Familia Comboniana 766 – September 2018

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Fr. Raphael P’Mony Wokorach, having reached the end of his term as Apostolic Visitor to the Congregation of the Apostles of Jesus, has been asked by the Congregation for Consecrated Life and Societies of Consecrated Life (CIVCSVA) to assume the office of Pontifical Commissioner of the same Institute of diocesan right, whose headquarters is in the Archdiocese of Nairobi (Kenya).

Perpetual professions

Sc. Kelly Wamalwa (KE)	Nakwamekwi (KE)	25/05/2018
Sc. James Mwamba (MZ)	Nairobi (KE)	29/06/2018
Sc. Mose Chrisantus Keengwe (KE)	Nairobi (KE)	29/06/2018
Sc. De Sousa Borges R. Ricardo (BR)	Orange Farm (RSA)	07/07/2018
Sc. Alohoungo Abib A. Sylvain (T)	S. Franc. del Rincón (Mex)	21/07/2018
Sc. Sakie Tchawe (Noel) (T)	Lomé (TG)	03/08/2018
Sc. Luna Sánchez Jonathan A. (PE)	Lima (PE)	04/08/2018

Priestly ordinations

Fr. Owino James Marcellus (U)	Soroti (UG)	07/07/2018
Fr. Anyaja Pious (U)	Moyo (UG)	28/07/2018
Fr. Esseh Kossi Michel (T)	Lomé (TG)	04/08/2018
Fr. Banda Archangel (MZ)	Chipata (Z)	04/08/2018

Holy Redeemer Guild

September               01 – 15 NAP      16 – 30 PCA

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

Prayer intentions

September – That we may understand that the present environmental crisis is also a social crisis and that it is important to educate the new generations in the universal values of tolerance, respect, dialogue and critical discernment in the use of goods. Lord hear us.

October – That missionaries may always be bearers of Good News both in word and in deed, as builders of brotherhood and justice. Lord hear us.

Publications

Quaderni di Limone, Missione e interculturalità. La prassi interculturale come sfida missionaria, Aprile 2018, Numero 11. These are the Acts of the XII Symposium, four days of reflection held at Limone sul Garda from 3 to 6 April. “The annual rendezvous at the natal house of the Founder – as we read at the start of the introductory article – underlines the importance of promoting intercultural places and spaces in the Church and in society for just and fraternal co-existence”.

Fr. Pietro Bracelli, Brasile. Un popolo – Una missione, ed. Polaris, Sondrio 2018. The text, illustrated with a number of photos, rather than a reflection, as pointed out in his presentation by Mons. Cantoni is an attempt to transmit “the feelings and emotions of a life of mission in Brazil: scattered notes, flowing thoughts, images, invitations… let us accept the stimuli: is the invitation I address to those who read this simple but far from banal book”.

Fr. Rafael Vigolo, Pe. Ezequiel Ramin. Testemunha de um amor sem limites, Alô Mundo-Sem Fronteiras, São Paulo, June 2018. This is a collection of writings and letters of Fr. Ramin from 1971 almost until the day he was killed. “Fr. Ezekiel’s style – Fr. Arnaldo Baritussio writes in the preface – is similar to that of the Impressionists: rapid and incisive brush-strokes of paint that reveal the dramatic situation of a missionary who feels, analyses and describes the reality from within … no mere objectivity or cold facts but burning coals that inflame the heart”. “A life that has a dream is a happy life – Fr. Ramin would say, speaking to school children – a life that has a dream is renewed every day … It is wonderful to dream of making the whole of humanity happy. It is not impossible”.

Fr. Raffaello Savoia, Historia de la Pastoral Afroamericana en la Iglesia, ed. CELAM, Bogotá 2018. This book re-lives five centuries of Afro-American history, underling “the rich spiritual and community patrimony that lies beneath the resistance of the past and the leading role assumed by the Afro populations today”.

