Familia Comboniana 748 - January 2017

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

GENERAL NOTES

CONSULTA DECEMBER 2016

1. Appointments effective on 1 January 2017

1.1. Following the restructuring process, the GC appoints

- Fr. Mariano Tibaldo General Secretary of the new General Secretariat of the Mission

- and Fr. John Baptist Opargiw Keraryo General Secretary of the new General Secretariat of Formation.

Both secretariats are made up of members who are resident in Rome and of councils (formation and mission) consisting of confreres proposed by the continents or sub-continents and appointed by the GC.

1.2. It also appoints

- Fr. Arlindo Ferreira Pinto in charge of the restructured General Communications Service

- and Fr. Fermo Bernasconi in charge of the restructured General Service for the Accompaniment of the Confreres.

1.3. The GC also appoints Fr. Antonio Guirao Casanova Personal Secretary to Fr. General.

1.4. The GC also appoints as members of the Commission for the celebrations of the 150^th anniversary of the Foundation of the Comboni Institute Fr. Rogelio Bustos Juárez (co-ordinator), Bro. Alberto Lamana, Fr. Claudio Lurati, Fr. Mariano Tibaldo and Fr. Venanzio Milani (of the Italian Province).

1.5 Lastly, the GC appoints

- Fr. Stefano Giudici as Superior and first formator of the Nairobi scholasticate

- and Fr. José Joaquim Luis Pedro as second formator ad interim of that scholasticate until the end of the current scholastic year (May, 2017)

2. Postponements

The CG, in order to be able to do further discernment and dialogue during the next meeting of circumscription superiors, has decided to postpone until the March 2017 Consulta:

• The appointment of the commission for the revision of the Rule of Life (CA ’15, 50.1)
• Indications regarding amalgamations (AC ’15, 72)
• The approval ad experimentum (2017-2019) of the statutes of the two new general Secretariats for the mission and for formation
• The complete organisation chart of the General Administration and the necessary changes to the directorial part of the Rule of Life 140-143.

3. Programme

The GC is furthermore planning a brief Consulta for 1 February, 2017, during which, among other things, the appointments of the new vice-provincials and vice-delegates will be made.

Specializations

Fr. Marco Innocenti, on 19 December, 2016, was awarded a doctorate in theology at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome, defending a dissertation entitled “THE ETHIOPIAN COMMENTARY ’AND?MTA ON MT 1-4, Presentation and critical examination”. Congratulations.

Perpetual Professions

Bro. Ayih Teko Fafa D. J.-C. Pierre (SS)        Lomé (T)    03.12.2016

Ordinations to the priesthood

Fr. Amegnaglo Yaotse-Mensah (Jean Nestor) (T) Lomé (T) 17.12.2016

Fr. Dofonnou Dodji Emeric Lionel (T)               Lomé (T) 17.12.2016

Holy Redeemer Guild

January            01 – 15 A             16 – 31 BR

February          01 – 15 C             16 – 28 EGSD

Prayer Intentions

January – That the young people may allow themselves to be challenged by the quest for meaning they bear in their hearts and may encounter witnesses to Christ who will show them the path of the Gospel. Lord hear us.

February – That the decisions, the plans and the commitments taken during General Chapters, Assemblies and Continental meetings may be put into practice with enthusiasm and determination. Lord hear us.

CURIA

We here publish part of the letter of Fr. A. Baritussio from Brazil

I am writing to remind you that, despite being far away, despite the changes in climate and the food, I am still «alive» and hoping somehow to come home again. Community here is but a pious wish, at least as far as I am concerned, being always on the move and with the odour of Amazonia or the smell of Archives and documents about me. As you will have noticed, my plans to conclude the Ramin Process and my return collapsed right when the end was in sight, seemingly just around the corner, bringing me down to earth with a bang and back and to the timescale that I thought was the same for everyone but was, in fact, very different.

The first short flight, with a soft landing, was planned for 25 May but then more time was needed to hear all the witnesses. Among other things, I found that those we might consider of least account, the simplest, the so-called «poor souls», are the most surprising. Having to visit them in their homes obliged me to postpone everything until 26 October. Then, another surprise. If you may try to somehow manage those who may scarcely have finished primary school and have a mine of previous experiences and sufferings, the professors and technicians whom you really need, and are only too well aware of their contractual power, continually ask you to delay matters and they oblige you to postpone the completion of the work to an ever later date. Very reluctantly, I had accepted 11 December as the final deadline. Instead, I was forced to agree to 4 March, 2017. I had very little room to manoeuvre and so I was obliged to stay here and make the best of a difficult job.

Despite everything, I accept it all because I feel that this Lele Cause is worth it for the Institute and the Church. The poor peasants and the Indios and, I must add, the Church in Brazil and the youth of this place support it and show they believe in this figure as a vehicle of values in a time when values are scarce, a time of unrestrained individualism and uncertain options. On 26 October, the deadline that was afterwards put back, the youth of the diocese of Ji-Paraná came just the same and spent twenty-four hours in prayer and confessions before the blood-soaked shirt that Lele had worn the day he was killed.

