Familia Comboniana 793 - February 2021

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Perpetual professions

Bro.Kitha Mumbere Mwangaza (CN) Butembo (RDC)      07.01.2021

Sc. Kutsaile Matthews (MZ)               Juba (RSS)           19.01.2021    

Sc. Alionzi Ronald (U)                     Mbuya-Kampala (UG)                              25.01.2021

Ordinations to the priesthood

Fr. Onyait Nicholas (U)                 Toroma-Soroti (UG)  09/01/2021

Fr. Jaleta Gurmesa Geda (ET)      Kotam-Nekempte (ETH) 23/01/2021

Fr. Biangbali Abaingu Blaise (CN)   Isiro (RDC)   24/01/2021

Fr. Malema Bati Maurice (CN)     Isiro (RDC)        24/01/2021

Fr. Izakare Amoko Isaac (U)         Dzaipi-Arua (UG)     30/01/2021

Fr. Horbé Richard (TCH)              Sarh (TCH)        30/01/2021

Fr. Gokam Djasgombaye (Bienvenu) (TCH) Sarh (TCH)  30/01/2021

Holy Redeemer Guild

February                   01 – 15 C     16 – 28 EGSD

March    01 – 07 CO                    08 – 15 E       16 – 31 DSP

Prayer intentions

February – That by our gestures of love and forgiveness we may succeed in bringing everyone to encounter Christ. Lord hear us.

March – That the ministry of the Comboni Family may strengthen “gender justice” and especially the protection of women and girls. Lord hear us.

Publications

Mundo Negro, the Comboni publishing house in Madrid, has published, in December 2020, the book “Testimonios de la Misión”, by Fr. Martin Devenish, mccj, a translation of the book “Supreme Witness”, published in the London Province in 2019.

As the author states: “The book “Testimonios de la Misión” covers the lives of twenty-five missionary brothers and sisters who died in the service of the Gospel in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Brazil and Mexico. These men and women were killed for having expressed the love taught by Jesus and put into practice, in his name, the values of the Gospel, teaching the faith, visiting the sick, consoling the afflicted and promoting the integral development of every human person regardless of race, culture or religion”.

CONGO

The first two Comboni priests of Saint Anna

On Sunday 24 January, two new Comboni priests were ordained: Fr.  Blaise Biangbali Abaingu and Fr. Maurice Bati Malema. It was a great feast for the parish of Saint Anna in Isiro, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The celebration was presided over by Mons. Julien Andavo Mbia, Bishop of Isiro-Niangara, and lasted almost five hours.

Blaise and Maurice are not the first Comboni Missionaries native of Isiro, but they are the first from the parish of Saint Anna, founded by the Combonis in 1970. Everyone wanted to be present at such an important event to thank God for the gift of their lives.

Maurice studied in South Africa, Blaise in Italy, but they met again to live the moment of their ordination. They knew each other from childhood since both grew up in the area close to the parish, were members of the same youth group and witnessed the work of the many Combonis who passed through Saint Anna whose footsteps they are now following.

Richard and Charlotte, Blaise’s parents are both very committed in the parish as a married couple and are members of the Family Committee and are involved in other services as well.

The same may be said of Maurice’s parents Justin and Baleya. Justin is committed to assisting the musicians and choir members. It is wonderful to see how missionary vocations come about in such dedicated Christian families as these.

CURIA

Spiritual exercises online

Fr. David Glenday has recently directed the spiritual exercises online with the confreres of Colombia. In the second reflection of the six full days, he invited the participants to enter prayerfully into conversation with the Founder, asking him some fundamental questions related to our missionary life. The themes, presented in Spanish, were as follows:

1. Daniel, who are you for me?

2. Daniel, who was God for you?

3. Daniel, how did you grow in the mission?

4. Daniel, why the mission together?

5. Daniel, where did you live Easter?

6. Daniel, how should one live the crisis?

Those who wish to have an audio recording may contact Fr. David dkglenday@gmail.com

ECUADOR

Ordination to the diaconate

After two anxious months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Comboni Family in Ecuador and the local Church enjoyed a moment of celebration and hope with the recent ordination to the diaconate of Sitwaminya Mughanyiri Étienne, originally from The Democratic Republic of Congo, who is doing his missionary service in the Province in preparation for his ordination to the priesthood.