LATIN AMERICA

Continental meeting

The Comboni delegates of Latin America (provincial mission secretaries and others) met at Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) on 8 and 9 July to share on the missionary work in the circumscriptions of Latin America, increase collaboration and form the Continental Mission Council. The meeting preceded the V American Missionary Congress (CAM) by a few days.

On the first day, after sharing missionary experiences and the priorities of the circumscriptions, the meeting tried to evaluate the continental priorities while the General Secretary for the Mission (SGM), Fr. Mariano Tibaldo, showed the work of the Secretariat and proposed a way by which the various mission secretariats could collaborate with the SGM.

On the following day, pathways of work and collaboration were set out. Fr. Dario Bossi presented the REPAM social network (Red Eclesial PanAmazonica). In the afternoon, Fr. Tibaldo presented some points for reflection taken from the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. In conclusion, the new continental mission council (CCM) was formed. This council is an instrument of continental dialogue but it is also a help towards putting into practice the proposals of the sector continental assemblies in the situations of the various circumscriptions.

In his letter to the participants, Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse, Superior General, underlined how important it is that the continental meeting of Comboni delegates and the CAM should have positive consequences in the various circumscriptions that translate into the commitment to animate the confreres in the passion for the mission, encouraging them to collaborate at all levels; the ability to collaborate and to live in communion is, certainly, the modern face of mission.

V Latin-American Missionary Congress

The CAM-COMLA was also held at Santa Cruz de la Sierra, from 10 to 14 July, accommodated at the Don Bosco College. Eighteen Combonis took part, one of whom was Fr. Mariano Tibaldo, General Secretary of the Mission. The theme reflected the message of the exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: “The joy of the Gospel, the heart of the prophetic mission and fount of reconciliation and communion”. The motto, “America on a Mission, the Gospel of Joy”, pointed to the main objective which was “to reinforce the Ad Gentes identity and missionary commitment of the Church in Latin America to proclaim the Gospel of joy to all the people with particular attention to the peripheries of the world of today at the service of a more just, sharing and fraternal society”.

There were four main thematic lines: the Gospel, missionary joy, mission-reconciliation and mission-prophecy. The CAM, Fr. Mariano stressed, was the crowning of five years of hard work, work that was truly capillary, in which the parish and diocesan groups of the various national churches participated.

During prayers on the third day, the saints of each country were remembered and the figure representing Brazil was Fr. Ezekiel Ramin.

Also on the third day, a day of meetings, the Comboni missionary bishop Mons. Vittorino Girardi intervened underlining the necessity for the continental Church to be open to the Ad gentes mission because, as Pope Francis says, “The work of evangelisation is the paradigm of all the work of the Church”. Mons. Girardi also said that “also in the American continent we have broad spaces for mission”, repeating provocatively that “An Amerindian Church of indigenous people has yet to be born”.

BRASIL

Fr. Ezekiel and Sr. Dorothy, witnesses to a life for others

“There are many Ezekiels who even today continue to be sacrificed because they defend our Common Home” Fr. Dario Bossi, the provincial superior, said during the III “Fr. Ezekiel Pilgrimage”, that took place during the week-end of 21-22 July 2018, in conjunction with the XIII “Pilgrimage of the Forest” in Anapú (PA) and with the XI “Pilgrimage of Earth and Water” of Rondónia, in Rondolândia, all of which had the purpose of remembering two great missionaries who came to Amazzonia to defend the lives of the poorest: Sr. Dorothy Stang, born in the USA, and Fr. Ezekiel Ramin.

The memory of Fr. Ezekiel is still very much alive in Amazzonia and in the life of the people of Brazil through different initiatives named after him: schools, rural family housing, projects of local development, agreements on agrarian reform, roads etc. The decision of the town council of Rondolândia to declare 24 July a public holiday to mark the day when Ezekiel was killed, is further proof of this.

