC) 14-05-2005
Sc. Carmona Miranda José Jacovo (M) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Castro Espinoza Jesús Guadalupe (M) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Catalán Carrillo Jesús (M) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Ledesma Ibarra Mario Manuel (M) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. López Castañeda Ángel César (M) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Mora Masís Adrián José (DCA) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Obando Jiménez Michael (DCA) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Perales Argüello Oscar Germán (M) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Raya Sánchez Arturo (M) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Rentería Amparán Aarón (M) Sahuayo (MEX) 14-05-2005
Sc. Baccin Lorenzo (I) Venegono Superiore (I) 14-05-2005
Sc. Ivardi Ganapini Filippo (I) Venegono Superiore (I) 14-05-2005
Sc. Opiola Paweł Roman (PO) Venegono Superiore (I) 14-05-2005
Sc. Szpara Adam Witold (PO) Venegono Superiore (I) 14-05-2005
Sc. Tassinari Stefano (I) Venegono Superiore (I) 14-05-2005
Sc. Bachulu Diangolo Olivier (CN) Kinshasa (RDC) 15-05-2005
Sc. Kasereka Fazila Jean-M. Vianney (CN) Kinshasa (RDC) 15-05-2005
Sc. Mbo Mokuba Didier (CN) Kinshasa (RDC) 15-05-2005
Sc. Missay Soku Jérôme Nerio (CN) Kinshasa (RDC) 15-05-2005
Bro.Mwamba Kabaya Jean Marie (CN) Kinshasa (RDC) 15-05-2005
Sc. Sangou Gildas D'Aquin (CA) Kinshasa (RDC) 15-05-2005
Sc. Alamares Juan Pacifico (A) Quezon City (RP) 22-05-2005
Sc. Schmidt Gregor Bog-Dong (DSP) Kreuzberg (D) 16-06-2005

Perpetual Professsions
Bro. Castro Mario Jason Torregossa (A) Kampala (UG) 15-05-2005
Bro. Lukwago Richard Matiya (U) Kampala (UG) 15-05-2005
Bro. Lamana Cónsola Alberto (E) Zaragoza (E) 21-05-2005
Bro. Okello Lawrence (U) Ngeta (UG) 22-05-2005
Fr. Burgers Jude Eugene (RSA) Lusaka (Z) 03-06-2005

Holy Redeemer Guild
July 01 – 07 LP 08 – 15 CO 16 – 31 MZ
August 01 – 15 M 16 – 31 MO
September 01 – 15 NAP 16 – 30 PE


Prayer intentions
July – That St. Daniel Comboni may grant us the grace to live as ‘Cenacles of Apostles’, sharing deeply in the experience of God, strengthening our ties of fraternity and giving witness to the gospel of charity. Let us pray.

August – That, faced with a society driven to produce and consume, we may renew our option for the poor, educating ourselves towards sobriety and simplicity of life as a concrete expression of our following the way of the Lord. Let us pray.

September – That St. Daniel Comboni may grant courage and perseverance to all the Members of the Comboni Family who are proclaiming the Gospel in areas under the influence of Islam and in situations of par-ticular difficulty, violence and war. Let us pray.

ASIA

The family grows
The life of the Delegation has recently received new energy from several happy events, which underline the vitality of the Comboni charism in this part of the world. On Pentecost Sunday we were united with our Brother Mario Jason Castro Torregossa as he pronounced his Perpetual Vows at Mbuya (Kampala, Uganda): Mario is now at work in the Catholic Printing Press in Gulu.
Trinity Sunday saw the First Vows of our novice Juan Pacifico Alamares, who is now preparing to begin his studies in the Nairobi Theologate. On June 23 the five new postulants (four for priesthood, one for brotherhood) began their formative journey with a Eucharistic celebration by the delegate superior in Daniel Comboni Semi-nary.
Preparations are also now well in hand for the priestly ordination of Deacon Nolasco Robiso Jovilla, recently returned from Elstree and assigned to Uganda.

Spreading the word
The “World Mission” magazine – now in its seventeenth year – continues to be a key element in the work of mission promotion, which is one of the essential characteristics of the Delegation. Despite various difficulties and thanks to the hard work of the confreres involved, the magazine continues to appear eleven times a year and to improve in the quality of its content and presentation. Vital for the promotion of the magazine are the regular Sunday visits to parishes throughout Metro Manila, in which a group of lay volunteers plays an impor-tant and encouraging role. Even though finding ways to ensure that subscribers renew their annual subscription remains a challenge, the overall number of individuals subscribing to “World Mission” has practically doubled in the last two years, and the coming year will see a renewed effort to make inroads into the many private Catholic schools. In the Philippines, an archipelago formed by 7,100 islands with all the attendant difficulties in transpor-tation, the magazine offers an important tool both for mission animation and vocation promotion.

