Familia Comboniana 744 - September 2016

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

World Social Forum in Montreal Canada

The World Social Forum (WSF), held from 9 - 14 August, 2016, began with a march by fifteen thousand people from Lafontaine Park to Montreal city centre. The atmosphere was one of multi-cultural celebration and as the crowds of people carried their posters, banners and flags to convey their messages. Among the marchers were people belonging to the movement for the liberation of Palestine, representatives for the independence of Western Sahara, associations for disarmament, environmental justice, union representatives from various countries and other organisations. “Another world is needed; together it is possible”, was the slogan of this year’s WSF.

The real work of the WSF began on 10 August with the first of the 1,300 planned workshops. With two sessions each day – one in the morning and one in the afternoon – the issues regarding thirteen major themes were thrashed out.

On the first day, the members of Comboni Network presented two separate workshops on the phenomena of land grabbing and the situation in South Sudan. The deforestation of appropriated lands for the production of biofuels and palm oil is one of the main factors in carbon gas emissions and global warming. In the second workshop, the wearying march towards peace and reconciliation in South Sudan, the newest nation in the world, which, while a civil war is raging, has to combat the greed of international forces for the control of its natural resources.

The WSF held in Montreal did not arouse public opinion as was hoped as it was held in the holiday season amid unusually high temperatures for the Canadian summer.

The WSF work continued during the second day, 11 August, with a number of workshops as planned. One of these was a seminar chaired by Fr. Joseph Mumbere, Comboni Provincial in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on the theme: the sacrifice of the innocent, the greed of multinationals and the regional political interests of the DRC. Fr. Mumbere showed how, during the low-grade war being waged in the east of the country to take control of natural resources, the new generations of Congolese are mobilising with organisations such as Lucha (Lutte pour le changement) to end the conflict. Fr. Dario Bossi, a missionary working in Brazil, had also spoken of the exploitation of resources the previous day during a seminar on “Ecological Justice”. In his intervention, he spoke of the online advocacy work he is doing, together with hundreds of associations in central and South America, to expose the violation of human rights and the environment by the mining industry.

The day ended with a conference given by Naomi Klein, a Canadian activist known for her work against the globalisation of the economy entitled “Change the system, not the climate”.

On the third day of the WSF, the independently directed workshops phase was concluded. Comboni Network, for its part, presented two workshops. The first, in the morning, was presented by Comboni Sr. Gabriella Bottani who spoke on the theme of human trafficking, a crime against humanity and a global challenge requiring a global response. In the afternoon, Fr. John Converset dealt with the theme of climate change in the light of the Paris Agreement (Cop 21). The situation is critical and the human race has very little time to halt the destruction of the planet.

In an immediate evaluation of the WSF, it was noted that the absence of African representatives, due mainly to the rejection of visa applications by the Canadian authorities, was an impoverishment for the Forum. There were also only a few representatives of basic social movements at the workshops whereas the members of various national and international NGOs were significant. There was a good number of religious, especially women religious, engaged in the work of the Forum but the expected participation of students of the University of Montreal, in whose premises the Forum was held, did not materialise.

Perpetual Professions

Sc. Dofonnou Dodji Eméric Lionel (T)            Cacaveli-Lomé (TG) 11.06.2016

Sc. Amegnaglo Yaotsé-Mensah (Jean Nestor) (T)    “         11.06.2016

Sc. Atohoun Comlan Aflihoun Armel (T)                    “         11.06.2016

Sc. Ngonda Tollet Romain Rodolphe (RCA) Grimari (RCA) 24.07.2016

Sc. Endjegandeyo-Yepoussa Fugain (RCA) Bangui (RCA) 31.07.2016

Sc. Salvador Mateo Pedro (PCA)      Guatemala (GUA)      12.08.2016

Holy Redeemer Guild

September       01 – 15 NAP        16 – 30 PCA

October           01 – 07 RCA        08 – 15 TCH           16 – 31 RSA

Prayer intentions

September – That the celebration of their XX General Chapter may lead the Comboni Missionary Sisters to listen to the Spirit of God in humility and hope and set out upon new and courageous pathways of mission. Lord hear us.

