Familia Comboniana 745 - October 2016

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

New General Council of the Comboni Missionary Sisters

We have received and happily publish the news of the new General Council of the Comboni Missionary Sisters, elected at the conclusion of their XX General Chapter:

Sr. Luigia Coccia, Superior General

Sr. Rosa Matilde Tellez Soto, General Councillor

Sr. Kudusan Debesai Tesfamicael, General Councillor

Sr. Eulalia Capdevila Enríquez, General Councillor

Sr. Ida Colombo, General Councillor

Specializations

As usual, this year some confreres are engaged in further studies to meet the various needs of the Institute and the Mission.

SPECIALISATIONS in ROME

Fr. Fessou Kokou Hola (Maurice (RCA): Diploma in Vocational Formation – 1 year.

Bro. Eluma Nsele Jacques (CN): Diploma in Vocational Formation - 1 year.

Fr. Kondo Komivi Antoine (TGB): Diploma in Vocational Formation - 1 year.

Fr. José Joaquim da Silva Araújo (MZ): Diploma in Vocational Formation – 1 year, in English at the Angelicum.

Bro. Adossi Koffissan Adékploví Matthias-Elie (MZ): Diploma in Vocational Formation – 1 year, in English at the Angelicum.

Fr. Jemil Araya Jemil (ER): Licentiate in Theology, specialising in Vocational Formation – 2 years.

Sc. Ndhlovu Justin (MZ): In the second year of studies for a Licentiate in Theology, specialising in Vocational Formation.

Fr. Munketalingi Edialambel Jean-Marie Noël (MZ): Licentiate in philosophy at the Antonianum - 2 years.

Fr. Aguilar Sánchez Víctor Manuel (C): Doctorate in Patristic Theology.

Fr. Bonandi Arturo(C): Licentiate in Biblical Theology.

Bro. Della Monica Simone (C): Concluding studies for a degree in Political science for cooperation and development.

Fr. Ghebrezghiabiher Woldehawariat Kidane (C): Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology.

Fr. Maku Joseph (U): In the third year of studies for a doctorate in Philosophy.

Fr. Innocenti Marco (ET): Concluding a thesis for a doctorate in Biblical Theology.

Fr. Mehari Abraha Iskias (ET): Concluding Licentiate in Missiology at the Urbaniana.

SPECIALISATIONS ELSEWHERE

Fr. Kasitomu James Milward (MZ): Parish Priest of Lirangwe – Master’s in Pastoral Theology at the Catholic University of Malawi - 2 years.

Fr. Idra Paul (SS): three-semester course for a Master’s in Sustainable Peace and Conflict Management at Uganda Martyrs University (Nkozi-Uganda).

Fr. Atitse Kokou Donatien (T): course for a Master’s in Moral Theology at the Institut Catholique de Paris - 2 years.

Fr. Jacques Monsengo recently successfully completed studies for a Master’s in counselling in Nairobi. He is already in the community to which he has been assigned, Magambe (Congo), to work in our Isidore Bakanja Spirituality Centre, using his talents for the benefit of the pastoral agents and the youth of Isiro. We congratulate him and wish him a fruitful apostolate at Isiro.

Perpetual professions

Holy Redeemer Guild

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

November        01 – 15 SS           16 – 30 T

Prayer Intentions

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.

November – That all Comboni Missionary men and women who have ended their journey on this earth may enjoy the vision of the Lord whom they always desired. Lord hear us.

CONGO

Perpetual vows and diaconal ordinations

Sc. Deogratias Nyumu pronounced perpetual vows at St. Anne’s, Isiro, on Sunday, 7 August, 2016. He will be ordained deacon by Mgr. Julien Andavo, Bishop of Isiro-Niangara, on Sunday, 9 October, 2016, again at St. Anne’s Parish, together with a diocesan candidate.

Sc. Franck Mandozi, at present on missionary service at Dar Comboni in Cairo (Egypt) where he is studying Arabic and Islamology, has taken perpetual vows on Sunday, 9 October, 2016, at Sacred heart Parish, a Comboni parish that assists Sudanese refugees, and will be ordained deacon in Cairo on 14 October, 2016.

Bro. Patrick Lomami, presently preparing for the event, will take perpetual vows in Kinshasa on 20 November, 2016.