Etienne, also known as Fiston, completed a long journey before reaching such an important stage in his life. He commenced his formation in 2009 and took first vows in Benin, in 2015. After studying theology in Kinshasa (DRC), he arrived in Ecuador where he learned Spanish and was appointed to the Comboni parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in El Carmen Canton, Manabí (in the Archdiocese of Portoviejo). He did his pastoral work in various fields, especially among the youth whose presence and dynamism are remarkable in the parish, thanks to the work of the Combonis and the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

On 15 November, Etienne made his perpetual profession in the parish. Fr. Ottorino Poletto, the Provincial Superior, presided at the Eucharist. Some Combonis and diocesan priests were present at the ceremony which was organised mostly by laypeople and pastoral agents. The importance of the event and the affection of the people were shown by the warmth of the participation and the typical moments of the African culture that enriched the event, thanks to the Servants of the Sacred Heart, from Kenya.

On 5 December, while observing the restrictions required by the pandemic, Étienne’s was ordained at the Daniel Comboni Youth Centre, in Quito, by Mons. Alfredo José Espinoza Mateus, SDB, Archbishop of Quito and Primate of Ecuador. A number of people were present coming from different parts of the country including religious, members of the Comboni Youth Movement America Misionera e Amigos de la Misión. The event was facilitated by the generosity of many different people and the nearby parishes. The Eucharist ended with expressions of affection and esteem towards the Combonis by the Archbishop who invited the missionaries to resume the commitment of Afro Pastoral and to take on a parish in the outskirts of Quito.

The ‘yes’ uttered by Deacon Etienne was certainly a breath of fresh air for the Church and the Province, as well as being a fine example of witness for the youth coming from the various parishes: we hope that, motivated by the response of this young missionary, many others will feel the desire to follow Jesus who continues to call missionaries to his Mission.

SOUTH SUDAN

Fr. Matthew Remijo ordained bishop of Wau

Our South Sudanese confrere Fr. Matthew Remijo Adam Gbitiku has been ordained bishop of Wau, in the esplanade in front of the cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on Sunday 24 January 2021, in the presence of a large congregation of faithful Catholics who had come to celebrate and acclaim their new pastor. The appointment of the bishop of Wau comes more than three years after the death of former Bishop Rudolf Deng Majack, in March 2017. The event was attended by more than 100 priests, all the bishops of South and North Sudan and around 10,000 people.

Bishop Matthew Remijo, 48, was born on 5 May 1972 in Wau. He attended elementary school at Mboro and then Wau Day Secondary School. His parents were Remijo Adam Gbitiku, deceased, and Asunta Juyee Longo. He was baptised on 20 June 1972 and received confirmation in 1984, in Bussere, Wau. He then joined the Comboni Missionaries and was sent to study theology in Lima, Peru, where he was ordained deacon on 18 November 2003. After returning to South Sudan, he was ordained priest in Wau by the then Bishop Rudolf Deng, since deceased, on 3 October 2004. He became a curate and was later parish priest of the parish of Masalma, Omdurman, Khartoum, until 2008. Due to his exceptional pastoral talents, he was sent to Rome for further studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University where, in 2010, he was awarded a master’s in Spiritual Theology. On his return, he was appointed Vocations Director in the Archdiocese of Khartoum until 2012 and Spiritual Director of St Paul’s Major Seminary until 2013. He was also Vicar General of Khartoum Archdiocese until 2017. He was afterwards sent to Nairobi, Kenya, as Vice-rector and Bursar of the Comboni International theologate.