October – That the Good Shepherd may pour into the hearts of the youth enthusiasm for missionary commitment and move them to dedicate their entire lives in joy for the evangelisation of the world. Lord hear us.

Publications

Fr. Patrick Elias Lipenga – Inculturation of initial formation in Malawi: an example of the Comboni Missionaries, Roma 2016. This is the title of the thesis for a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology by Fr. Patrick Elias Lipenga, specialising in Vocational Formation, at the San Pietro Favre Centre for formators to the priesthood and the religious life, of the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Nickel Mabuluki Bakwa, Initiation des Jeunes de Lumière. Vivre les Mystiques des Jeunes à l’étape de Lucidité 1. Ed Afriquespoir, Kinshasa. Fr. Nickel is a recently ordained young Congolese confrere working in youth and vocations ministry. He hails from the parish of Sainte Alphonse in Kinshasa. Thanks to the parish priest of the time and later of Bishop Matondo, there began the youth formation itinerary based on the model of initiation that helps the youth to discover the sequela Christi through the various “mystiques”. Fr. Nickel tells of his personal experience and how he accompanied other young people, studying each of the mystiques of initiation starting from his experience and the Bible’s experience to arrive at how it is lived.

BRASIL

Remembering the martyrdom of Fr. Ramin

On 23 and 24 July, the Comboni Missionaries in Brazil commemorated the 31^st anniversary of the Servant of God, Fr. Ezekiel Ramin.

On Saturday 23, there was a procession to Fr. Ezekiel’s community of Cacoal and Mass was celebrated there. Among those present were Mons. Bruno Pedron, Bishop of Ji-Paraná, and more than three hundred people. Up to now, the martyrdom of Fr. Ramin has been remembered every five years but every effort is being made, with the help of his community and others, to have it celebrated annually and inserted in the parish planners.

That same day, a meeting was held about Fr. Ezekiel with about seventy youth from Cacoal and fifteen from Porto Velho. The latter, from different parishes, some time ago formed a group they called Young Comboni Missionaries.

On Sunday, 24 July, the “first Fr. Ezekiel pilgrimage” was held. It turned out very well, carried out in the simplicity of the people of the area with over 400 people from Cacoal, Ouro Preto, Ji-Paraná, Porto Velho and Rondolândia.

Fifty years a priest

Fr. Francesco Lenzi, “Chico” in Brazil, celebrated his Golden Jubilee of priesthood at home in Italy with his confreres, family and friends, on 3 June. The first among these were his confreres of the Lucca community. He then had a celebration in his home town of Fiano (Pescaglia), where he was born on 25 February, 1941.

Fr. Francesco, ordained priest on 19 May, 1966, carries out his missionary work in Brazil among the marginalised. He worked in Portugal for ten years, 23 in Brazil and 17 in Italy. He was parish priest of a parish of 60,000 people in Belo Horizonte and is now superior of “Comboni House”, for elderly confreres, at São José do Rio Preto.

Tenth anniversary of the death of Mons. Masserdotti

The Comboni Province of Brazil, in dialogue with the diocese of Balsas, is preparing a special celebration that will take place on the weekend of 16-18 September next, to remember Mons. Masserdotti, who died at the age of 65, on 17 September 2006, in Balsas where he was struck by a motor car while riding his bicycle. The Comboni Missionaries have prepared a brochure for the occasion to be distributed by the Christian communities of Balsas and by pastoral and youth groups.

CENTRAFRIQUE

50 Years of Mercy

Exactly fifty years have passed (1966-2016) since the first Comboni set foot on the soil of Central Africa. The celebration of the Jubilee began with a triduum of prayer for vocations. On Wednesday, 10 August, the first day of the triduum, the priests Guy Charly Mamoundayen and Daniele Gbate (both from the parish of Our Lady of Fatima) shared their vocational journeys and their pastoral experiences with the Christian community. On Thursday, the second day, Sr. Marie Charlotte also shared her vocational experience and invited the young women to take up the religious life without fear. On Friday, the Comboni Lay Missionaries presented their group and their work together with the Comboni Sisters and Comboni Missionaries.

For Saturday, 13 August, there was a concert, led by the three parish choirs. During the concert, the scholastic Fugain Dreyfus Endjegandeyo Yepoussa presented two works: 1) Peroration for peace in Central Africa; 2) The stakes of God and the African challenges.