Cardinal Sin and the Comboni Missionaries
Last 21 June Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila died, after a prolonged illness. For a whole week the Filipino Church and nation mourned their outstanding leader, a shepherd with great love for the people and a leader committed to the ideals of freedom and justice, and to the greater good of the nation.
The Comboni Missionaries came to the Philippines thanks to the personal initiative of Cardinal Sin. He invited them to Manila and endorsed their project of missionary awareness in the Philippines. It was the golden time of the Cardinal’s involvement with the people’s power revolution that brought Cory Aquino to the Presidency, a time of much hope for social transformation. But the Cardinal, rooted as he was with the Filipino people and dreams, never lost sight of the universal Church. Though in need of parish priests for new parishes in the southern part of the archdiocese, at that time under intensive social development and population growth, he did not impose on the Comboni Missionaries the duty to take up a parish. He was keen to have them devoted to a missionary awareness and formation program, so that the Filipino Church could still go further in its commit-ment to bring the gospel to other peoples in Asia. The Cardinal was proud and supportive of this historic role of the Filipino Church. He had just gone to China “to open doors” as he said in an interview published in the maiden issue of World Mission Magazine (March 1989): “I started to talk, to open doors, to establish the rela-tionships… now it is for others to continue.” He encouraged the launching of the World Mission magazine as an instrument of missionary awareness in the Philippines and beyond in Asia. Whenever he would meet one of us he would ask: “How is World Mission Magazine doing?”

CENTRAFRIQUE

60th anniversary of ordination
Last 26 May, in the Maison Comboni at Bangui, Fr. Felice Pezzin celebrated his sixtieth anniversary of ordination. In fact he was ordained priest on 26 May 1945, at the missionary seminary at Crema in Italy. The solemn celebra-tion, which took place in the chapel dedicated to St. Daniel Comboni, was attended by the Apostolic Nunzio Mgr. Jo-seph Chennoth, and Mgr. Rino Perin, Bishop of M’Baïki, as well as the Comboni Missionary confreres. The Mass was followed by a fraternal agape attended by around forty people. Our very best wishes to Fr. Felice Pezzin!

ETHIOPIA

Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse president of the CMRS
Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse has recently been elected president of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors of Ethiopia (CMRS).
Fr. Tesfaye is a Comboni Missionary. Born on 22 September 1969 in Harar (Ethiopia), he was ordained priest in 1995. After his ordination he went to Egypt to study Arabic. In 1997 he was assigned to the Sudan and worked in Khartoum for three years. For the academic year 2000-2001 he was in Rome to study at PISAI (Pon-tifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies) to complete his licence in Islamic Studies, after which he was as-signed to Ethiopia. On 1 January 2005, he was elected provincial superior, the first Ethiopian confrere to be elected to this post. And now he has been elected to be the president of the CMRS.
On behalf of all the members of the Comboni Family, we congratulate him and wish him all the best in his new responsibility.

Provincial assembly
The Comboni Missionaries in Ethiopia have held their annual provincial assembly in Awasa from 17 to 19 of May. Fr. Anton Schneider, at the Invitation Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse, came to animate the confreres on the Ratio Missionis. Besides his valid contribution in this field, Fr. Anton had the chance to speak to us about the present day situation of the DSP, one of the oldest provinces of the Institute. Fr. Tesfaye took the advantage to thank the DSP for the collaboration and help given to foster projects of evangelisation and human promotion in Ethio-pia. Mgr. Lorenzo Ceresoli also addressed the assembly by presenting the present situation of the Vicariate of Awasa.
In our moments of social entertainment we celebrated in a special way the 40-year anniversary of ordination of Fr. Caludio Altieri (26 June 1965). We also thanked Fr. Giuseppe Cavallini for his many years of service as pastoral coordinator and director of St. Paul Catechetical Center, in the Vicariate of Awasa. He is now due for a sabbatical year and we wish him all the best. The diocesan synod of the Vicariate of Awasa is very much in debt with Fr. Cavallini and we want to tell him maganu hohe - may God reward you with his blessings.

