June 2011 - Familia Comboniana 687

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Coordination Justice and Peace

Missionaries discuss the crisis’ impact on Africa

In Brussels, Belgium, religious members of missionary Institutes from ten European countries discussed the impact on Africa of the world economic crisis, during the annual meeting of the European Africa Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN), held on May 6-8.

The 25 participants – from Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, The Netherlands, France and Poland – were the representatives of their own “Antennas” (national chapters of AEFJN).

The main theme of the reflection and of the debate was the state of the world economic crisis and its impact on the African Continent. Since 2008 Africa has experienced a dizzying escalation of prices of food staples, caused by speculation on these goods in the financial markets. The sale of large parcels of land to other countries for the production of food is one of the serious problems that Africa is facing, with the connivance of its own governments that do not protect the agricultural and nutritional survival of the local populations.

It was brought out that some political parties, present in the European Parliament and known for being inspired by Christian principles, oppose political decisions that favour immigrants. This situation caused feelings of bitterness and condemnation among the participants who asked themselves why this would happen.

The missionaries upheld the necessity of rescuing and propagating anew the ethical principles of the Church’s social doctrine in all sectors of society, including the ruling classes.

First Professions

Perpetual Professions

Holy Redeemer Guild

June                01 – 15 KE            16 – 30 KH

July                  01 – 07 LP             08 – 15 CO             16 – 31 MZ

Prayer Intentions

June – That we may learn from the Heart of Jesus the unconditional gift of himself to the Father, the universality of his love for the world and his involvement in the suffering and poverty of humankind. Let us pray.

July – That during our meetings at various levels, the liturgical celebrations, discernment, open and free sharing, fraternal listening and openness to the common good may be seen as necessary conditions for producing lasting fruit. Let us pray.

ASIA

Assembly in Macau

The Comboni Missionaries in Asia held their yearly Delegation Assembly at Macau, China, from May 2 to 5. The reason for going back to Macau for the Assembly, after ten years, was the occasion of the commemoration of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Arrival of the Comboni Missionaries in China, organized by the parish of Saint Joseph the Worker, run by the Comboni Missionaries.

The Assembly was honoured by the presence of Father General and Bro. Daniele Giusti, both visiting Asia for the first time. They took charge of the first day of the Assembly, speaking to the confreres about ongoing formation topics. The second day was taken up by the yearly reports and the rest of the time was occupied by the discussion and finalization of the Six-Year Plan. The second day of the assembly the group was visited by the bishop of Macau who presided over the Eucharist and shared with the group his plans for the diocese and ways of further involvement and collaboration for the Comboni Missionaries. The Assembly was wound up by Father General’s informative talk on the state of the Comboni Institute and the solemn concluding Mass.

There are reasons for thanking God e.g. the fact that the Delegation was able to maintain and develop its commitments; the fluency in Chinese of the members of the group in China; the slow but steady increase of the vocation and formation work and the outstanding performance of our missionary magazine “World Mission” and especially the presence of missionary enthusiasm and willingness to risk in the future. The presence in Macau has also taught them humility in front of the explosion of the China power and the transformation of this once tiny colony into the expanding gambling empire of the Far East. At the same time, all this invites us to have faith in the possibilities of the future.

20^th anniversary of our presence in Macau

The Superior General wrote a letter to Mgr. José Lai Hung-seng and the community of St. Joseph the Worker on the occasion of the 20^th anniversary of our presence in Macau. He said among other things: “The last twenty years have been rich in blessings and it is our wish that it may continue to be so in the years to come. We pray that we may carry on with humility of heart the mission entrusted to us and share with others the richness of the Gospel. We wish that our small missionary presence here, as Comboni Missionaries, may continue to be like a bit of yeast which ferments the dough – the Christian community – to help its members grow and be witnesses of the beauty of the Christian life.”

Visit to St. Francis Xavier’s tomb

After the conclusion of the Delegation Assembly, on May 6, all the Comboni missionaries in Asia, together with the Superior General and Bro. Daniele Giusti, travelled into mainland China to visit the place where the Patron of the Missions died of fever and exhaustion on December 3, 1552, at the age of 46.

