GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

New Comboni bishop!

On 18 November 2020, the Holy Father appointed the Comboni missionary Fr. Matthew Remijio Adam Gbitiku, Bishop of the Diocese di Wau (South Sudan).

Mons. Matthew Remijio Adam Gbitiku was born on 5 May 1972, in Mboro (Wau diocese). He attended the Minor Seminary of Bussere in Wau (1984-1986) and secondary school in Wengiball (1986-1989). After the Comboni postulancy, he studied philosophy at St Paul’s Major Inter-diocesan Seminary in Khartoum (Sudan) and did the novitiate in Kampala, Uganda (1997-1999). He gained a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology at the Instituto Superior de Estudios Teologicos Juan XXIII-ISET in Lima (Peru). He was ordained priest on 3 October 2004.

After ordination, he occupied the following posts: parish curate at Masalma, in Omdurman (Khartoum), parish priest, spiritual director of the Legion of Mary of the Archdiocese of Khartoum and consultor of the Gruppo Rongo association (2004-2008). From 2008 to 2010, he studied for a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology at the Gregorian University, Rome. He was also director of priestly vocations and a member of the vocations group of the Archdiocese of Khartoum (2010-2012), spiritual director of Major Inter-diocesan Seminary of St Paul in Khartoum (2012-2013), Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Khartoum (2013-2017) and, from 2017 until now, Vice-Rector and bursar of the Comboni International Theologate in Nairobi, Kenya.

Perpetual Professions

Sc. Nieto Castro José de Jesús (M)        Metlatónoc (MEX)  25/10/2020

Sc. Sitwaminya Fiston Mughanyiri (CN) El Carmen (EC)   15/11/2020

Priestly ordinations

Fr. Wedipo Paixão Silva (BR)        São Mateus (BR)        31/10/2020

Fr. Orishaba Elias (UG)                  Makiro (UG)                31/10/2020

Fr. Ouandora Seigneur Malthus (RCA)   Mbaïki (RCA)  14/11/2020

Holy Redeemer Guild

December                 01 – 15 PE  16 – 31 U

January  01 – 15 A   16 – 31 BR

Prayer intentions

December – That the celebration of the birth of the Son of God, who fully assumed the human condition, may increase in society understanding, respect and the inclusion of diversity. Lord hear us.

January – That our faith in Christ may move us all to be united and to alleviate the impact of the pandemic, especially among the poorest. Lord hear us.

ASIA

Covid-19 and the Delegation

Our Delegation of Asia has not been immune to the virus but has not been the most affected as it was expected when it all started in Wuhan, Mainland China.  In Taipei the Government authorities were quick to implement measures to prevent a major spread and they were rather successful. Though our services in the parish were affected, our confreres are all well. Fr. Adam managed even to have his home leave and has recently returned to Taipei. After the normal 14 days of Quarantine, he is now back in the community and doing his service.

In Macau, the measures imposed were also effective limiting the restrictions now to those very basic precautions of social distancing and wearing of masks. However, border crossing to China is very limited and the airport continues to have very limited flights. No confrere of ours has been infected in Macau and Fr. Victor Mejia who was stranded in Mexico since early March has, finally, been able to reach Macau and is now undergoing the mandatory quarantine. However, our works in China are all suspended and no visas are being issued to allow us in.

In Vietnam, none of the confreres or students have been infected. There have been short periods of lockdown but the government measures were also efficacious in controlling the spread. Now, life there has resumed to some good degree of normality.

The Philippines, especially the National Capital Region, is currently experiencing the eighth straight month of community quarantine (with varying degrees of lock-down according to times and places) and there is no end in sight, yet. This prolonged regimen of closure of businesses and restriction of movement has caused a sharp increase in unemployment, poverty, corruption, mental health problems and a general deterioration of the quality of social life. Our activities have been greatly affected but we thank God our confreres and students are safe and sound.

Looking at the world, we still have much for which to be grateful to the Lord!

BRASIL

Mexico and Brazil, with a passion for the mission

On 31 October 2020, at the closure of the missionary month, Comboni Deacon Wedipo Paixão Silva was ordained priest.

The celebration was led by Mons. Paulo Bosi Dal’Bó, Bishop of the Diocese of São Mateus, in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo where Wedipo was born and grew in his vocation.

It was in this region that the Comboni Missionaries began their presence in Brazil with an inserted group in Maranhão, in 1952. A prophetic figure, who alone represents the history of the consolidation of the diocese of São Mateus, is Mons. Aldo Gerna, also a Comboni. Now aged 90, Mons. Gerna decided to take part in the ordination saying “I cannot fail to be present on an occasion like this when a son of our country is consecrating himself to the mission”.

The celebration was held at the parish of San Luca, within the city, in a zone of rural settlements where, 35 years ago, many families took over the land on which to live. Land, Shelter and Work is the motto which, for many years, has been made concrete by the constant and active presence of the Church, always at the side of the landless families.

No more than two hundred people attended the ordination due to the restrictions required by the Covid-19 pandemic. Five thousand people followed the transmission on the social media and many more prayer using Radio Kairos, the diocesan station that broadcasts to the entire northern region of Espirito Santo.