On Monday, 15 August, a solemn Jubilee Mass was celebrated with the Archbishop of Bangui, Mons. Dieudonné Nzapalainga, presiding. Mons. Guerrino Perin, Bishop of Mbaiki, the confreres of our communities, forty priests and many Sisters were also present.

Perpetual Vows and Ordination to the Diaconate

The scholastic Endjegandeyo-Yepoussa Fugain Dreyfus took perpetual vows on 31 July last, at the parish of Notre Dame de Fatima in Bangui. Due to the large number attending, the ceremony took place in the open air, outside the church of that parish, which had been entrusted to the Comboni Missionaries since 13 November, 1967. Yepoussa Dreyfus, 31, studied theology at the scholasticate of Kinshasa, in the DRC, and did two years’ mission experience at Bangui.

During the solemn Jubilee Mass (15 August), there was also the ordination to the diaconate of two of our confreres of Central Africa: Endjegandeyo Yepoussa Fugain Dreyfus and Ngonda Tollet Romain Rodolphe who also did his mission experience in Central Africa and took perpetual vows on 24 July at Grimari (RCA). Romain, born in Bangassou (RCA) in March 1981, also studied at Kinshasa.

A new page in the history of the Delegation of Central Africa has just been begun.

CURIA

Fr. Manuel João Pereira leaves for Verona

After five years in Curia, Fr. Manuel João Pereira was transferred to Castel d’Azzano, at the Fr. Alfredo Fiorini Centre, where he will receive better assistance.

“Next Monday, August 15 – he writes in a letter to the confreres – I will celebrate the anniversary of my ordination with this community in Rome, which has welcomed me over the past years. Afterwards, the following day, I shall leave for Verona. They have assigned me to a community where I can have a more attentive and qualified care. My inseparable companion, the ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) will not let go of me.

We missionaries are trained to always be ready to leave. But after 18 years of living in Rome (5 as a student, 8 at the service of the General Administration, and now 5 as a sick person), I have put down – I must say – a few roots. Roots at the feet but especially at the heart, given the number of friends with whom the Lord has blessed me. I leave, though, with serenity. This is the mission before my last one, since the last one is the one assigned to us in Heaven! I will carry all of you in my heart. Your friendship has been for me the best medicine in moments of trial. Your prayer has produced in me the miracle of serenity and joy which have always accompanied me in my illness. May the Lord bless you!”

DSP

Continental Formation Assembly in Nuremberg

The vocation promoters, formators and coordinators of ongoing formation of the Circumscriptions of Europe, together with two representatives of the General Administration, met from 5 to 13 July for the Continental Formation Assembly, in Nuremberg. The participants made an assessment of the implementation of the decisions of the previous Assembly which was held in Granada.

Other themes dealt with were: the project for youth and ministry vocations; candidates who are over 35 years – what kind of formation programme to offer them; the ad extra mission experience (in Africa and America) for European aspirants; the ongoing formation of superiors, the vocation promoters and formators; the unification of the Secretariat of Formation at the general, continental and provincial levels.

The Conclusions of the Assembly were presented to the Provincial Superiors of Europe and the General Council for their approval. The Participants have also written a letter to the confreres to express the sense of communion that binds us all.

Celebrating fifty years of priesthood

Our confrere Fr. Alois Weiss celebrated his Golden Jubilee of priesthood in his home town of Löffelstelzen (Germania). Together with him, his of three brother priests also celebrated anniversaries: Fr. Aurelian Weiss, a Benedictine monk, celebrated 60 years of priesthood; Fr. Hermann Weiss, a diocesan priest and parish priest celebrated 40 years of priesthood; Bernhard Weiss, a permanent deacon, celebrated thirty years of diaconal service. Other participants at the solemn celebration were another brother, Fr. Johannes Weiss, also a Benedictine monk, his three religious sisters (a fourth passed away a few years ago) and his nephew, Fr. Alois Maria Weiss, who is also a Benedictine monk. Of the eleven children, nine consecrated their lives to God: three as religious, one as a diocesan priest, one as a permanent deacon, and four as religious Sisters in four different Institutes.