Initiatives of negotiation and reconciliation in Ethiopia
We thank God that Addis Ababa and Ethiopia at large is quiet at the moment, after the days of violence, ten-sion, killings, strikes and arrests, all related to the national elections of 15 May and the results that were an-nounced. Where do we go from here in our beloved country? Many people are really sad about what hap-pened. Even if it is not something new in our country, all the same, even the death of one person must be avoided. Ethiopians of every class and walk of life are all losers.
There are many who understand this and are pushing for reconciliation and negotiation. Religious leaders like the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church, the president of Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Su-preme Council, the Vicar General of the Catholic Archbishop of Addis Ababa, the president of Ethiopian Evan-gelical Mekane Yesus Church have taken initiatives. They have called upon concerned bodies to work for rec-onciliation, peace and justice.
Many other concerned Ethiopians of great influence, like doctors, professors, investors, former ambassadors, former ministers etc., have formed a committee to work for reconciliation and dialogue among the various politi-cal groups.
The representatives of the European Union based in Addis Ababa have organised and urged that the three major political parties sign a joint declaration of agreement to resolve the problems related to the election proc-ess and the results of the national elections. We hope and pray that these and other initiatives will be success-ful. We need to contribute with our prayers and proclaim the Gospel’s invitation to work for peace, brotherhood, dialogue and common effort against poverty and injustice.

ITALIA

THE COMMUNICATOR - WEEK OF AM-EV Formation
The theme of the course of formation promoted by the Secretariat of Mission promotion and Evangelisation at Pesaro, 18-21 April, was “Mass media and techniques of Mission Promotion”.
Twenty Comboni Missionaries, two Sisters and four lay people attended the course, which turned out to be very useful as well as dynamic and interesting. The course - marked by the election of Pope Benedict XVI - was directed by Fr. Tone Presern, of the Salesian University of Roma who succeeded in making us enter the world of communi-cations, without being afraid of those phantoms of that world reserved, apparently, to experts.
To communicate is to transmit something to someone or even someone and, most of all, together. This is why the communicator is not the expression of a role, a title or a function but a witness of the Kingdom inasmuch as he com-municates passion for life; he is a diviner since, from above, he discovers the seeds of the Word hidden in the depths of life; he is a teacher because he makes us see and hear what is important for our existence; he is an artist because he hears and discovers what others neither see nor hear; he is a midwife because he helps us and accom-panies us in being ourselves; he is a prophet not only because he condemns injustice but also proposes paths of human journeys. The communicator is a person on a journey with Jesus who discovers his greatness hidden in the folds of the limits and weaknesses which accompany us.

Ferrari and Nigrizia
The editorial “Ferrari, flat tyres” and the articles on the Japanese-American Firestown/Bridgestone multina-tional (Liberia/In the Firestone plantation – “Tyres with chains”) published in the June edition of Nigrizia have unleashed violent reactions both by Ferrari and the American multinational.
Ferrari has declared, through its press officer, that “the products used by Ferrari are checked” and that “the Bridgestone/Firestone multinational has guaranteed Ferrari that the products meet ethical standards”.
For his part, the president of Firestone immediately phoned Nigrizia from his office in the USA. For two and a half hours he persistently repeated that “the multinational is doing important work for the development of Libe-ria” and that “the article published in Nigrizia is creating serious problems for our future investments in that Afri-can country”. Twice the president of Firestone asked to be told the identity of the editorial group “behind the magazine”. He obviously wanted to know who the “owner” of Nigrizia is.
Meanwhile, various gestures of solidarity and support for Nigrizia were sent from Liberia, especially by the national committee “Justice and Peace” and many other movements of the civil society committed to promoting human rights and the integrity of creation. The association known as “Green Lawyers”, based in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, ha decided to prosecute the Firestone company.
The Nigrizia website counted more than 35000 hits between 2 and 6 June. When Beppe Grillo “launched” the item on his website (Beppe Grillo’s Blog – http://www.beppegrillo.it/) with the news of 13 June 2005 “The pitstop of slav-ery”, the written messages amounted to 635 in less than 48 hours! One visitor to www.nigrizia.it wrote: “This is the first time I ever thought of ethical problems looking at my car tyres”.