Fr. Dario stressed that “Fr. Ezekiel is not an isolated hero but the child of a Church, the post-conciliar Church, that of Medellin, Puebla… which made a clear option for the poor, a Church that is close to the indigenous peoples and the landless men and women workers”.

“We must have the same attitudes as those that characterised the lives of those who, today, are seen as witnesses of a Church that is poor and for the poor. In this sense – Fr. Dario affirmed – one important aspect of Fr. Ezekiel was his option for non-violence in a time in which the inability to listen to one another produces arrogance and ever more violent clashes. Ezekiel is a witness to the gift of life right to the end, also before adversaries and people who opposed him with the threat of arms; he is a witness to the radical choice of a young man who decided to love to the end. He is a model for the young people who, even today, want to live life with passion and meaning. As Fr. Ezekiel used to say: ‘Have the passion of one who follows a dream’”.

COLOMBIA

Meeting on Afro Pastoral

The meeting of Comboni men and women working in Afro Pastoral (EPA) was held on 21 and 22 July 2018 at the Cali Major Seminary, in Colombia. Those present: Sr. Daniela Maccari (Ecuador), Fr. Franco Nascimbene (Colombia), Bro. Abel Dimanche (Ecuador), Bro. Alberto Degan (Colombia), Fr. Daniele Zarantonello (Colombia), Fr. Raffaello Savoia (Colombia), Fr. Mateo Téllez Zapata (Colombia), Fr. Endrias Shamena Keriba (Colombia), Fr. Bernardin Anoumou Mossi Kuami (Brazil), Fr. Elysée Laye (Perù) and Fr. Fufa Ensermu Wakuma (Colombia).

Superior General Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse wrote a letter to the participants in which, with reference to the theme of the EPA, centred upon ‘spirituality, the transforming power of reality’, he stressed that “There can be no commitment to the transformation of the reality if it is not sustained by a deep spirituality that motivates action and provides hope when things are difficult”. It is, he added, a question of working that the Afro population may become the protagonist of their own history and change the situation of marginalisation. At the end of his letter he recalled how the Combonis were among the founders of the Afro pastoral meetings which, on the American continent, are one of the Comboni priorities.

The confreres discussed the work they are doing in Afro Pastoral (PA). Some are working in existential and geographic peripheries marked by violence and injustice pervaded by bands of drug traffickers and paramilitaries. There is a notable effort in the formation of leaders, in dialogue with traditional Afro religions, especially in Brazil and in the search for an inculturated Biblical catechesis. In some countries (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador) the Comboni Missionaries founded Afro cultural centres; it is therefore important that these centres should form a network.

The PA Continental Plan – called PAC, Comboni Afro Pastoral, that was drafted for the first time at the Guayaquil meeting of 2010, was re-read. The assembly elected the PA continental team consisting of Fr. Raffaello Savoia, Bro. Abel Dimanche, Fr. Eliseo Laye and Fr. Bernardin Anoumou Mossi Kuami. The team will be in office for three years and will be led by Fr. Savoia.

The meeting was concluded with the intervention of Fr. Mariano Tibaldo (SGM) who spoke of the American Missionary Congress in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) and of some questions regarding the priorities of the continent.

CONGO

Laudato Si’ Missionary Centre opens

From 23 to 25 August 2018, a brief meeting was held in Kinshasa on the theme “Together to protect our common home”, for the purpose of launching the activities of the Laudato Si’ Missionary Centre.

The Centre is a Comboni work and engages in animation, formation and research on the protection of the environment and safeguarding creation.

During the meeting in which personalities of the ecclesial world, civil society and some representatives of the government took part, various themes were considered. The first day was devoted to the general and missionary context of the Centre and its organisation. The interventions on the second day were concerned with the economy of the Encyclical. Finally, on the third day an analysis was made of the lines of work and collaboration in the lasting management of natural resources and the challenges raised by the actualisation of Laudato Si’ from the perspective of inter-ecclesial and international.