It was truly an extraordinary celebration: the celebrant, the parish priest, the Chairman of the Parish Council and the Mayor all expressed their joy and pride in having such a family in the community and thanked them for their example and their service. Both the parish and the civil community did everything possible to organise this exceptional event that became an experience of faith for all.

“Missionaries ad Tempus” (Missionare auf Zeit – MaZ)

In 1982, some Institutes in Germany and Austria started sending “Missionaries ad tempus”, as they are called, to the missions. Since then, some thousands of young people have served in the mission. This service offers young people and the members of religious Institutes to meet together. Young adults are ready to live and pray together with religious abroad and collaborate with them. It is quite a task for such young people to integrate into a new world, familiarise themselves with new cultures, learn new languages and live together with people they have not met before and with members of religious Institutes. Their motto is: Live in common, pray together, work with others.

The Comboni Missionaries of the DSP are a founder member of this group and, for thirty years now, have been sending young men and women as Missionaries Ad Tempus. Up to now, more than 250 went to the mission and offered their services for one to three years in various Comboni Provinces, both in America and in Africa. In the DSP, their director is Fr. Friedbert Tremmel.

In the near future, seven new members will leave for Kenya, Uganda and Peru. We thank the Comboni Provinces that accept and accompany these young people. The project contributes to cultural exchange, the growth of the Universal Church and the spiritual and human good of the young people themselves.

EGSD

2^nd Cultural Week at Comboni College

The Comboni College of Science and Technology celebrated its 2^nd Cultural Week from 6th to 11th August 2016. Inspired by the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, the theme of the week was “Discovering our environment in order to care for it”. The scope of the project was to sensitize the students as well as the Sudanese society in general about the importance of the care for the environment and the implications for its destruction. The activities started with a cleaning of the environment surrounding the College, located in the centre of Khartoum, and continued with a fair of eleven different stands. The students of the Bachelor Arts in English Language and Literature presented the relation between literature and environment, while the students of Computer Science and Information Technology the relation between technology, internet and environment. The stand of the environment, instead, introduced concepts like recycling and renewable energies and deepened the implications for health if there is lack of care for the environment. Similarly, the stand of fine arts presented the theme through different artistic works.

In a second kind of stands the students presented the richness of their natural patrimony (Sudan, Eritrea, South Sudan and Ethiopia) and the threats to it.

There was also a stand on Comboni and Comboni College where Muslim and Christian students presented together to the hundreds of visitors the life of our Founder and the contribution of our institutions to education.

The week was concluded with a concert in the courtyard of the Secondary School attended by 1,600 persons who enjoyed the music of the Band of the Faculty of Music and Drama of Sudan University of Science and Technology.

ITALIA

Communicating the mission in a digital age

The superiors of the Comboni circumscriptions in Europe gathered from 19 to 21 July at the Mother House in Verona to reflect on the theme “Communicating the mission in a digital age”.

The idea derives from the constantly diminishing number of magazines being printed and sold. The purpose of the meeting, therefore, was to try to understand the trend in communication today and to promote and sustain a possible common European project as a response to the present crisis and what lies ahead. The question affects the whole Institute: a solution on the provincial or continental level would run the risk of being insufficiently prophetic and incisive.

The meeting had two parts. The first was analytic and involved seeing the digital world as a communications space with the help of the experts: Professor Silvano Petrosino, Bro Bernardino Frutuoso, Bro Alberto Lamana, Roberto Misas (by e-mail), Fr. Fabrizio Colombo, Fr. Giulio Albanese and Fr. Arlindo Pinto.

During the second part, operative approaches were set out “aware that the digital world is essential in order to dialogue and meet with the youth of today and also an increasing number of people”, and, as the Superiors also wrote in their letter written for the conclusion of the meeting of confreres working in the communications sector: “We need to learn to trust more in the younger generations and to collaborate and dialogue with them also in the world of the Web. The motto of Comboni ‘Save Africa with Africa’ could also be expressed as: Save the youth with the youth”.

Golden Jubilee of priesthood

On 26 June last, Fr. Bruno Tonolli, a native of Cazzano di Brentonico (Trent), celebrated fifty years of priestly life. Six of these he spent in Mozambique, 33 in Brazil and he is now in Verona, Italy, in a small community where they have perpetual adoration and hear confessions.