From Vila de Santa Isabel in Coloane (Macau), the group moved by bus to the border with the Mainland, patiently submitted to the lengthy procedure of Group Permit, took a two-hour long ride in another bus to the ferry that carried them to the island of Shang-Chwang. Once on the island, a bus took them to the small church emerging from the trees and overlooking the sea, built over the tomb of St. Francis Xavier.

The place is kept by an elderly couple, under the communist government. The long trip, the solitude of the place and its natural beauty heightened our pilgrims’ emotions and touched our missionary heart. We were not allowed to say Mass or hold a common prayer or even take photos of the tomb inside the church. There was, however, a brief moment of prayer on a spot behind the church facing the sea where, according to tradition, St. Francis Xavier was fist buried, following the Chinese burial practices. At any rate, the cenotaph in the church, built years later under the sponsorship of the Christians from Macau, does not contain Francis Xavier’s remains: these were taken for their final rest to Goa, India.

The visit to Shang-Chwang left a deep sense of God’s presence, as each one was re-living in his mind the circumstances of Saint Francis Xavier’s supreme sacrifice. He had left for the missions at 35, in 1541, and reached Goa, Malacca and Japan, in his lightening missionary career, and was longing to bring the Gospel to China… Death stopped him at the boundary of the great Chinese world. His dream still lives on in the Church, and also in the tiny group of Comboni missionaries in Asia. We took some seashells as souvenirs from the seashore, where the little pier extends its reach towards the deep, and pledged faithfulness to our missionary commitment.

CONGO

New LRA attacks in North East Congo

During the night of 18 May, a group of LRA guerrillas kidnapped between 15 and 17 people from a village 7 km from Ango, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This is what Mgr. Etienne Ung'Eyowun, Bishop of Bondo, claimed in a short message published by the website of the Episcopal Conference of Congo. “On the following day, the LRA attacked another village some 30 km away”, he told the news agency Fides.

The LRA is a group of guerrillas set up in the late eighties in northern Uganda, moving its operations to north-east Congo, south-east Central Africa and South Sudan a few years ago. According to the United Nations office for Humanitarian Affairs (UNHA), in north-east DCR alone there are about 300,000 displaced persons due to LRA violence.

The causes of insecurity derive from the fact that there are too few regular soldiers, they are poorly equipped and armed and the UN peacekeepers have been assigned to other areas of the DCR. “Because of this situation, the people live in fear and have gathered in the larger centres, abandoning those villages more exposed to LRA incursions”, explains Mgr. Ung'Eyowun to Fides. “The displaced are assisted by the Church and by a dozen humanitarian organisations, present in Ango and two other locations, which distribute basic provisions to the people”, the Bishop of Bondo added.

A year ago, on 24 May, 2010, the American president Barack Obama signed the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, obliging the American people to assist the people of central Africa affected by LRA violence.

“I wish to thank all who speak openly of the drama provoked by the LRA. This law must be applied in full to end the sufferings of the population”, Mgr. Ung'Eyowun concluded. (Fides Agency, 24/05/2011).

ITALIA

Limone: Comboni Symposium

The VI Comboni European Symposium for theological reflection was held at Limone sul Garda, the birthplace of St. Daniel Comboni, from 26 to 29 April, 2011, organised by the Italian Province and by the European group for Theological reflection (EGTR).

The theme of the symposium was “The Comboni Mission in the Church of Europe. Which Types of Government?”, and saw the participation of the European Comboni provinces and representatives of the various branches of the Comboni Family: Priests, Brothers, Sisters, Seculars and Lay Comboni Missionaries. Apart from the interventions and debates, the most enriching aspect of the meeting again proved to be a common conviction that the charism of Comboni is discovering its own original diversity of expression and challenges us to renew with courage our presence and missionary action in Europe.

The richness of the Comboni charism was well outlined by the intervention of Fr. Joaquim Valente da Cruz, who showed, with references to specific documents, that the original intention of the Founder was to bring together the greatest number of religious and lay forces of his time for the evangelisation of Africa.