NAP

The Peace Corner
After more than three years in operation, the Peace Corner, a centre for at risk youth in Chicago's toughest neighbourhood, keeps growing. More than 60 young people attend the centre every day. They come for many reasons: for a game or pool or table tennis, to better their education in our GED program, to learn to use a computer or to enrol in our job-training program. Many come just to stay away from the violence of the ghetto or to find somebody willing to listen to them. All of them have a chickened past, but when given the opportunity they have proven themselves worthy of trust and consideration.
At the beginning of May the Peace Corner was approved as an independent non-profit corporation by the State of Illinois. The Peace Corner INC. will begin its new life as soon as the paperwork will be completed.
The members of the provincial council of the Comboni Missionaries are also the officers of the corporation, which is governed by a Board of Directors composed of Comboni Missionaries and friends of the Peace Cor-ner. This in turn is assisted by an Advisory Board made up of other friends and benefactors, who are experts in their fields. The Comboni Missionary Fr. Maurizio Binaghi is the chief executive officer and agent of the new corporation.
The Peace Corner is involved in the following new programs:
Summer Program. During the months of July and August the Peace Corner will organise its fourth summer program. Different activities are planned such as field trips, basketball tournaments, baseball games, days at the lake, BBQs, etc. During the program the Peace Corner will provide three summer jobs for neighbourhood youth as summer counsellors.
Literacy Classes/Pre-GED Classes. Starting in September, the Peace Corner will organise literacy classes and pre-GED classes for adults and youth in collaboration with the Healthy Austin Coalition, a coalition of community-based organisations for Chicago’s West Side in which the Peace Corner is one of the leading agen-cies. This will be a pilot project for the entire Austin Neighbourhood. Fr. Maurizio is responsible for the whole project. Classes will be held in the morning, Monday through Friday, from 10 am to 12 pm. Volunteers from the Dominican University and the Peace Corner Staff will make this program possible.
Catapult Project. The Peace Corner has been chosen by the West Side Health Authority as the venue for the Catapult Project. The Catapult Project aims to educate women to become entrepreneurs and to run their own business. We are glad to have been chosen and will gladly cooperate with this project that empowers women in the neighbourhood.
With the addition of these two educational programs, starting in September the Peace Corner will be busy the whole day. They will take up the morning hours, while the other activities, such as tutoring, computer classes and the GED course, will fill the afternoon.
In the past year the Peace Corner has grown very fast. It is part of the Healthy Austin Coalition of Youth Net and of other groups that aim at human promotion and care for the poorest and disadvantaged in this part of the city. The Peace Corner has also become the referral youth agency for Chicago’s West Side and officially rec-ognized as a “Safe Heaven” for youth. Fr. Maurizio is a member of several area committees and of the Gover-nor’s task force: “Faith, Family & Community” which deals with the challenges of re-entry for youth released from prison and for the community to which they return.
We are blessed to have the opportunity to minister and to be ministered by the wonderful people of the Austin neighbourhood. Our little Peace Corner is a sign of hope for many and also a sacrament of God’s love for the youth of Chicago’s West Side.
And, finally, a note of thanks. With sadness the Peace Corner says good-bye to the Comboni Missionary Fr. David William Bohnsack, who will attend the Comboni year of on-going formation in Mexico. Fr. David will go to Colombia in June to learn Spanish and from there he will go to Mexico for the course.
Thank you David! We wish you the best of luck.

PERÚ-CHILE

Sharing a “missionary afternoon”
Among ourselves we often talk of the poor response to the initiatives of mission promotion, which we carry out in some of our provinces. In these few lines we wish to tell of an initiative which started tentatively about six years ago and which, little by little, has grown both in terms of aid and in the number of participants.
Fr. Mario Mazzoni, who had been engaged in mission promotion for many years, invited some of his friends to a meeting in order to inform them about the missions and so to enable them to support some small projects of the Pe-ruvian missionaries who find themselves outside the province.
On 18 May, with the help of some women supporters, the “missionary afternoon” was again held. About 500 peo-ple accepted the invitation to come. Everything was carefully prepared: missionary witnessing, musical entertain-ment, the raffles and, most of all, great solidarity with our most needy brothers and sisters. All this took place in a fa-miliar place where everyone brought their own contribution to the initiative.
We thank God for the closeness and affection shown to us and we pray that he may reward all the people who still favour the missions and so make our work all the lighter.

Feast of the Sacred Heart
The feast of the Sacred Heart continues to assist the members of the Comboni Missionaries to deepen the roots of our missionary vocation. On June 3, the date this year in which the liturgy proposed we contemplate the pierced heart of the Son of God, the representatives of all the communities of Lima gathered to spend a half-day of reflection together.
Fr. Rogelio Bustos Juárez, the provincial, offered some remarks connected with the spirituality of the Heart of Je-sus from the historical/theological point of view; then, after a while spent in personal meditation, the Eucharist was celebrated in the chapel and in the presence of Mgr. Salvador Piñeiro, Bishop Castrense and Auxiliary of Lurín. The Comboni Sisters were also present as were a group of American LMC who had spent a few days in Lima, the centre of the Peruvian LMC. The postulants and scholastics, having fulfilled their academic commitments in the morning, organised an afternoon of togetherness, sharing and prayer for themselves.