Perpetual Profession

On the evening of 19 January, during the Provincial Assembly of the South Sudan Comboni Province, being held at the Good Shepherd Peace Centre in Juba, Kit, the scholastic Matthew Kutsaile celebrated his perpetual vows. It was a simple though memorable celebration, together with around 30 missionaries from all parts of South Sudan who joined Matthew in his definitive consecration. He was presented by Fr. Alfred Mawadri, parish priest of Holy Trinity Parish, Old Fangak, and by Fr. Gregor Schmidt, superior of that community. Vicar General and Fr. Jeremias dos Santos and the provincial of South Sudan, Fr. Luis Okot were the main celebrants. Matthew Kutsaile is originally from Malawi-Zambia and will be ordained deacon on 14 February at Old Fangak, Upper East Nile, South Sudan.

The Covid-19 situation

The world is going through another wave of global health crises as the number of new infections rises. The pandemic has caused incalculable social, political, economic and cultural crises. It has shown up the weakness of public health systems and the methods of response to catastrophes, not only in poor countries but also in others that are very well off.

In South Sudan, the first Covid-19 case was recorded on 5 April 2020, a foreign humanitarian worker. Since then, despite the preventive measures implemented by the Ministry of Health and the WHO, the coronavirus has reached the level of community transmission. The government has now revoked some restrictions including the obligation to be tested when travelling between states and the prohibition of gatherings, so life is returning to normal. For some months now, the churches have recommenced liturgical functions and celebrations without limits on numbers of participants.

These facts have contributed to a lack of exact figures of infections and deaths and have even increased scepticism regarding the pandemic. Many people do not believe the Covid-19 exists. The majority say this is a disease of white people that does not affect blacks and cannot exist in a hot environment like ours but only in cold places. Contact tracing, tests and the registration of infections have diminished. For the present, the country continues to fight the pandemic with limited tests and personnel. At the same time, the health requirements of the country continue to increase apart from the direct impact of the pandemic on public health. The context is complex: chronic poverty, internal conflict, limited infrastructure, poor public health systems (despite aid given by China and other donors) and the limited investment by the government in basic social services is an additional burden for the nation and especially for the more vulnerable. This year, floods have struck the most of the country and internally displaced people have not been able to return to their homes.

When the epidemic first appeared, the government set up a high-level national task force to establish guidelines for public health developed by the Ministry of Health and partners to moderate the spread and impact of the virus. In May 2020, this task force was dissolved for reasons unknown and it was reconstituted as a National Task Force Commission (NTC) with yet another national directive commission. These task forces instituted by the Ministry of Health received many donations from the inter-government Authority for development, the Japanese agency for international cooperation, the Commonwealth and the UK Office for Development, the African Development Bank, the Global Partnership for Education, the European Union and other donors within the country and abroad. Despite the generosity of these contributions, the government is struggling to manage properly the cases of infection, and has just one centre, in Juba. Other centres have been planned but they failed because of inadequate equipment and the lack of human resources. At the moment, the statistics are as follows: 3,670 confirmed infections, 3,181 recoveries and 63 deaths. If the tests had been carried out more efficiently, the statistics might be different.

The situation has opened the way for the privatisation and commercialisation of tests for people travelling in South Sudan: South Sudanese citizens are charged 75 USD while people of other nationalities are charged 115 USD. The national Ministry of Health is still doing the tests without charge.

As regards the Catholic Church, diocese-level task forces have been set up and these extend the work to the parishes. The various diocesan heads continually remind the people of the existence of Covid-19 and ask everyone to observe the preventive measures during Mass by wearing masks, keeping the proper distance and sanitising their hands. We continue to pray that all this may soon end.

LET US PRAY FOR OUR BELOVED DEAD

THE FATHERS: José de Jesús, of Fr. Luis Francisco Arellano (M), Martin, of Fr. Markus Körber (DSP).

THE MOTHER: Teresa, di P. Emmanuel Ssempeera (U).

THE BROTHER: Artur, of Fr. Martinho Lopes Moura (P), Rev. Giovanni, of Fr. Gaetano Gottardi (+)

THE SISTERS: Amabile, of Fr. Pietro Bracelli (I), Mariela, of Bro. Gustavo Montoya (CO).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sr. Martia Rosa Tosi, Sr. Fiorina Luisa Baldessari, Sr. M. Patrizia Clerici.