This mission is to be understood not only geographically or unidirectionally but directed to all the continents, including that of Europe where there is an increasingly urgent need to proclaim the Gospel in the light of an already high degree of secularisation, the progressive “eclipsing of God” and a post-Christian culture which has as its goal the promotion and defence of national and continental interests. This was well illustrated to us by Santo Vicari, for many years a European Union functionary in Brussels as he developed the theme “The Challenge of Europe to the Comboni Mission”. His critical analysis of the “European System” convinced us even more that our continent is really “mission territory” and our Comboni presence must be evangelising and prophetic at the heart of the “Fortress Europe” and within the local Churches. This aspect was also emphasised in the interventions of Fr. Benito De Marchi and Carmelo Dotolo, a teacher at the Urbanian University.

We heard and learned much from the new itinerary undertaken by the Comboni Missionary Sisters to coordinate and restructure their presence in Europe as one large single province.

The experiences of structural renewal by the Secular Comboni Missionaries, the development and growth of the Lay Comboni Missionaries and the structural and missionary dynamics of the Pope John XXIII Association, founded by Fr. Oreste Benzi, were also enlightening. There was full agreement that every process of restructuring is begun only after a process of discernment and sensitisation involving all the members of the circumscription.

The study groups formed on the final day of the Symposium collected the more relevant points which emerged in the interventions and plenary debates, in a series of concrete proposals.

It is the competence of the organisers of the Symposium and those responsible for the participating provinces to communicate to their respective members the results and proposals of the Limone encounter.

Seventy years of missionary and priestly service

On Sunday, 22 May, 2011, the parish of The Mediatrix in the city of Troia, southern Italy, run by the Comboni Missionaries, celebrated the seventy years of priestly and missionary life of Fr. Antonio La Salandra, most of which he spent among the Logbara people of the West Nile, Uganda.

Fr. Antonio, despite his years, shows his energy and enthusiasm for the missions and would like to go back there. At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, Fr. Enrique Sanchez G., Superior General, who was accompanied by Bro. Daniele Giusti, Assistant General, thanked Fr. Antonio for his ministry and encouraged him to continue his mission even in Troia and in Italy, continuing to work with the same spirit and vision, in line with his characteristic priorities: the promotion of women, the renewal desired by Vatican II, the formation of pastoral agents and catechists and the dialogue with Islam.

All his relatives, some diocesan priests, his confreres and also representatives of the Comboni communities in Puglia (Bari and Lecce) as well as Fr. Fernando Zolli, Provincial Secretary of MA/EV, celebrated the feast with an excellent fraternal meal prepared by Fr. Antonio’s twin sister.

In memory of Fr. Girolamo Cisco († 1940)

On Sunday, 22 May, in the “Cischi” quarter, in the municipality and parish of Chiampo (Vicenza), the parish community celebrated the centenary of the small church, built in 1911 at the initiative and on the land of the “Cisco” family, to which our deceased confrere Fr. Girolamo Cisco belonged. Born at Chiampo in 1882, Girolamo joined the diocesan seminary of Vicenza and, during his theological studies, he joined the Comboni Missionaries in Verona. In 1910 he left for Bahr el Ghazal and worked for almost 30 years among the Azande, especially at the mission of Mupoi, founded in 1912. The name of Fr. Cisco appears several times in the mission diaries of those years (see the Bulletin and Nigrizia).

At the church of the “Cischi”, dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, the organisers of the centenary remembered Fr. Girolamo. Fr. Romeo Ballan, who came for the event with other confreres from the Verona Mother House, outlined the figure of this pioneering missionary in the context of the new state of South Sudan which will come into being on 9 July next, and of the growth of the Church in that territory where, in less than a century, seven dioceses were created where none existed previously.

MALAWI-ZAMBIA

Provincial Assembly

The Provincial Assembly of the Malawi-Zambia province took place at Kachebere Seminary, Malawi, from 26 to 30 April, 2011. It was devoted to preparing the Six-year Plan but was also a moment of reciprocal encouragement and sharing among the confreres. Taking the first draft as a “working document”, we reflected for three days on the orientations we wish to follow during the coming years. There was also time for the secretariats to meet separately to plan the modalities for implementing the orientations of the Assembly.

