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Familia Comboniana 796 – May 2021
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE COMBONI MISSIONARIES OF THE HEART OF JESUS
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
Message of the General Council to all Circumscription Superiors regarding the attack on Mons. Carlassare (26 April)
Dear Confrere, The General Council has been informed that last night our confrere Mons. Christian Carlassare, who was nominated bishop of Rumbek by Pope Francis on 8 March, while staying at his residence, was wounded in the legs by unknown assailants who shot him several times. At present, neither the identity of the attackers nor the reasons for this attack are known. We have learned from the Provincial of South Sudan that Mons. Carlassare is at present in a stable condition: it seems that he suffered only flesh wounds to both legs and that the damage seems to have only caused such a loss of blood that a transfusion was necessary. The CUAMM doctors at Rumbek Hospital are treating him while waiting to transfer him to Juba. Mons. Carlassare has asked that we reassure all the confreres that he is doing quite well and invite them to pray especially for the people of Rumbek who – as he said - “Are suffering more than I am”. He also said he forgave his attackers.
We share the sentiments of the many people who have expressed their dismay at this umpteenth violent episode against the defenceless and innocent. At the invitation of Mons. Carlassare, let us pray for the many people of good will who, in South Sudan, are suffering due to the enduring insecurity and violence. We pray for the rapid recovery of Mons. Carlassare so that he may be consecrated bishop, as planned, on 23 of May and resume his apostolic ministry at the service of the Church and people of South Sudan. May Saint Daniel Comboni continue to protect his confreres and intercede that our prayers may hasten the coming of peace and concord in the land he loved so well.
Message of the General Council regarding the attack on
Mons. Carlassare (27 April)
Regarding the news published in various organs of the press concerning the attack suffered by Mons. Carlassare, the reasons for it and the people behind it, the General Council of the Comboni Missionaries is grateful and confident in the work being done by the police and the competent authorities.
It is significant in this regard that the highest civil authority in the country has spoken out, expressing the hope that the enquiries may be speedy, thorough and impartial. Even when painful, the truth ascertained is always a starting point for the healing of the wounds both of those who suffer them and those who inflicted them. We await with watchful confidence the outcome of the investigation.
We are grateful to God that the wounds suffered by Mons Carlassare are not life-threatening. We are especially grateful to him for pointing out to us the attitude we should adopt, as Christians and missionaries, towards what has happened: mercy towards the guilty and solidarity with the simple and kind-hearted people who represent the vast majority of the population of Rumbek and elsewhere, daily victims, in silence and far from the glare of mass publicity, who live in an environment of violence and intimidation which has become all too common in relations between the various expressions of South-Sudanese society, and, unfortunately, beyond it.
Let us pray especially that the desire for vengeance may not prevail. We entrust this prayer of ours to the intercession of Saint Daniele Comboni so that, in this dramatic moment in the life of the Church and the people of South Sudan, he may show his paternal care by raising up in the hearts of all the hope of peace and justice which the Resurrection of Christ brings to shine upon all sorrowful and complex events.
GENERAL NOTES 55TH Consulta
During the 55th Consulta held from 12 to 16 April, the General Council examined the following questions, made the decisions and provided the indications given here in detail.
1. The Journey towards the General Chapter
1.1. Election of Chapter members
The process of electing Chapter Delegates ended on 10 April with the election of the last delegate.