CURIA

In memory of Bro. Alfredo Fiorini

It is by now customary for the Alfredo Fiorini Association NGO, founded by his classmates of the Leonardo Da Vinci School in Terracina, to commemorate the memory of Bro. Alfredo Fiorini’s death. In the context of the initiatives organised by the Association for the 26th anniversary of his death, 24 August 2018, a Mass was celebrated in the parish church of Saint Dominic Savio.

Fr. Piergiorgio Prandina was the main celebrant at the Mass with Fr. Arlindo Pinto, Fr. Alcides Costa and six diocesan priests concelebrating. Also present at the Mass was Mozambican scholastic Moisés Zacarias.

During his homily, Fr. Arlindo, who met Bro. Alfredo personally in Rome soon after his appointment to the province of Mozambique, in June 1989, said: “Our friend Alfredo was probably killed by Renamo guerrillas on 24 August 1992 at Muiravale, in Mozambique. He was 37 years old. His killing took place on the same road where, on 3 January 1985, the Comboni Sister Teresa Dalle Pezze had been killed”. He also invited all those present – among whom were Alfredo’s parents Elio Fiorini and Tilde Braconi – “to rediscover the roots of the proclamation we have received to go out of ourselves to retransmit it by word and by charity to all the peoples and especially to our most needy brothers and sisters both within and beyond the borders of Italy”.

The Alfredo Fiorini Association NGO, as is customary, organised an evening dedicated to Bro. Alfredo entitled “The Stars of Alfredo”, in Piazza Santa Domitilla, there in Terracina. The theme this year was that of immigration entitled “Extraordinary welcomes and welcoming extraordinarily”. The evening concluded with a concert by “Muiravale Free Town”, a group called after the locality in Mozambique where Bro. Alfredo was killed.

The Association is continuing with different initiatives such as a project called “New Doctors for Mozambique” which has helped six capable but financially limited young Mozambicans to obtain degrees in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Beira, without having to go abroad.

ETHIOPIA

AMECEA Bishops celebrate ethnic diversity

On 15 July 2018, at the Don Bosco Centre, there was the official opening of the XIX Plenary Assembly of the Association of the Members of the Episcopal Conferences of East Africa (AMECEA). Around 200 Catholic bishops from nine African countries took part in the inaugural Eucharist in the Catholic Ethiopian rite. The main celebrant was Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, Archbishop of Addis Ababa and current AMECEA president.

The opening of the Assembly coincided with the historic visit of the Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki.

As he welcomed the delegates, Cardinal Berhaneyesus Souraphiel stressed the fact “That this historic event should take place precisely at the time of the plenary assembly is surprising we thank for it”.

The visit of the Eritrean President to the Ethiopian capital to meet the new Ethiopian Premier Abiy Ahmed, as a gesture of the renewed friendship between the two countries, after the peace accord signed in Asmara on 9 July, comes at the end of twenty years of war and tension.

Sharing the joy of the Ethiopians who took to the streets of Addis Ababa waving flags of the two countries, the Cardinal said that, nine months previously, the AMECEA had sent a high-level representation of the Solidarnosc Team to visit Eritrea and that “It is a great joy to reconciliation, peace and unity between the people of both countries is becoming a reality. We are happy to hold this Plenary Assembly in Addis Ababa where many have come besides the Episcopal Conferences of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan and South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia (members of AMECEA) and also Djibouti and Somalia which are affiliated members”.

Concluding his homily, the Cardinal invited the political leader of South Sudan to follow the example of the two presidents of Ethiopia and Eritrea so that the people of God living in South Sudan may also reach a lasting solution in peace and unity.

KENYA

Golden Jubilee and ordinations to the Diaconate

The Province of Kenya has recently been blessed with several moments of grace including a new house, a Golden Jubilee of ordination and three ordinations to the diaconate.

On 28 April, the province opened a community for missionary animation at Embakasi, Nairobi. The house, with eight rooms, was built by the Christians of Embakasi and officially blessed by Cardinal John Njue of the Archdiocese of Nairobi.