Participants of the Course of introduction to the Peruvian reality
From 6 to 24 June the “Istituto Bartolomé de las Casas” of Lima, as in many previous years, welcomed a group of around twenty evangelisers intending to work in Perú. This year there were five Comboni participants: Rocío e Lety, Mexican LMC who have been working at Huarín for the past four months, Severino Felix, a Bra-zilian novice recently arrived, Fr. Oscar Gámez de la Cruz and Fr. Gaetano Beltrami, recently assigned to the province. The course offers some theoretical means to approach with less difficulty the culture of the country, which welcomes us, and to facilitate the process of inculturation.

PORTUGAL

Comboni Chapel Blessed
The community of Viseu has built a small chapel or oratory to house the reliquary of St. Daniel Comboni offered to the province of Portugal.
Inside the chapel, covered with tiles carrying religious symbols representing the variety of peoples and cultures where Comboni Missionaries work, stands a sculpture of St. Daniel Comboni, holding an African child by the hand. The reliquary is mounted on the cover of the “Plan for the Regeneration of Africa”, which the child holds to his breast.
On 22 May the chapel was blessed by Mgr. António Marto, Bishop of Viseu, during the Missionary Feast of the of the collaborators, friends and benefactors of the motherhouse of the Comboni Missionaries in Portugal.
Mgr. Marto described Comboni as “the man who drank from the inexhaustible fount of the Blessed Trinity, from which he took the strength and the courage to live his missionary vocation and which moved him to cry out “Af-rica or Death!” and to be faithful to the end.
The oratory has already become a place of pilgrimage and prayer for many of the faithful touched by the charism of St. Daniel Comboni.

TCHAD

Publications for the Christian communities of Chad
Two texts, prepared by the Comboni Missionaries for the Christians of Chad, have been published.
The first, Guide pour les homélies des Dimanches et des Solennités (A-B-C), took three years of work, directed by Fr. Jesús Ruiz Molina, Provincial Superior, and carried out by a group of catechists and pastoral agents. The guide is intended to be of help both in preparing and explaining the Word of God on Sundays to Christians, and for those catechists who, in the absence of priests, conduct the Sunday celebration.
Starting with tradition, the Guide passes to the concrete application of the Word of God to everyday life. Already two thousand communities are benefiting from the text.
The second publication, Textes de réflexion sur la question de l’Islam et Rappel des principes de base de l’Islam, was produced by the diocesan office for Christian-Moslem encounter of N’Djamena, directed by the diocesan pro-moter Fr. Renzo Piazza.
Beginning with texts from the Magisterium of the Church, newspaper articles, press releases etc., an attempt is made to situate Islam in Chad; this is followed by a presentation of the basic principles of Islam introduced by the Arab-speaking Chadian Islamist Gali Ngothe Gata. The publication is in line with the mission entrusted to the office: to inform and form Catholics in view of the encounter between Christians and Moslems, to maintain regular contact with the Moslem religious authorities and to promote groups of reflection, encounter and dialogue.

Feast of the Sacred Heart and priestly anniversaries
On June 3, at Doba, all the Comboni Missionaries of Chad gathered to celebrate the Golden (50th) anniversary of the ordination of Fr. Luigi Gusmeroli and the Silver (25th) anniversary of Fr. Daniele Frigerio. Fr. Gusmeroli has spent all his life in Africa: South Sudan, Uganda, Central Africa e Chad. He was one of the pioneers of these last two countries.
The day was marked, firstly, by a time set aside for the Comboni Missionaries to share the “wonders which God has done in us and through us”; this was followed by the Eucharist, celebrated by around twenty priests and by Mgr. Miguel Angel Sebastián Martínez, Bishop of Laï, together with the Christians of the parish in which Fr. Luigi is now working, a most moving event.
After a fraternal meal, some Comboni Missionaries engaged in a football match with a local team of altar servers. The result is better kept secret.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and an entertaining evening concluded a very pleasant day.