PERU

Episcopal Ordination of Msgr. Barrera Pacheco

On 18 December, 2016, Msgr. Luis Alberto Barrera Pacheco was consecrated Bishop of Tarma. The feast began at nine in the morning with a long procession through the streets of Lima in which the delegations from the 18 parishes of the diocese took part. The acclamations of the people showed their joy at having a Comboni bishop as successor to Msgr. Richard Alarcón, the fifth bishop of Tarma.

Msgr. Lucho (as he is known by everyone) first went to the church of the “Sagrario” to entrust to the Lord his new ministry, accompanied by numerous other bishops. Fourteen of them attended the celebration. After a solemn session together, at 11.00, all the bishops and about a hundred priests headed for the cathedral for the Mass led by Pedro Barreto, Metropolitan Archbishop of Ayacucho, assisted by Msgr. Salvador Piñeiro, Archbishop of Ayacucho and Msgr. Miguel Cabrejos, Archbishop of Trujillo, members of the Episcopal Conference of Peru. Msgr. Richard, Mons. Lucho’s predecessor was of course also present, together with Msgr. Lucho’s parents and many of his relatives.

After the celebration, Assistant General Fr. Rogelio Bustos Juárez, who had come from Rome to represent the General Council, addressed the congregation. Fr. Rogelio read Fr. General’s letter of felicitations expressing the joy of having a Peruvian Comboni bishop.

Msgr. Piñeiro took the opportunity to thank Bro. Kuno Stösser who worked for many years in the diocese of Tarma – from 1955 to 1984 – and directed the building works of the impressive shrine of Muruhuay.

The day after his consecration, Msgr. Lucho, went to Huasahuasi for the Golden Jubilee of the parish that was founded by Fr. Josef Pfanner before he was elected Vicar General at the MFSC Chapter in 1967.

TOGO-GHANA-BENIN

Perpetual Vows

On 3 December, 2016, the feast of St Francis Xavier, Patron Saint of the Missions, at the parish church of Christ the King in Kodjoviakope, Lomé, Bro. Pierre Fafa Ayih celebrated his Perpetual Profession in the Comboni Institute. The Eucharist was presided over by Fr. Girolamo Miante, Provincial Superior who concelebrated with various confreres and diocesan priests. His family, friends and the Christian community gathered in prayer and to praise God for the missionary “yes” of Bro. Pierre: a “yes” to a lifetime among the poor of South Sudan where he has been involved for some years. Fr. Miante, taking the Word of God from the readings, stressed the marvels that the Lord continues to work through the proclamation of the Gospel by means of concrete people like Pierre, despite our fragility and weaknesses. Bro Pierre, he said, had already experienced the hard times of war, the mission destroyed, the suffering of the people: what he saw did not discourage but, rather, strengthened his vocation to make a gift of himself for life. This is a beautiful testimony for Kodjoviakope, the first Comboni mission in Togo since our arrival in 1964. The parish is still missionary: the first Comboni of the Province, now in heaven, was Fr. Jean Pierre Legonou, the ripe fruit of an active and fecund missionary presence. Other confreres followed: Fr. Donatien Atitse, Fr. Victor Kouande and today Bro. Pierre. We also have Fr. Victor Kouande who is the first Togolese Provincial Superior who began his service on 1^st January, 2017. We can only thank God for this marvel-filled missionary presence!

Ordinations to the Priesthood

At the parish church of St Teresa of the Child Jesus in Kégué, in the outskirts of Lomé, on Saturday, 17 December, the Togolese Comboni deacons Nestor Amegnaglo and Lionel Dofonnou were ordained to the priesthood. A further fourteen deacons of the Archdiocese of Lomé were also ordained by Msgr. Denis Amuzu Dzakpah, Archbishop of the capital. An immense crowd and a large group of priests accompanied in prayer and joy this ecclesial event: a gift for the Local Church and the whole world. The Archbishop underlined the importance of a life in Christ that is given to Him to enable one to give himself to all in the ministry, there wherever the Lord invites and wills it. An invitation to live faithfully the gift of the priesthood nourished by an intense spiritual life. Fr. Jean Nestor and Fr. Lionel will commence their priestly ministry in Togo and Brazil, respectively: by so doing they will witness to their faith and their missionary enthusiasm through the charism of St Daniel Comboni.

Let us pray for our beloved dead

THE MOTHERS: Alejandrina, of Bro. Santos de la Cruz González (M); Ghedit Fadega Melhik, of Fr. Alazar Abraha (KE); Palmina, of Fr. Sergio Agustoni (I); Jovita Serrano, of Fr. José Antonio Delgado Serrano (M).

THE BROTHER: David, of Fr. Paul Michael Donohue (NAP).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sr. Sandrina Maccà; Sr. M. Virginia Sala; Sr. Mary Carmen Zinni.