On 26 May, the scholastic Kelly Wamalwa, of Kenya, was ordained deacon in the parish of Nakwamekwi, in the diocese of Lodwar where our confreres have been working among the Turkana since 2003, in an area of first evangelisation. Kelly’s ordination to the diaconate was followed by those of James Mwamba of Zambia, and Mose Chrisantus Keengwe, of Kenya. The two scholastics took perpetual vows on 29 June and were ordained deacons the following day, in the Comboni parish of the Holy trinity in Kariobangi, Nairobi.

On 29 June, Fr. Claudio Longhi celebrated his Golden Jubilee of ordination and presided at Mass while Fr. Radol Austine Odhiambo, provincial superior, delivered the homily in which he challenged the newly-professed to live faithfully their consecration in a society of rapid change and thanked Fr. Claudio for his service in the province and the Institute.

We also congratulate Fr. Santiago Jiménez whose Golden Jubilee was on the same day. He was on home leave at the time and so could not be present.

These events were attended by the faithful of Kariobangi, many relatives and friends, various religious and the Comboni family in Nairobi.

LONDON PROVINCE

Continental Assembly of Formation (Europe)

“Mission and Youth in Europe today” was the theme of the European Assembly for formation and youth pastoral and vocations ministry which was held in Sunningdale (England) from 3 to 10 July 2018. Eighteen participants representing all the Circumscriptions, Poland and the General Secretariat of Formation, met to share and discuss common questions and to evaluate and strengthen their common journey in this sector.

The main purpose of the Assembly on continental formation was to offer the participants a moment of on-going formation. This objective was attained through the presentations by various relators and the fraternal atmosphere of the Assembly. Two relators underlined the present situation of youth in Europe and the mission of the Comboni Missionaries in Europe today. There followed a reflection on the implementation of the directives of the previous Continental Assembly for Formation held in Nuremberg in 2016. We then took a panoramic view of the present situation of the Comboni vocation and formation, taking into consideration both basic formation and the praxis of the model of integration in on-going formation.

This Assembly occurred at a moment in which the Universal Church is preparing to celebrate the Synod of Bishops on youth, faith and vocational discernment. It was a concrete cum Ecclesia experience, of walking with the Church and of assuming one’s own concerns and challenges.

The Assembly expressed special thanks to the London Province which provided the environment and support necessary to obtain the positive result of the meeting.

Message of the Provincials of Europe

The provincial superiors of the continent of Europe, gathered in Sunningdale (England), at the end of their annual assembly, on 14 July 2018, drafted the following message:

“Faced with the migration challenges of today, the only reasonable response is that of solidarity and mercy” (Pope Francis, 6 July 2018).

We, the major superiors of the Comboni Missionaries in Europe, coming together for our annual assembly in Sunningdale (London):

• Are profoundly upset by the fact that Europe seems to be losing its humanitarian spirit, closing its ports to migrants and extending its frontiers to the coasts of Africa, and so endangering the lives of so many human beings, exposing them to slavery in Libya, in clear violation of the obligations required by international law;

-      condemn the closure of the European ports to migrants in danger on the sea;

-      emphasise that insecurity and criminality in Europe have their roots in local problems and not in the phenomenon of migration;

-      support the prophetic words and gestures of the Comboni Missionaries who courageously take the part of refugees and migrants;

-      follow the directives of Pope Francis and other voices of the Church and ask our confreres to be the voice of the refugees and migrants;

-      exhort all people of good will to condemn injustice, especially the increase of racism and xenophobia”.

MALAWI-ZAMBIA

Ordination

Saturday 4 August 2018 will remain impressed on the memory of the diocese of Chipata. Over a thousand Christians, including a government minister – representing the President a and the Paramount Chief of the Ngoni tribe King Mbelwa IV – and the mayor of Chipata, gathered at St Anne’s Cathedral to attend the ordination to the priesthood of three deacons from the diocese of Chipata, among whom was Comboni Archangel Banda, originally from the former Comboni parish of Saint Matthias Mulumba, close to Chipata.