Music and film for a message of interreligious peace and dialogue
During the month of May, two events presented to the international and Chadian public the commitment of Chadian artists.
Guided and directed by Fr. Fabrizio Colombo, musicians of the Pyramides group participated in the FIMU (Festi-val International de la Musique Universitaire) at Belfort, in France, on Pentecost week-end.
It was an wonderful opportunity for the group from N’Djamena, the capital and made up of four Christians and four Moslems, to show its talents
The event was a great success in terms of the publication and sale of their first CD Soleil d’Afrique, recorded at Sarh and produced and distributed in Italy by Pachamama Music (Bresso/Milano).
Pyramides music is intended to be a message of peace and justice. The energy and enthusiasm of the group have shown to the public present at their many concerts in France (one of which was in Paris), that there exists not only the drama of Darfur and the political corruption of Chad but also the beauty, the joy and the rhythms of Chadian music: a message of hope for the future.
The second important event was the Chadian Film Festival held at the French cultural centre in N’Djamena. About ten films produced by SAVE (Service Audiovisuel pour l’Education), Sarh, were presented.
The directors, actors and producer (again Fr. Fabrizio Colombo) with their “fictional films”, filmed at Sarh (in the south of Chad), tried to present the problems of Chadian society (AIDS, interreligious conflicts, poverty, the promotion of women, alcoholism, etc.) to members of the public other than the usual parishes and diocesan youth centres.
The various newspapers of the capital expressed gratitude for this event and underlined the popular success of this production which speaks directly to the hearts of the people of Chad.



IN PACE CHRISTI

Fr. Eladio García Camporro (11.01.1947 – 18.05.2005)
Fr. Eladio García Camporro died in the afternoon of 18 May 2005, in Madrid. His death was due to heart disease from which he had suffered for more than ten years. Born in the Asturias on 11 January 1947, he was accustomed to sorrow from his early years. He lost his parents when he was very young. First his father and then, when he was only seven, his mother. He found a second family in the home of an uncle who received him with great affection. When he had finished primary school, he felt the call of God to the priesthood and joined the diocesan seminary at Oviedo where he felt a growing need to proclaim the Gospel beyond the limits of the diocese. After a few years, in 1967, he applied to enter our Institute to carry on with his missionary vocation which God had planted in his heart.
He was ordained priest on 22 December 1974 and in 1976 was already in Peru to exercise his apostolic ministry in the highlands of Cerro de Pasco, on the summit of high Andes. In 1981 he was recalled to his prov-ince of origin to work in the field of mission promotion. In that task he did not limit his activity to the mere diffu-sion of the magazines but was open to every opportunity that presented itself to conduct retreats and spiritual exercises, which were requested of him by Institutes and groups of priests and religious.
During this time he spent four years in the community of Saragozza, and it was then that his health began to waver. Stricken by diabetes, he accepted in simplicity the new direction which God was giving to his life. During community prayer, he stated that he would ask God not to cure him but to make him docile to His will. With this disposition and openness, he asked to return to the missions and, in 1988, was sent to Ecuador. After some time, his health notably deteriorated, and his heart set the alarm bells ringing. After several heart attacks, he had to return to Spain in 1995.
In the last ten years he underwent several operations. The heart attacks continued, however, until 19 June 2005, when the end came. This date is to be remembered since, at the moment of Eladio’s death, the gates of glory were being opened for the celebration of the feast of Jesus Christ, the High Priest.
It is certain that God is good and bears witness to his own, as he bore witness to his only Son. I say this be-cause, Eladio, in spite of the ups and downs caused by his illness, loved and exercised his priestly ministry far beyond what was really possible. Apart from a regular commitment in a parish and his work as chaplain to the Marist Brothers, he was available for whatever other priestly ministry was requested of the community.
The Madrid community must thank God for allowing the confreres to know in depth this confrere whose priestly identity was so clear. It was an identity, which God adorned with the ability to communicate. Eladio was what today we would call a born communicator. When his heart stopped beating for the last time, Eladio certainly heard from God the Father the same words heard by Christ at the commencement of his preaching: “This is my Son, the be-loved, in whom I am well pleased”.

Fr. Josef Bayerl (20.06.1920 – 29.05.2005)
Fr. Josef Bayerl was born at Günzlas-Kulmein on 20 June 1920. When he was twelve he entered the Com-boni seminary at Ellwangen. At that time, the German Comboni Missionaries were still called Sons of the Sa-cred Heart and the seminary was Josefinum. In 1938 he entered the postulancy at Bamberg where he did his novi-tiate and, on 3 June 1940, took his first vows. In October of the same year he was forced to interrupt his studies as he was called up for military service. He was wounded and was imprisoned at the end of the war in France where he was allowed to continue to study theology at the seminary for soldiers at Chartres which he attended from July 1945 to May 1946. Finally, in September, he was able to return to Bamberg where he took his final vows on Christmas Day 1949 and was ordained priest the following April 30.
From 1950 to 1955 he was bursar of that community, as well as assisting the parishes of the area. From 1955 to 1961 he was superior and local bursar at the community of Mellatz, and, from 1961 to 1967, superior and bursar of the community of Neumarkt. In 1967 he returned to Mellatz where he took in hand the administration of “Spanienak-tion” and of the community. At the same time, on Sundays he continued to assist the parishes and old peoples homes of the area. In 1970 he was appointed parochial vicar of the parish of Simmerberg.
Fr. Bayerl was a man of jovial character, esteemed by the confreres and people alike for his fatherly and friendly personality. During the celebration of his fifty years of priesthood, he was described as “a wise man who speaks with prudence and consideration”.
When his health began to deteriorate, he moved to the Centre for Elderly and Sick Confreres at Ellwangen, but his stay there was very brief. The Lord rewarded him for all the good he had done in his life. (Fr. Georg Klo-se)