This is the final list of Chapter members:
1 CG Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse G. By Right
2 CG Fr. Jeremias dos Santos Martins By Right
3 CG Bro. Alberto Lamana Cónsola By Right
4 CG Fr. Alcides Costa By Right
5 CG Fr. Ciuciulla Pietro By Right
6 A Fr. David Costa Domingues Elected
7 BR Fr. Amaxsandro Feitosa da Silva Elected
8 BR Fr. Bossi Dario By Right
9 BR Bro. João Paulo da R. Martins Elected
10 BR Fr. Raimundo N. R. dos Santos Elected
11 C Fr. Marek Tomasz Elected
12 C Bro. Parise Alberto Elected
13 CN Fr. Dimonekene Sungu Edmond Elected
14 CN Bro. Kakule Silusawa Lwanga Elected
15 CN Fr. Kobo Badianga Jean Claude Elected
16 CN Fr. Ndjadi Ndjate Léonard By Right
17 CO Fr. Villarino Rodriguez Antonio Elected
18 DSP Bro. Bernardi Ivan Elected
19 DSP Fr. Grabmann Hubert By Right
20 DSP Fr. Turyamureeba Roberto Elected
21 E Fr. Llamazares G. Miguel Ángel Elected
22 E Fr. Pedro Andrés Miguel By Right
23 EC Fr. Jaramillo Arias Pablo E. Elected
24 EC Fr. Poletto Ottorino By Right
25 EGSD Fr. Kyankaaga J. Richard By Right
26 EGSD Fr. Mbuthia Simon Mwara Elected
27 ER Fr. Habtu Teklay Tiluq Elected
28 ET Fr. Agostini Sisto By Right
29 ET Fr. Asfaha Y. Weldeghiorghis Elected
30 I Fr. Baldan Fabio Carlo By Right
31 I Fr. Codianni Luigi Fernando Elected
32 I Fr. Ivardi Ganapini Filippo Elected
33 I Fr. Moschetti Daniele Elected
34 I Bro. Soffientini Antonio Elected
35 KE Fr. Radol Odhiambo Austine By Right
36 KE Fr. Wanjohi Thumbi Andrew Elected
37 LP Fr. Devenish Martin James Elected
38 LP Fr. Pelucchi Alberto By Right
39 M Bro. Cruz Reyes Joel Elected
40 M Fr. Guitrón Torres Rafael Elected
41 M Fr. Sánchez González Enrique By Right
42 M Fr. Villaseñor Gálvez J. de Jesús Elected
43 MO Fr. António M. Bogaio Constantino By Right
44 MO Fr. José Joaquim Luis Pedro Elected
45 MZ Bro. Gédéon Ngunza Mboma Elected
46 MZ Fr. Guarino Antonio Elected
47 MZ Fr. Mumba Michael Nyowani By Right
48 NAP Fr. Ezama Ruffino By Right
49 NAP Fr. Ochoa Gracián Jorge Elias Elected
50 P Fr. Fernando Domingues By Right
51 P Fr. Manuel A. da Silva Machado Elected
52 PCA Fr. Calderón Vargas Juan Diego By Right
53 PCA Fr. Romeo Barrios Morales Elected
54 PE Fr. Carbonero M. Pedro Percy Elected
55 PE Fr. Martín Vargas Francisco José By Right
56 RCA Fr. Longba G. Godefroy-Médard Elected
57 RSA Fr. Burgers Jude Eugene By Right
58 RSA Fr. Mkhari Antony Abednego Elected
59 SS Fr. Maku Joseph Elected
60 SS Fr. Okot Ochermoi Louis Tony By Right
61 SS Bro. Pomykacz Jacek Andrzej Elected
62 T Fr. Agboli John Hanson Fr. K. Elected
63 T Fr. Hounaké Kouassi Timothée By Right
64 T Fr. Plinga Menguo-Mana (Job) Elected
65 TCH Fr. Fidèle Katsan Elected
66 U Fr. Alenyo John Peter Elected
67 U Fr. Kibira Anthony Kimbowa Elected
68 U Fr. Kiwanuka Achilles Kasozi By Right
69 U Bro. Lumami Mwanza Patrick Elected
1.2. Chapter delegate Substitutes
The General Council wishes to encourage the circumscriptions which have not yet done so to proceed speedily with the election of the substitutes where the person who came second in the elections did not receive sufficient votes to qualify as a substitute.
1.3. Observers and Guests
Regarding the participation of observers and guests, once a final decision is reached concerning the date of the Chapter, the matter of identifying possible observers and guests will be dealt with.
1.4. Appointment of the Precapitular Commission
During the Consulta, there was discernment on the choice of confreres who will make up the Precapitular Commission and the Capitular who will act as coordinator of the Commission. The confreres are here listed in alphabetical order:
- Fr. Andrés Miguel Pedro (coordinator)
- Fr. Baldan Fabio Carlo
- Fr. David Costa Domingues
- Fr. Katsan Fidèle
- Fr. Kiwanuka Achilles Kasozi
- Fr. Ndjadi Ndjate Léonard
- Fr. Raimundo Nonato Rocha dos Santos
- Bro. Soffientini Antonio
- Fr. Villasenor Galvez José de Jesus
The Council extends its thanks to them on behalf of all the confreres for accepting this complex and burdensome service. The Council assures them of their support and accompaniment in the run-up to the Chapter.
1.5. Timetable of the online in-person meetings in preparation for the Chapter
The General Council will organise a series of online meetings and, where possible, face to face in-person meetings to interact with:
• The Precapitular Commission: on 13 May around mid-day, online, to help those involved to get to know each other better, to evaluate, to better focus upon and detail the terms of reference of the Commission and for discernment on the timetable of the process towards the Chapter
• The members of the General Administration: on 17 May, in person, at 9.00 in the Chapter Hall with the following Order of the Day: information concerning the journey towards the Chapter and directions concerning the report of the General Administration, Secretariats and Offices
• All Capitulars, online, in June; during this meeting, there will be dialogue in view of the final decision regarding the date of the Chapter.