During the concluding Mass, Bro. Mathias Adossi Koffissan (headmaster of Lunzu technical School, Malawi) and the scholastic Jean-Marie Munketalingi Mwariri (member of the province of Congo doing his missionary service in Malawi) renewed their temporary vows. The Provincial Assembly was truly a special time of grace for our province and helped us to deepen our missionary vocation as members of the Comboni family at the service of evangelisation in Malawi and Zambia.

First Vows

On Saturday, 21 May, twelve novices of Lusaka novitiate took their first vows: six belong to Malawi-Zambia, three to Uganda, two to Kenya and one to Italy. The celebration took place at the parish of Bauleni, Lusaka, close to the novitiate. Fr. Joseph Maina Mwariri, Provincial of Kenya, presided at the Mass. Besides Fr, Dario Balula Chaves, provincial of Malawi-Zambia, and Fr. Joseph Maku, vice provincial of Uganda, who received the vows of those belonging to their respective provinces, other confreres also took part in the celebration together with a number of Comboni Missionary Sisters, many friends and people from the parish.

After the Mass, the celebration continued with songs, dances and refreshments. Many friends offered gifts with great joy and simplicity. It was a wonderful and joyful day and we thank God for the gift of twelve new confreres.

Our special thanks go to Fr. Pierpaolo Monella, novice master, and the assistant novice master Fr. Enrico Colleoni, for the formation they imparted to the newly professed.

MOÇAMBIQUE

New Comboni Deacon

On 30 April last, Mateus Jacob Albino, originally from Chicoco in the province of Tete, Mozambique, was ordained deacon by Mgr. Germano Grachane, bishop of the diocese. Mateus had taken his perpetual vows some days earlier. Mgr. Germano expressed his sentiments in these words: “A son of this land continues to make the dream of St. Daniel Comboni of ‘saving Africa with Africa’ come true, thanks to a Christian family which has joyfully offered their son for the missions”.

People were very moved at hearing Mateus answer yes to the questions of the Bishop, accepting the ministry of the diaconate as the gift of his own life to the service of the Christian people. It was also very moving to see Mateus putting on the vestments proper to his ministry. Wearing his vestments, the new deacon received the book of the Gospels. “Believe in what you read, teach what you believe and live what you teach”, were the words which the deacon Mateus heard before giving the sign of peace to the bishop and to all the priests, relatives and friends present.

The Comboni Missionaries now have five Mozambican priests, one Brother, one Deacon and two theology students.

NAP

Director of Hispanic Ministry appointed

With the opening of the mission appeals season, we reflect on the need of mission ad extra, but we cannot forget the mission here at home. It’s difficult for some people to think about the United States as mission territory, but those who are in need of first evangelization and re-evangelization are in the millions. The province’s ministry to the ever-growing number of new poor – the immigrants – emphasizes its mission to serve the poorest and most abandoned here. It has shown its commitment by allowing Fr. Louis Gasparini to answer the Cincinnati Archbishop’s invitation to be the Director of Hispanic Ministry for the Archdiocese. This new ministry is vital to the Hispanic population of 70,000.

A building completed, a dream continued

On April 9, people from many walks of life gathered to celebrate the opening of the new Peace Corner. In the neighbourhood of Austin, where hopelessness is too often a reality, one youth project has proven that anything is possible. This was no ordinary grand opening. It was the culmination of five years of planning and fund raising and the end of a ten-year journey.

Fr. Maurizio Binaghi founded The Peace Corner (PC) in 2002 in response to the vital need for a safe environment where Austin youth could learn and feel at home. The thunderous racket of passing trains, coupled with the fast-growing numbers of youth coming to the centre sent Fr. Maurizio searching for a bigger place.

Now the new building – including a gym and exercise room – is finished, not far from the old one. These expanded quarters assure the PC’s continuation of services, from preparation to GED (General Education Department), legal advice, computer literacy, conflict resolution, and healthy sports competition, to simply offering a safe place to relax and enjoy the air-conditioning on a sweltering Chicago afternoon.