A large covered podium was erected for the occasion to accommodate part of the congregation. Fr. Enrico Colleoni, vice-provincial of Malawi-Zambia, spent two whole days painting sacred images around the podium, at the request of the diocese. The work turned out very well and the podium and its decorations were truly splendid.

Almost all the diocesan and missionary priests of the diocese, together with many Sisters, Brothers, seminarians and catechists were in attendance.

The singing at Mass was led by the cathedral choir, accompanied by women, boys and girls dancing to the rhythm of guitars and traditional drums.

In his homily, the Auxiliary Bishop of Chipata diocese underlined the importance of the priesthood in the Church and the responsibility of bishops, priests, religious and lay people to concern themselves with seminarians and priests. He reiterated that, if a priest fails in his duties, the fault is not only his but also of the bishop and the entire Christian community. He asked politicians not to pressurise priests into being political or to recommend them to the votes of the Christian community. He also remarked that the ordination of a missionary together with that of a diocesan priest, besides being a sign of unity in the Church of Christ, also indicates the missionary nature of the Church.

The Eucharist was followed by a meal with entertainment by various youth groups from different parts of the diocese and a group of traditional Ngoni dancers.

On the following day Fr. Archangel celebrated his first solemn Mass at his parish of St Matthias Mulumba, assisted by the parish priest, the diocesan vocations director and several Comboni Missionaries. The parishioners welcomed their son with joy and thanked God for his vocation. They presented him with countless gifts and asked him to represent them worthily in the land where he will work as a missionary.

When the meal was over, Fr. Archangel’s father Soke saying: “Our family is poor, like all the families of the catechists; we have overcome many obstacles but what happened yesterday and today is a consolation that will help us to overcome the challenges of the future. This is what we were indeed looking forward to”. (Fr. Edward Kanyike)

NAP

A missionary experience of the Combonis in Cincinnati

When most Americans think of Africa, they do not realise how big it is. For example, Uganda is similar in size to the state of Colorado. The democratic republic of Congo is almost as large as a quarter of the US! And did we know there are 54 countries on the African continent?

These are just a few of the details gathered by our guests on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Comboni Missionaries in Cincinnati, Ohio.

During the hour-long presentation, Fr. Paolino Tipo Deng spoke of the history of South Sudan, of the present political situation and the ecumenical work of the Combonis at our Good Shepherd Peace centre.

Afterwards, Fr. Gregor Schmidt displayed the photos of his mission in the diocese of Malakal, in South Sudan. His parish has 80 chapels and only three priests. As a result, Fr. Gregor said, some chapels see the priest only twice a year.

Many people remarked that the presentations by Fr. Paolino and Fr. Gregor helped them to understand the Comboni missions better than anything they had seen or read. Fr. Gregor’s photos showed the terrain of the area very clearly as well as the dwellings of the people, the distances between villages and the daily life of the people in South Sudan.

Fr. Collins Mweshi, Fr. Romano Dada, Fr. Daniel Chisha, Fr. Mike Barton and Fr. Maciej Zielinski were present at “Meet the Missionaries evening”.

All those present stayed for the refreshments to meet and speak personally with the missionaries.

The Community of Cincinnati hosts this special event each year in the hope that more people may come to know the excellent work the Combonis are doing throughout the world.

PORTUGAL

Golden Jubilees

On Sunday 15 July 2018, at the Missionary Seminary in Viseu, Fr. Manuel dos Anjos Martins, Fr. António Marques Martins, Fr. Gregório Rodrigues dos Santos and Fr. Manuel Ferreira Horta celebrated the Golden Jubilee of ordination to the priesthood.