DSP

The sale of the Missionary House of Mellatz

As far back as the late eighties, the future use of the Mellatz house was being considered. It is only now that the Provincial Council succeeded in coming to a definitive decision. These are the details: the Combonis are no longer the owners of the house but will still keep a small community there. The new owner is a farmer of the region who, for many years, had rented the land belonging to the house. The sale was completed by contract on 8 September 2016.

The house will be restructured and transformed into a “common dwelling” with space for the small Comboni community, some families and some single people, each group with their own apartment. Preference will be given to people interested in spiritual sharing, interreligious dialogue and mutual support.

The community of the faithful (Gottesdienstgemeinde) that was formed over many years around the Comboni community and which meets on Sundays and holydays to celebrate the Eucharist, will still be able to do so and will be assisted by the Comboni Missionaries.

The other religious and pastoral work, hitherto carried out by the community and their collaborators, will be reduced as there will be no overnight accommodation for guests. The community will host one-day conferences, cultural meetings, retreats and the like; it will continue to minister to our group of friends and benefactors who form the Holy Redeemer Guild.

These activities will be carried on under the motto “Daniel Comboni House – A Home for the World”. The house will also host retired diocesan priests and priests who had worked as missionaries and wish to share their personal ecclesial, cultural and social experiences. The house may also interest the Comboni Lay Missionaries and “Ad Tempus Missionaries”. Restructuring will commence in January, 2017. The Comboni community will be gradually closed.

“Ad Tempus Missionaries” leave for the mission

Fifteen young “Ad tempus missionaries” left for the mission this year and will work in Comboni and Salvatorian projects. The Combonis, together with the Salvatorians, began offering this form of voluntary service in January, 2016: the two Institutes train together the candidates who will later work together on mission: some with the Combonis and some with the Salvatorians.

Of the fifteen young people who left this year, seven went to Comboni missions: Paula and Katharina work in a school in Alenga, Uganda; Judith helps out in Matany hospital, Uganda; Nikolai is working in Kacheliba Secondary School, Kenya; Lena works in St. Daniel Comboni Kindergarten in Arequipa, Peru; Miriam and Elisabeth assist the “House of Talents” opened by Fr. Juan Goicochea for the youth of the poor quarters that surround the Comboni parish of Chorillos/Lima. The Salvatorian “Missionaries Ad Tempus” are working in the Philippines and in Tanzania.

PORTUGAL

Provincial Assembly

The Comboni Missionaries in Portugal gathered for their annual provincial Assembly from 6 to 10 September, 2016, at the Viseu Mother House. Forty one members of the Province took part, joined on the last day by representatives of various groups and movements that share the Comboni charism. The Spanish Comboni Province was represented by a member of the Secretariat for Ongoing Formation.

The theme for reflection, in the light of the orientations of the last General Chapter was: “Comboni Missionary disciples called to live the joy of the Gospel in Portugal today”. While reflecting on some topics and how to live in these situations – Mission, the Person, Provincial reorganisation – in Portugal today, and bearing in mind the resources available, the three days were spent seeking to produce a Six-year Plan to be concluded by the Provincial Council.

On the final day, representatives of the lay groups present shared their enthusiasm for the work they do every day as they seek to bring to others the joy of the mission according to the Comboni charism.

SOUTH AFRICA

Comboni missionaries reflect on urban ministry in Africa

The Comboni missionaries from seven provinces of English-speaking Africa and Mozambique (APDESAM) gathered from 5 to 10 September, 2016, in Pretoria, for a workshop on Urban Ministry. They were joined by four lay women from two urban parishes of the Comboni missionaries in South Africa. Fr. Mariano Tibaldo, General Secretary for Evangelization, represented the Curia of Rome.

During the six days’ workshop, Bro. Alberto Parise, main facilitator, helped the participants to share on their urban ministry experiences. The goal of the workshop was to identify and develop together our Comboni ministerial approach to urban ministry in Africa.

Inspired and guided by Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium, the participants were exposed to some urban ministerial realities in the suburbs of Pretoria and Johannesburg and received some inputs on the trends of urban ministry in the context of South Africa as well as other provinces and Sub-Sahara Africa. The process of urbanization of Africa is fast developing and new challenges of new cultures and subcultures are emerging. Pastoral responses to face these challenges are urgently required.

The participants, once they agreed on some workable goals and guiding principles of urban ministry, planned how to share and study their implementation in their own places of ministry.