Just as the Peace Corner has grown, so has its youth. Today its staff includes members who have given up life on the streets to aid Fr. Maurizio in his tasks, and many “graduates” hold steady jobs or are pursuing further studies.

In the words of Father Louie Gasparini, former Provincial of the Comboni Missionaries, “The building construction may have come to an end, but this centre is a new beginning for even bigger dreams to become reality.”

60^th anniversary of priesthood

Fr. Mario Ongaro is celebrating his 60^th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. He was ordained in Cincinnati, OH, May 26, 1951, by Archbishop Karl J. Alter. The Comboni Missionaries came to Cincinnati in 1939 and, by 1947, they were in residence on 60 plus acres at Beechmont Avenue and Nagel Road. Fr. Mario lived with these “pioneers” in an old farmhouse and helped build the Sacred Heart Mission Seminary on the same property. When it opened in 1950, he moved in, and it has been his home ever since, except for a few years of mission work in California, Michigan and Italy.

Fr. Mario remembers being “plucked” from Italy and “planted” in Cincinnati. He was 21 and didn’t know a word of English, but, he tells us, he didn’t have to know the language in order to do what he was told. In time, Fr. Mario learned enough to become chaplain, teacher, administrator, treasurer, counsellor, and friend. Through the years, he has helped to form countless young men into missionaries. If asked about his life as a Comboni Missionary, he will answer, “In one word, wonderful!”

PORTUGAL

Postulants and Novices

The young postulants and novices from all of Europe, together with their formators, met at Santarem, Portugal, from 26 to 30 April. Since October, 2010, the community of Santarem has housed the novitiate where European candidates are preparing for Comboni missionary life before taking their religious vows. At present there are four novices: two from Portugal, one from Poland and one Columbian belonging to the province of Spain. Eight postulants attended: four from Italy, two from Spain and two from Portugal.

The aim of the meeting was to give the postulants and formators the opportunity to come to know the lifestyle of the novitiate and the social and ecclesial situation of Portugal. It was also an opportunity for the European postulants to meet and come to know each other and so facilitate their insertion on entering the novitiate.

The programme of the meeting involved a half-day retreat directed by Fr. José Juan Valero Macia, and an afternoon of reflection on basic formation according to the 2009 Chapter Acts, presented by Fr. Víctor M. Tavares Dias. He emphasised that "formation and mission are not separate realities in our Institute but have a close relationship, a relationship which is dynamic, enriching, enlightening and challenging for both. The determining characteristic of our formation is that it must be directed towards the mission and the Comboni mission in particular”.

Apart from the time spent in reflection and sharing ideas on the theme of formation, and the real experiences of each novice, there was also time devoted to visiting the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, the monastery of Batalha and the city of Santarem.

Both young men and formators found the meeting to be a positive initiative.

Feast of the Families of Portuguese Comboni Missionaries

The parents and family members of the Portuguese Comboni Missionaries met for their traditional annual feast at Maia on 1 May, Mother’s Day. One hundred and fifty of them gathered as one family.

The main celebrant at the Eucharist was the provincial superior, Fr. Alberto de Oliveira Silva. After the meal there was a brief meeting and a small souvenir was presented to each of the couples present. The day ended with prayers in thanksgiving for the missionary vocation which unites us in one family. It was a day of sentiments rather than of words.

Meeting of Comboni Portuguese Past-Students

On 7 May the annual meeting of our past-students took place with around 100 participants at the Mother House of Viseu. It is a place rich in sentiment and memories for those who passed through it. The meeting opened with the usual address, a significant moment of strong emotions for the life stories told and memories relived.

This was followed by a time of Comboni sharing, during which Fr. Francisco José de Sousa Machado explained the planned Comboni Vocational Year and gave information about initiatives programmed for 2011 and motivated some past-students to participate and collaborate.