The four Portuguese missionaries were ordained by Mons. José Pedro da Silva, Bishop of Viseu, on 13 July 1968, in the same chapel.

Family, friends, benefactors and acquaintances in great number attended the Mass presided by the provincial Fr. José da Silva Vieira. The celebration was solemnly accompanied by the youth choir of the Viseu chapel.

The four missionaries followed interesting paths Fr. Horta worked a missionary in Mozambique, as provincial of Porto Gallo, for ten years in Rome as Secretary for Formation and superior of the community. He is at present administrator of the magazine Além-Mar.

Fr. Gregório, who was also provincial of Portugal, spent his missionary life in Brazil and Portugal. He is at present in Lisbon.

Fr. Manuel dos Anjos lived almost all his life in Mozambique, combining evangelisation with the study of the local languages. He published dictionaries and grammars; collected and published proverbs, tales and traditional riddles of the people among whom he lived. He is a member of the group that is translating the Bible into Cinyungwe, the language of Tete.

Fr. Martins began his missionary service in Portugal and then was, for two years, an army chaplain in Angola. He also worked in the highest catholic parish in the world (at an elevation of over 4000 metres) at Cerro de Pasco, in Peru, and lastly in Brazil. He is now in charge of the liturgy at the Comboni seminary chapel in Maia.

Mission Plus 2018

“Missione plus” is a GIM missionary activity that has been carried out for some years in the area of the parish of Camarate; this year it took place from 18 to 26 August.

The parish of Camarate and the Comboni family that does pastoral work there welcomed everyone with enthusiasm and generosity, an excellent start to an enriching and fruitful experience on the missionary journey it is hoped to accomplish together.

This year the theme was «Run the risk of love … take up the mission ». There were thirty two participants with a coordinating team of six members of the GIM groups and some members of the Comboni Family.

This year, for the first time, eight young Italian people took part, contributing to the creation of an international climate and intercultural mission.

TOGO-GHANA-BENIN

MA Assembly for Francophone Africa

The Combonis working in Missionary Animation (MA) in the circumscriptions of Francophone Africa held their meeting from 1 to 9 July at the provincial house in Lomé, Togo. Among the twenty participants there were also the Comboni Sisters Sr. Helena Lourenço, Sr. Cinzia Trotta and Sr. Liée Natingar. Also present were Fr. Pietro Ciuciulla, Assistant General and Fr. Arlindo Pinto, coordinator of the GPIC and the CLM.

All were welcomed by Fr. Victor Kouande Adekoun, provincial of Togo-Ghana-Benin who stressed the intrinsic relationship between the service of MA and our “being missionaries”, indicating in St Daniel Comboni the example of a great missionary animator. Fr. Victor read the letter for the occasion sent by Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse, Superior General, to the participants. In it, Fr. Tesfaye emphasised that “Missionary animation is part of our charism” and the need for every Comboni community to become a centre for MA.

Over the days of the Assembly various aspects were considered: MA spirituality, prepared by Fr. Juan José Tenías Fenollé (T), while Fr. Joseph Mumbere Musanga, Congo (DRC) provincial, reiterated the conclusions of the previous Assembly on Missionary Animation held in 2016 at Sarh, Chad, and Fr. Godefroy-Médard Longba Guéndé, RCA delegate, spoke about the recent events that took place at the Comboni parish of “Notre Dame de Fatima” and of the general situation of the country. Fr. Arlindo Pinto spoke of present trends and the outlook for MA, on behalf of the MCCJ and Sr. Helena Lourenço, on behalf of the CMS.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent working on formation. Afterwards the themes of communication, the MA Charter and the situation of the CLM were discussed.

The Assembly ended on Sunday with a Eucharistic celebration at the Comboni parish of Adidogomé, in Lomé, followed by a meal with the local Comboni Community.