For the occasion, Fr. Bruno wrote a letter to his friends in which, with a brief account of his missionary years, he tells of the beauty and peacefulness of his life during which he met so many people who were models of generosity and of having the joy of seeing today Brazilian priests in the parishes of that country where he worked.

The “Angelo Narducci” Prize awarded to Fr. Giulio Albanese

The “Angelo Narducci” Prize, 2016, has been awarded to Fr. Giulio Albanese in Lerici, during the celebration of the daily newspaper Avvenire, on Wednesday, 3 August. It is an annual prize that Avvenire, the Diocese of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato and the parish of Lerici award to a Catholic person distinguished especially in the field of journalism and communications. It takes its name from Angelo Narducci who was a historical director of “Avvenire” during the first years of its existence (the sixties) and who died suddenly in 1984.

Ongoing formation activities

Fr. V. Milani writes: “The priority most often noted for a new way to approach Formation – and Ongoing Formation especially – invites the Church and religious Institutes to intensify their efforts not only to resolve but also to prevent the problems that emerge in the ambit of the Institutes.

In this perspective, initiatives have been taken directly involving Fr. Giuseppe Crea. Particularly at the Salesian University, the Antonianum and the Teresianum where study seminars have been organised on the theme ‘Psychological fragility and vocational growth from the point of view of the pedagogy of mercy’. To this we may also add some formation activities carried out with men and women Superiors on some aspects of transcultural psychology that characterise the new scenarios of some Religious Institutes (Salesian men and women, the Sisters of St Giovanna Antida, the Rogationists). Furthermore, some more intensive psycho-educational workshops have been organised, especially for those internationally responsible for ongoing formation of the Friars Minor (at the General Curia, Rome), for the Rectors of inter-diocesan seminaries (at Assisi), the clergy of some dioceses of Puglia and Lazio. I am also collaborating with qualified psychological assistance for immigrant victims of torture which the Salesian University and Caritas have started in response to the missionary emergencies of recent months. Such psychological accompaniment could develop further given the present migrant emergency”.

A DVD “Tra il Vangelo e il Vudu” (Between the Gospel and Voodoo) was produced by Fondazione Nigrizia Onlus. It was made on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Comboni presence in the Province of Togo/Ghana/Benin. It lasts forty minutes with a significant filmed interview – perhaps the first – with Fr. Roberto Pazzi. The film was carried out by Massimiliano Troiani in Togo and Benin. Orders should be sent directly to Fondazione Nigrizia Onlus – Verona. Suggested contribution: 10 €.

PERU-CHILE

Maria Comboni RIP

At the age of 101 years, Ms Maria Comboni died in Lima in late July. She was born in Peru on 10 October, 1915, the daughter of Cleto Comboni, an Italian of the Gargnano (Brescia) branch of the Comboni family who emigrated to Peru in 1911. Cleto was called to arms and returned to Italy in 1915, leaving behind the pregnant mother of Maria Comboni. After the war, Cleto got married in Italy and had other children. Maria got married in Lima to Juan Rodríguez and they had three children: Kay, Tito and Mariella Rodríguez Comboni.

The first encounter between the Comboni Missionaries and this family took place in May, 1983, during a mission appeal. As the evening Mass was ending, a couple introduced themselves to Fr. Romeo Ballan and the husband said: “You spoke of someone called Comboni: my wife’s name is Maria Comboni!” It was then that there began a reciprocal process of exchanging information with the Italian Consulate and Comboni Archives to complete the Comboni family tree compiled by Fr. Cristoforo Tissot.

Since then, Fr. Romeo and other Comboni Missionaries, including some scholastics, maintained friendly and constant relations with Ms Maria and family up to her last days when Fr. Tomás Herreros, Superior of the Scholasticate, was called to administer the sacraments and then to conduct the funeral. Maria Comboni was a pious woman, faithful to her family where everyone – she herself, her husband and children – were proud to belong to the family of a saint.

POLONIA

Missionary exposition at WYD

The Comboni Missionaries, like the members of other religious Institutes, took part in the World Youth Day (WYD) 2016, at Krakow, with a missionary vocations exposition for the thousands of young people from all the continents who gathered in that Polish city. Fr. Guillermo Aguiñaga, a Mexican, who works in Warsaw (Poland) and Fr. Rafael Pérez, Secretary for Evangelisation in the Province of Spain, who works in Valencia, collaborated as volunteers in the WYD, in the logistics sector.