After the midday meal the time was spent quietly as all those present met each other spontaneously. Just as there were several requests that the meeting be held again, so too reminders were given that the next great meeting of the Comboni family in Portugal will be the pilgrimage to Fatima on 30 July, 2011, with everyone – especially former students – invited to attend.

SOUTH AFRICA

Provincial assembly

In South Africa we had our annual Provincial Assembly at the Study Centre, Pretoria, from the 2nd to the 6th May 2011. The main topic of the Assembly was the discussion of the Six Year Plan, which will guide us from 2012 to 2017. We started with a beautiful opening prayer service to invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit upon us. We dedicated the first day to a moment of ongoing formation with Sr. Sandra Becker, OP, who talked about “Aspects of Spirituality for the 21st Century”, underlying the spirituality of St. Daniel Comboni and of the Institute. The following days we focused on the Six Year Plan. We shared moments of prayer, reflection, relaxation and joy. The Eucharist was presided over in turns by one representative of our three different regions in South Africa. Listening to the Word of God and sharing the Bread of Life gave us light and courage to face the different challenges that we have as missionaries in this country.

For the first time in South Africa a Comboni Sister was present in the Assembly, since the province of Mozambique has recently opened a community in Pretoria. Besides, the presence of Bishop Giuseppe Sandri, Mccj, and the recently appointed Archbishop of Pretoria, his Grace William Slattery, gave to the assembly a feeling of ecclesial communion.

SOUTH SUDAN

Ordination to the Diaconate

On Sunday, 15 May, at Yei, a beautiful celebration was held to mark the occasion of the ordination to the diaconate of the scholastic Phillip Andruga Kenyi. The ceremony took place in the cathedral, packed with people and many outside with Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe, a person with strong ties of friendship with the Comboni Missionaries, officiating. Andruga, 35, did his novitiate at Namugongo, Uganda, and studied theology at Sao Paulo, Brazil. He returned to South Sudan last year for his missionary service, first at the mission of Old Fangak, in the diocese of Malakal, and then at Lomin in the diocese of Yei.

Call to Prayer and Action

The Catholic Church in South Sudan started its Independence celebrations programme under the theme “One nation from every tribe, tongue and people” on May 28 with Eucharistic processions across the region.

The Program of Prayer and Action runs from May 28, 2011 up to January 1, 2012. It includes a prayer for the Republic of South Sudan, a day of fasting and reconciliation, a novena, a song competition, a Mass of thanksgiving and the planting of trees.

Other activities are one week of studies on Catholic Social Teaching, in August; a Symposium on the Church in the Sudan and South Sudan, in October; a Cultural Week to celebrate South Sudan’s diversity, in December.

TCHAD

Provincial Assembly

In a climate serene among the confreres but terribly hot with regard to temperature, on Monday, May 2, in Doba, the oil city, we opened the yearly Assembly of the Comboni Missionaries working in Tchad to put together the Six-Year Plan.

The morning of the second day of the Assembly was given over to listening to the socio-political and ecclesial situation of Tchad. Fr. Raymond Madjiro, national coordinator of the Justice and Peace Commission, enlightened us with a concise and pertinent presentation, which gave rise to many questions and contributions. He started off with an analysis of the African environment in the light of the recent revolutions in Tunisia and in Egypt. He then tackled the consequences of the international situation on Tchad and the themes of democracy, the role of civil society, of the political class, of the Church and of the participations of all citizens to the building up of a State which, as of now, does not yet exist. The evening as well was given to listening, this time however to the inspirational elements of the General Chapter that had already been shared and assimilated by the local communities. Fr. Fidèle Katsan, Master of novices at Sarh, led us through a reading of the Comboni Charism in the light of the Gospel.

In the morning of May 4 we tackled the theme of the larger French-speaking province. Looking at our future, all the confreres gave their contribution to help the Assembly evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of possible choices. Finally, on Wednesday evening, there took place a reflection on the six year plan which led us to pick the priorities for the next six years. Our community discernment brought us to opt for “first evangelization” as the main axis of our presence and work in Tchad. There followed an examination of our three priorities: Identity, Mission and Spirituality. It was a lengthy labour that gave us the opportunity, in the course of two days, to reflect, listen to each other and share our vision of mission.

