Fr. Alberto Pelucchi visits the postulancy of Maia

The Comboni postulant Henrique Torres, referring to the visit of the vicar general of the Comboni Missionaries to the community of the postulancy of Maia, said: “For us postulants the meeting we had with Fr. Alberto Pelucchi was especially significant. He showed to be very interested in finding out how each of the Portuguese postulants feels, both at the human and at the spiritual level. He listened attentively to each postulant. According to me, it was a good occasion to share ideas and suggestions, on the way to perfecting this phase of our Comboni formation.”

When Fr. Pelucchi arrived in Lisbon, the provincial superior of Portugal, Fr. Alberto de Oliveira Silva, had considered the visit of a member of the GC, which resides in Rome, as “an occasion for the consolidation of communion with the Institute and a help to rethink our mission and our activities in Portugal in the European context and in view of the present situation of the Institute.” In Maia, the provincial underlined also that “the presence of the vicar general must help us to be aware of the fact that the Institute is this large community of priests and brothers called by God and consecrated for the missionary service in this world.”

In this sense and expressing also the feelings of the other postulants, Henrique concluded saying: “This visit is a good occasion for us to better perceive the dimension of the Institute, which is present on four continents, and to grow more in the feeling of belonging to this missionary Institute.”

From lefts: the postulants Nuno Gonçalves, Henrique Torres, Pedro Frazão and Fr. Alberto Pelucchi.