UGANDA

Continental Assembly for Formation

The vocations promoters and formators of the Anglophone African circumscriptions and Mozambique, together with the continental coordinator of APDESAM for Formation and three confreres of the General Secretariat for Formation, met from 15 to 26 July 2018 at Namugongo, Kampala, Uganda, for the Continental Assembly for Formation.

There were 28 participants of 15 different nationalities (Uganda 7, Italy 3, Togo 3, Congo 2, Ethiopia 2, South Sudan 2, Benin 1, Central Africa 1, Costa Rica 1, Germany 1, Malawi 1, Mexico 1, Mozambique 1, South Africa 1 and Zambia 1.) All the APDESAM circumscriptions were represented except Eritrea, whose representative took part in the Continental Assembly for Formation (Europe) in Sunningdale, in England.

The theme chosen for the Assembly – Mission, youth pastoral and vocations ministry and formation in Africa today – aimed to reconnect to the theme of the next Synod of Bishops, The youth, faith and vocational discernment.

During the first week, Fr. Ben Wakabi, youth chaplain in the diocese of Jinja, Uganda, explained generally the present situation of the youth in Africa. There followed a presentation by Fr. Dawit Wubishet, novice master in Lusaka, Zambia, on the ministry of vocations promotion.

The general situation of vocations pastoral and formation in the Institute was presented by Fr. John Baptist Opargiw, general Secretary for Formation. This was followed by reports by two other members of the General Secretariat for Formation, Fr. Siro Stocchetti and Fr. Elias Sindjalim. Each presentation was followed by a lively debate.

On Sunday 22 July, the participants went on a day’s pilgrimage, in the steps of the Uganda martyrs, from Kigungu, the place where the first catholic missionaries disembarked, across Munyonyo, Nalukulongo, Rubaga Hill, Old Kampala and then reached Namugongo.

The second week of the Assembly was spent on reports about formation in the different circumscriptions of APDESAM and an evaluation of the present of vocations ministry and of formation, taking into account the Assemblies of Layibi (2014) and Lilongwe (2016).

Let us pray for our beloved dead

THE FATHER: Bosco Ebong, of the Sc. Jasper Ojok (U).

THE MOTHERS: Elena, of Fr. Javier Alvarado Ayala (LP); Pierina, of Bro. Ruggero Moretto (I); Rosa, of Frs. Fernando (P) and David da Costa Domingues (A).

THE BROTHERS: Víctor, of Bro. Fernando Acedo (†); Julio, of Fr. Esteban Mallén (†).

THE SISTERS: Gertrudes, of Fr. Feliz da Costa Martins (EGSD); Maria, of Fr. Giampietro Baresi (I); Elena, of Bro. David Enríquez Sánchez (MZ).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTER: Sr. Cristiana Zen.

Fr. Ilario Loswot Boma Umol, a Comboni incardinated in the archdiocese of Khartoum on 7 April 1988, died in Sondrio on 25 July 2018.

A member of the Pari ethnic group, he was born at Boma, Upper Nile (South Sudan) on 26 December 1941, and was baptised and received his elementary education at Lipul in the mission of Lafon. Having studied at the Minor Seminary of Okaru (1953-57) and having done philosophical studies at Tore River (1958-60), he entered the Comboni novitiate in Florence and studied theology in Venegono Superiore. He was ordained on 28 June 1966.

He was sent on mission to Uganda where he worked at Kangole and then at Pakele, running the minor seminary for the Sudanese. In 1968 he was appointed vice-rector of the Comboni minor seminary in Lacor. In 1976 he was elected vice superior of the Combonis in Sudan and the following year he went to Juba.

In 1979 he was transferred to the diocese of El Obeid where he was appointed vicar general. In 1982 he was placed in charge of Darfur zone. In 1988 he was transferred to Khartoum cathedral where he afterwards became parish priest.

After his incardination, in 1992 he was appointed vicar general for refugees in Khartoum zone and in charge of dialogue with Islam. In 1998 he was imprisoned for some months accused of conspiring against the government. After his release, he went to live in Germany.