Bro. Pedro García García (02.04.1946 – 29.05.2005)
On 29 May 2005, in a hospital of Torrevieja (Alicante), Bro. Pedro García García died. He had been suffer-ing from heart problems for years. Bro. Pedro was born on 2 April 1946 at Orihuela (Alicante). He took his first vows on 2 February 1966 and his perpetual vows in June 1975.
He carried out his mission first in Ecuador (1974-1976), then in Mexico (1976-1982, 1987-1996), where he worked especially, with great commitment and efficacy, in the field of mission promotion. He also worked in Spain, his province of origin, in mission promotion at various periods: 1968-1974, 1982-1987 and from 1996, when his health allowed him.
Fr. Julio Roldán, a diocesan priest from the Canaries and friend of Bro. Pedro, when he heard of his death wrote him an open letter which sums up very well the personality and the spirit of this confrere of ours: “Dear Pedro, I heard the news that you have gone to the home of the Father. God has called you so that, from his side, you may continue to engage in mission promotion. None of us expected this so soon or so quickly. I there-fore ask you to read, from above, these few lines which I write with emotion and gratitude.
“Among the many memories I have of you, the earliest go back to about 1984 when I was studying at the seminary of Palencia. At that time I was participating in some meetings organised by the diocesan vocations committee at your house at Puente D. Guarín.
“Right from those first contacts, I always admired your great ability for welcoming others, your simplicity and your availability.
“Gradually a friendship was formed which involved my parents Julio e Mari Tere, and my sisters Maribel e Tere. You know we considered you one of the family, so much so that I took to calling you “Uncle Pedro”.
“Five years ago you saw close up the diocesan reality of the Canaries: you stayed for two weeks at “O. L. of Fatima”, at the time in which I was parish priest, in the suburbs of Pedro Hidalgo at Las Palmas di Gran Ca-naria. I was very fortunate to share such an experience with you.
“I was very struck by your desire to engage in mission promotion wherever you were. You always had some slides of Ecuador or Esmeraldas handy, to share your experiences. With or without the slides, your enthusiasm and the power of your words were enough to capture the images engraved in your heart, in which you felt the missionary pulse so strongly that you could not silence it.
“Your manner of living your consecrated life has always been an encouragement for my priesthood. In your re-flections, which always began from constructive criticism, the desire emerged to build a church ever more faithful to Christ and his Gospel and a community ever more attentive to the social realities, to the poor and the needy.
“The proclamation of the Good News was so deeply rooted in you that, in spite of your poor health, you imagined you would return soon to the missions. Neither did you fail to deepen, strengthen and make more constant your theological and pastoral formation. So it was that your initiation into the world of information tech-nology allowed us to have more frequent contacts by electronic mail.
“I Thank God for the great gift you have been. Thanks for everything. You left for your new appointment on May 29, the feast of Corpus Christi. The Risen Christ who had been your nourishment in the Eucharist, re-ceived you into his Kingdom with an affectionate embrace, full of peace and gentleness.
“Pedro, we will always remember you for your life witness, for having given to my priesthood this missionary di-mension, for having helped us live the faith without borders. Accept, Pedro, a strong brotherly embrace, together with that of the many people you have know, full of gratitude and affection.”