Having received all the necessary information during the previous week, Frs. Guillermo and Rafael sought to show the youth, by means of a life offered up to God, all the diversity and richness of charisms in following the Lord.

PORTUGAL

Comboni family Pilgrimage

Again this year, the Comboni Missionaries in Portugal organised the annual Comboni Family Pilgrimage to Fatima which took place on 30 July. The pilgrims, numbering about 2,000 – more than last year – found their way to Cova da Iria, from various parts of the country but especially from places where there are Comboni communities: Famalicão, Maia, Viseu, Calvão, Santarém and Lisbon.

On the morning of 30 July, the members of the great Comboni Family in Portugal attended a missionary reflection and meeting, coordinated by the Comboni Lay Missionaries, at the Paul VI Centre. Comboni Sr. Maria do Carmo Ribeiro gave the reflection on the theme of the pilgrimage: “Comboni and Mercy”. Music for the meeting was provided by the ‘Banda Missio’, directed by Fr. Leonel Claro. The members of the GIM – who walked about 90 km from Azambuja to Fatima – gave witness to the joy, communion and solidarity so evident in this unique experience.

After the meal and the Missionary Rosary in the Chapel of the Apparitions, Holy Mass was celebrated in the basilica of the Blessed Trinity, presided by Fr. Leonel Claro, who was about to leave for the mission in Chad. The celebration concluded with the missionary sending of Fr. Leonel and Fr. José Juan Valero who, having served for six years as novice master, will leave for Uganda where he formerly worked. The scholastic Ricardo Alberto Leite Gomes, who had recently completed his studies of theology in Italy, was sent for his two-year pastoral experience to South Africa.

Meeting of the Comboni Lay Missionaries

The European Assembly of the Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) took place from August 21 to 27 in Viseu, the mother-house of the Comboni Missionaries in Portugal. There were 74 adults and 22 children from Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Poland and Portugal taking part in the meeting. The Comboni Missionaries who work with the CLM in their respective countries were also present. Two representatives were invited from the Comboni Sisters and Comboni Seculars. It was a week with a detailed schedule of prayer, reflexion, sharing of experiences and relaxation.

The CLM organize their European assemblies every three years. The last European meeting took place in 2013 at Krakow, Poland.

The specific goals targeted at this assembly were: identity and vocation, formation, organization and coordination, economy and sustainability, communion and the Comboni family. The goal was to share the journey of every single group on every single theme. This sharing among people from different countries will aid CLM members to feel better united in their missionary vocation.

“The meeting would not have been possible – said Paula Ascensão – without the effort, availability and dedication of the Viseu community. The Comboni Missionaries opened their doors to us. It is thanks to them that the Portuguese CLM were able to welcome almost 100 European CLM here in our country. We are very thankful.”

Let us pray for our beloved dead

THE FATHERS: Anthony Oduho, of Fr. Louis Tony Okot Ochermoi (SS); Nicholas, of Fr. Michael Mumba Nyowani (TCH).

THE MOTHERS: Angela, of Fr. Carmine Curci (LP); Rita, of Fr. Piercarlo Mazza (I); Ines, of Bro Pietro Martin (MO).

THE BROTHERS: Mario, of Fr. Gino Stocchero (I); Ferdinando, of Mons. Cesare Mazzolari (†); Claude Francis of Fr. John Michael Converset (NAP); Aldo, of Fr. Renato Rosanelli (I); Enzo, of Fr. Marcello Trotta (I).

THE SISTERS: Argentina Maria, of Bro Domenico Cariolato (C); Tosca, of Fr. Giovanni Vedovato (I); Walburga, of Fr. Gimpl Herbert Heinz (DSP); Victorine, of the Sch. Ngonda Tollet Romain Rodolphe (RCA).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sr. M. Bertilla Cailotto; Sr. Elisa Maria Molteni; Sr. M. Hélène Abkarian; Sr. M. Elena Silvestri.

SECULAR COMBONI MISSIONARY: Redaelli Giulia (I).