And now it is mission time, time to go back to work with a Plan and a great Comboni passion for turning it into reality, day after day.

TOGO-GHANA-BENIN

Code of Conduct

After the busy pastoral and missionary ministry of Lent and Holy week, we met, as a provincial community, for an encounter on the Code of Conduct which took place at Akepe, in the monastery of the Poor Clares, from 2 to 5 May. Our reflection was guided by Fr. Pierre Amedjonekou, canonist and priest of the diocese of Aneho.

The title of the encounter was thus formulated by Fr. Pierre: “From the Rule of Life to the Code of Conduct”. The first day was indeed a real challenge: we were invited to grasp more deeply our Rule of Life as a journey of fidelity to live authentically the gift of the Comboni missionary vocation.

This, in fact, is the purpose underlined in the Code (8): “The regulations contained in this document neither add nor detract from the Rule of Life but are a means intended to encourage all to observe it better”. The group work produced a very personal sharing on what we are now living in this regard.

The second day gave us the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the various aspects emphasised in the Code. Of these we may put forward some paths of personal and community commitment: the importance of a constant effort to be watchful of ourselves and to continue to be vigilant, to have the courage to help one another as brothers both in the good that we do and in our weaknesses. This requires sufficient humility to let ourselves be loved.

There will be other meetings to insert the Code more deeply in the Provincial Directory and in harmony with the laws of the three countries in which we are present.

First profession of sixteen Comboni novices

There was great joy and celebration at Cotonou on 14 May. Sixteen Comboni novices took their first vows: two from Central Africa, six from the Congo, eight from TGB (three from Benin and five from Togo).

The celebration was held at the Comboni parish of St. Francis of Assisi, Fidjrosse. The newly professed, surrounded by numerous confreres from the four Francophone provinces of Africa, had a unique experience of self-giving, of enthusiasm and the sincere desire to commit themselves to the missionary life following St. Daniel Comboni. Fr. Girolamo Miante, the provincial, encouraged them to be faithful every day to the “yes” they pronounced on this day.

Commission for Reflection and Study of African Francophone Provinces

From 15 to 17 May, at the novitiate of Cotonou, the Commission for Reflection and Study of the African Francophone Provinces met in view of the reorganisation of the circumscriptions, as required by the last General Chapter (AC 2009, 128). With the Provincial (Fr. Girolamo Miante) as moderator, two confreres from each province: Fr. Jonas Bekas and Fr. Benedetto Giupponi (Centrafrique), Fr. Janvier Kabeya and Fr. Seraphin Kakwata (Congo), Fr. Stefano Melzani and Fr. Claude Ondongar Yadjmadji (Tchad), Fr. Godwin Kornu and Fr. Gaetano Montresor (TGB).

Together they tried to identify the pros and cons of the amalgamation of the four provinces, the possible view of the role and service of the provincial and his councillors and the various secretariats. Efforts will be made to consult other religious Institutes which are already living a similar experience where several provinces are grouped together in one. The outcome of the reflection will be presented to the provincials of Francophone Africa in order to decide upon a journey which may involve all confreres in reflection, deepening and discernment.

Let us pray for our beloved dead

THE FATHERS: Francis, of the Sc. John Hammond Sekyiamah (T); Angelo, of Bro. Agostino Cerri (KH); Stanislas, of Fr. Chris Aleti Apalolem Z. (U).

THE MOTHERS: Celestina, of Fr. Giuseppe Scattolin (EG); Antonia, of Fr. Pablo Rodrigo Reveles Vázquez (MO); Brigida, of Fr. J. Jesús Aranda Nava (M).

 THE BROTHER: Jacques, of Fr. Faustin Mboka Ngere (KH).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sr. M. Teresilla Perbellini; Sr. M. Lelia Tosi; Sr. Matilde Totti; Sr. Gianna Alfreda Intiso; Sr. Bruna Angela Giuso; Sr. Pierina M. Bodei.

THE SECULAR COMBONI MISSIONARY: Paola Colonna (of Altamura, Bari).