The Comboni family accompanied Wedipo in this most important moment of his life, with the participation of two Comboni priests and two Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) who had come from Mexico. There were also groups of lay men and women from Curitiba and Sao Paolo, cities in which Wedipo lived during some of the stages of his formation.

He celebrated his first Mass in the community of San Benedetto, in the settlement of agrarian reform “Vale da Vitória”. This is a place where people are organised, struggling and dreaming, and have made a radical option to work as small farmers. It was in this small community where, six years ago, Fr. Wedipo lost his mother, killed in a car crash.

Wedipo’s celebration was in respectful and grateful homage to his mother and his faith community who always believed in his vocation and supported him. Life is stronger than death: “It was in this church that I professed my faith in the resurrection, before the bodily remains of my mother, and I now renew my faith in the God of life who never abandoned  me”, Fr. Wedipo said in his homily.

Fr. Wedipo will also celebrate Mass in the communities of the diocese which still has a strong Comboni spirit and will then go to Rondonia where some of his family have moved and will then return to his mission in Mexico where he will work in vocations ministry and with the youth who, like him, are full of passion for the mission.

May God bless the life and the journey of Fr. Wedipo and continue to bless our missionary family with sound vocations that are committed to the Kingdom!

DSP

Covid-19 – The situation in our Province

We are grateful that, up to now, none of our confreres has been infected with the coronavirus. Nevertheless, many confreres are concerned due to the growing number of cases in Austria, Germany and South Tyrol /Italy, especially since the majority of our confreres are at risk. We wish especially to express our solidarity with the provinces of Italy and Uganda which have lost confreres due to the pandemic in recent weeks and months and to assure you of our prayers.

Feast of St Daniel Comboni

We had planned to have a conference by Dr. Roman Siebenrock, professor of theology at the Jesuit faculty of Innsbruck, for the feast of St Daniel Comboni. He had chosen the theme: “Trust in life – for God lives it with us”. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled due to the restrictions caused by the Covid-19. We therefore celebrated the feast in a simple manner in our communities.

The Comboni Lay Missionaries (CLM) had organised a work meeting at the provincial house in Nuremberg that same weekend. It was an opportunity to celebrate a solemn Mass with them in honour of St Daniel Comboni. As well as the CLM, our neighbouring Sisters of St Paul also attended. Since the start of the pandemic, they have been attending morning Mass in our chapel almost every day.

Provincial Assembly

The provincial Assembly had been scheduled for June 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was postponed until November but, for the same reason, it was not possible to celebrate it in the traditional way so a “hybrid form” was chosen. Important themes such as ministeriality and criteria for the election of delegates to the General Chapter were simultaneously discussed in each local community, while the reports of the provincial superior and treasurer were presented to all the communities and discussed using the Zoom platform. Even though the not-so-young confreres were not used to online communication, it was a positive experience for all. In this way, all the confreres of the province were able to “come together” at least for an exchange of ideas and views.

One weighty point was the somewhat substantial and necessary modifications to the house of Ellwangen. The drainpipes are leaking and must be changed and the lift has to be brought up to date in line with present-day requirements. The provincial council wanted to have the views of all the confreres on the need to restructure the rooms of the sick and elderly on the third floor. Fire prevention, insulation, the plumbing and bathrooms are no longer up to legal standards. As an alternative solution, it was proposed to restructure the adjoining building, now being rented by the city council of Ellwangen.

Considering the fall in numbers of DSP confreres, the majority were in favour of a less invasive structure so that the provincial council may take whatever steps are necessary.

There was then a broad discussion as to whether in future we will be able to take care of the sick and elderly confreres since their assistance and organisation are now almost exclusively in the hands of employees.

A group of confreres considered it important that our elderly and sick confreres be cared for in our house but others remarked that it would be less of a financial burden if we were to entrust confreres in need of continual assistance to nursing homes run by the state or religious orders. Finally, a proposal was presented: to look after our confreres who are more or less self-sufficient in our centre and to find places for those in need of 24-hour care in the facilities of Saint Anne, very close to our house.

ETHIOPIA

Let us pray for peace and much more

The provincial council asks all the confreres to pray for Fr. Seyum who is seriously ill, for peace, especially in Benishangul-Gumuz (where the mission among the Gumuz had to be evacuated on 21 October; temporarily, we hope), and also for the rest of the country.

It may be useful to receive the message sent to the members of the Council for Religious by a Vincentian priest of Addis Ababa, bearing in mind that one of the provincials resident in Addis Ababa was arrested for a short time. “Dear Brothers and Sisters, the peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be always with you. We have been through painful times in our country these last two weeks. Our Confreres and Sisters in the regional state of Tigray have been living in a state of war which we hope will end soon. I have no words to express how painful it is for all of us, but especially for all our brothers and sisters who have family and friends in the region of Tigray. The lack of communication has rendered matters even worse. Every day, we were hoping to see the end of the, but the attacks continued. This should not be happening in a poor country with a hundred million inhabitants.

Let us pray that God may be the shield that protects the innocent and the poor and our families in the war zone. Peace to everyone.” (Fr. Sisto Agostini, provincial superior)