Fr. Pietro Zecchin (29.07.1913 – 04.06.2005)
The third last of seven children, Fr. Pietro Zecchin was born at Fontaniva, in the province of Padova e in the diocese of Vicenza. Having finished primary school Pietro left home for the seminary. The people of his village had a collection for him to help pay his fees, since the family was poor. “In this way”, Pietro once said, “my vo-cation was the fruit not only of the prayers of my Grandmother but also of the Christian generosity of the people of my home town”.
In 1933 Pietro entered the Comboni novitiate in Venegono Superiore. On 7 October 1935 he took his first vows and went to Verona to study theology until 1940. He was notable for his missionary enthusiasm and the initiatives which he was able to run.
His parents were present at his ordination in Verona on 9 June 1940. As a newly-ordained priest, Pietro was sent as bursar to the small Comboni seminary in Trent.
When the consequences of the war began to be felt, it became difficult to keep the seminary going, but Di-vine Providence never failed to provide.
On 2 September 1943, the area around the railway station of Trent, close to the Comboni seminary, was struck by heavy bombing. A thousand people were killed and the seminary was filled with the homeless. Now Pietro also had to think of them.
On 8 April 1945 the Muralta house was completely destroyed by bombs. Even the shelter under the grotto was struck: there were nine dead, no Comboni missionaries among them. More than one hundred bomb cra-ters were counted in the garden and courtyard.
Once the war was over, there was the problem of rebuilding. Fr. Pietro began to travel the Trentino valleys, mov-ing the heartstrings of the people. He would arrive home from his apostolic journeys with his wreck of a truck loaded with apples and other food the people gave him.
It was not until 1946 that Fr. Pietro could leave for the missions. In fact, the way to Africa was closed up to that time on account of the war. He left for South Sudan when that mission needed fresh personnel since the old missionaries were worn out by the toils endured for years alone and without supplies. The years from 1946 to 1959 saw tremendous development of the missions. Fr. Pietro, never one to save energy, threw himself head over heels into the material and spiritual work.
He was also the founder of missions. He would willingly recount how he spent six months living in a hut he built in the shade of a large tree or how, finding himself face to face with a lion, he took refuge in the branches of a tree only to find it already occupied by a large serpent.
He worked hard to improve the condition of boys and girls, organising schools and opposing those who did not allow their children, especially not the girls, to frequent the mission. He often appeared in court to plead the cause of one or the other. He was impetuous and irresistible in his way of thinking.
When, on 1 January 1956, Sudan became independent, the Arab authorities wanted to rid themselves of a man who was so troublesome and stubborn and they expelled him. He was one of the first to leave southern Sudan. Eight years later it would be the turn of all the rest.
He spent four years in Italy working in mission promotion. In his preaching he told many so many stories of missionary life that his sermons were fascinating. His heart, however, beat only for the missions. He suffered greatly from mal d’Africa.
In 1961 his superiors sent Fr. Pietro to Mozambique. He again took up his work with enthusiasm. Apart from building works in various missions, he dedicated himself body and soul to catechesis and the formation of cate-chists in whom he foresaw the future of the Mozambican church.
In 1980 he was sent to Portugal where he remained until his return to Italy in 2005. In Portugal he dedicated himself to the care of a hospice for the elderly and to hearing confessions. Anyone wishing to go to confession was sure of finding Fr. Pietro in church waiting for them. In his spare time he worked in the garden, having never lost his peasant roots.
At the same time, he had succeeded in forming a strong group of mission promotion in his home town. On occasion he returned to Italy where he assisted his parish priest and became spiritual adviser to many people, not to speak of his ability to collect funds for his old missions in Mozambique.
Even his manner of praying was surprising: he could “concentrate in such a way that he seemed to see God face to face”. He did not want to be disturbed during prayer. People went to him to ask for for special favours and even for graces: Fr. Pietro promised to pray for them and then ... the favour was granted.
He arrived in Italy six weeks before his death, a period he spent in the Centre for the Sick in Verona, edify-ing all by the patience with which he bore his illness. On 4 June 2005, feast of Mary Immaculate, to whom he was very devoted, the Madonna came to take him with her: he would have been 92 in a matter of days and in a few weeks would have celebrated 65 years of priesthood.
After the funeral at the Mother House, Verona, his body was taken to his home town of San Giorgio in Brenta, where it was placed in the family tomb.

Let us pray for our deceased

THE FATHER: Cândido Alfonso of Fr. José Arieira de Carvalho (CN); Manuel of Fr. Manuel João Pereira Correia (T); Ramón of the scholastic Juan Pacifico Alamares (A); Luigi of Fr. Carlo Bianchi (BNE).
THE MOTHER: Antonia of Bro. Marcellino Graziano Frison (I).
THE BROTHER: Guglielmo of Bro. Benito Ricci (U); Marino of Mgr. Romeo Panciroli; Celestino of Fr. Ottorino Filippo Sina (†).
THE SISTER: Sr. Lucia of Fr. Luigi Parisi (CN).
THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sr. M. Irene Bersani; Sr. M. Aloisia Castagnini; Sr. M. Giovanna Meroni; Sr. Emidia Panozzo; Sr. Adelia Novellini.