International Journalism Awards

The International Award for Promoting Dialogue – the Titus Brandsma Award 2016 – has been awarded to “Worldwide” magazine, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The award was instituted in memory of Blessed Titus Brandsma (1881-1942), a Dutch Carmelite who was also a journalist. He was killed in a Nazi concentration camp in Germany during the Second War. The international awards enhance and make journalistic and media works more valuable in diverse fields; by helping to guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of the media at all levels in spite of different types of pressures; by upholding solid values, ideals and ethics and set norms for the much needed exposure of realities, attitudes in reporting, and for leading to lasting solutions.

The editor of “Worldwide” magazine, Fr. Joseph Rebelo and his team members, work to guarantee greater understanding and respect among peoples, cultures, religions and faiths. If you go through the past issues of the magazine, you can find that its journalists take profound reality checks to guarantee a positive approach, exploring origins, cultures, contexts and conventions worldwide.

The magazine considers the whole world one family in order to give respect and dignity to nations and peoples in all corners of the globe, transcending artificial barriers and walls.

SOUTH SUDAN

Promoting peace in schools

A group of over fifty students, boys and girls from four different Juba secondary schools, attended a trauma-healing and peace-building workshop in Juba on Saturday, 17 September. The workshop was held at Comboni House and was organised by the Vocation Promotion team in collaboration with the Justice and Peace Office of the Comboni Missionaries in South Sudan. The aims of this workshop were firstly to offer young people some psycho-social support and help them to overcome the traumas of war; secondly to encourage them to become engaged in peace-building activities in their schools and communities.

By drawing insights from traditions and religions, particularly from Christianity, facilitators used a holistic popular approach to trauma healing. This made the workshop more participative, playful and prayerful. It was also an occasion to promote Christian vocations among the students.

The participants evaluated the experience as positive and said they would apply what they learnt to both their personal and community life and be agents of peace.

TOGO-GHANA-BENIN

Francophone Africa VP/BF/OGF Assembly

The Continental Assembly for Formation in Francophone Africa was held at St. Daniel Comboni Novitiate, Cotonou, Benin, from 20 to 30 August. In line with the 2015 Chapter, the meeting gathered together the leaders of formation in the circumscriptions of Congo, Central Africa, Chad and Togo-Ghana-Benin.

During those ten days, the vocations promoters and formators of the pre-postulancy, postulancy, novitiate and scholasticate, as well as the co-ordinators of OGF, considered how best to offer a qualified service for the good of the Institute within the vision proposed by the Chapter.

The central theme was: “Towards a common vision of life-long Comboni formation”. The participants endeavoured to familiarise themselves with the directives of the Institute, the new Ratio Fundamentalis, sharing experiences and challenges encountered in daily reality. In a very friendly atmosphere, by means of reports, debates and group work, various concrete proposals were formulated which, through the Continental Formation Council, will be presented to the Council of Superiors of Francophone Circumscriptions.

We also tackled the theme of interculturality, as a moment of ongoing formation for the Assembly, drawing inspiration from the Chapter (CA 2015, No. 47) and assisted in our reflection by Fr Domenico Guigbile, a priest of the diocese of Dapaong (Togo) and professor at the University of Kara and in the Seminaries of Togo (Philosophy and Theology).

There were 24 confreres present at the Assembly, including Fr. John Baptist Opargiw, General Secretary for Formation, Fr. Fermo Bernasconi, co-ordinator of the Central Commission for OGF, Fr. Girolamo Miante, Provincial Superior of TGB, co-ordinator of Basic Formation and Fr. Fidèle Katsan (TC), co-ordinator of OGF in the Francophone circumscriptions.

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Let us pray for our beloved dead

THE MOTHER: Giuseppina, of Fr. Franco Barin (CN).

THE BROTHERS: Vittorio, of Bro. Gino (I) and Bro. Guerrino Baldo (KE); Noè, of the Sc. Paluku Vindu Moïse (CN).

THE SISTERS: Elisabeth Kiemel, of Fr. Bernhard Riegel (DSP); Asamenech, of the Sc. Tesema Habtamu Masresha (ET).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sr. M. Vanda Torcolacci; Sr. M. Celestina Milani; Sr. Leopoldina Caldera; Sr. Maria Rosa Piva.