1.6. The June Consulta
The June Consulta will have as its purpose, besides the usual points of the agenda, to deal with the questions associated with the General Chapter, i.e.:
- The decision on the date of the Chapter
- Defining the timetable for the presentation of the reports from the circumscriptions, continents, secretariats and offices and the following journey towards the Chapter;
- The competence of the Precapitular Commission and what the Capitulars expect from it.
In deciding the date of the Chapter, it is necessary to bear in mind that this may affect the availability of Bro. Biemmi to participate in our Chapter. In the meantime, the GC encourages the confreres who have not yet done so to answer the questionnaire and to make use of all available means, including the internet, for the processes of meetings and gatherings in view of the preparation of the reports.
2. Formation (SGS)
2.1. Assignment of Novices to Scholasticates and CIF
The GC has assigned 37 novices to the Scholasticates and CIF. In some cases, it was necessary to take into account the local situation of the Covid-19 epidemic and the associated problems of travelling and obtaining visas.
2.2. Granada
The number of novices who are due to take first vows this year exceeds the present capacity of our scholasticates. For this reason, having taken into account the past dialogue with circumscription superiors during the Assembly of the newly-elected in 2020 on a similar situation, the CG has decided to assign 4 scholastics to the community of Granada in Spain where they will be received and continue their formative journey with a formator who will be appointed in the coming months.
The community of Granada is, in fact, capable of receiving a group of scholastics in a context with easy access to an academic institution and other structures of a formative nature, as well as good opportunities for pastoral commitments for our group of scholastics.
3. SGE (economy)
3.1. Investments
The General Treasury and the General Council have devoted some time to careful evaluation of the situation of our investments faced with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on markets and the economy.
3.2. Appointment of the new member of the Council for Finance
Due to the need to appoint a new member to the Council for Finance to represent the circumscriptions of APDESAM, after previous consultation with the circumscription superiors, the GC appoints Fr. Zieliński Maciej Mikolaj, Provincial Bursar of Kenya, as the new member of the Council for Finance, for three years.
4. Note for confreres who have returned from abroad to their countries of origin
4.1. General Regulations
The General Council reminds the confreres that the persistence of the pandemic situation, which is still raging and is still far from being resolved, makes it still inadvisable to undertake any international movement that is not motivated by sound, unquestionable and verified reasons. It therefore emphasises the need – already foreseen by the directors – that all confreres who intend to move from one circumscription to another should speak of this with their circumscription superiors. It is up to them to dialogue with the circumscription superior where the confrere wishes to go and evaluate restrictions regarding vaccinations, quarantine or other regulations regarding freedom of movement within the destination country, even when this is the country of origin of the confrere. It is in fact necessary to previously identify the place of quarantine, where this is necessary. Not all the communities and very often family members are able to meet the requirements of quarantine.
4.2. Specific regulations for returning to Italy for reasons of health
As regards confreres returning to Italy for proven and verified reasons of health, the Italian Province has planned a specific process associated with health considerations which involves the Vice-Provincial Superior in charge of the sick and the confrere supervising the Commission for the Elderly and Sick Confreres (CANAM). Except in cases of emergency, notification of the intention to return to Italy must be made in good time since the capacity of the communities responsible for assisting the sick is limited by the continually evolving health regulations of the various regions and these must be verified in real time. The contact details of the confreres responsible are available in the Annuario Comboniano.
5. Appointment of the new Bishop of Callao (Peru)
The Holy Father has appointed H. E S.E. Mons. Luis Alberto Barrera Pacheco, M.C.C.J., as the new Bishop of the diocese of Callao (Peru) transferring him from the diocese of Tarma.
Ordination to the priesthood
Fr. Turinawe Vicent (UG) Kabale (U) 10.04.2021
Specializations
The Sudan University of Science and Technology has conferred Fr. Jorge Naranjo a PhD in Education and Quality Management on Tuesday 6 April 2021 at the headquarters of the Supreme Council for Quality and Excellence of Khartoum.
Fr. Naranjo’s research is entitled “Evaluation of the Educational Quality of Comboni Schools in the Light of the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model in Khartoum State”.
Fr. Naranjo qualified with full marks. In its comments, the academic committee which examined the research suggested that the University publish the complete work given the importance of the topic it covers, the innovative character of its approach and the different perspective offered by a foreign person on education in the history of Sudan.
On Thursday 15 April 2021, at the Catholic University of East Africa – Tangaza University College – Institute of Social Transformation, in Nairobi (KE), Fr. Stefano Giudici successfully defended his thesis entitled “Exploration of the relationship between social critical consciousness and pastoral ministry in International Missionary Congregations: a case study of the Comboni Family in Kenya”. The thesis is in view of receiving a “PhD in Social Transformation with specialization in Pastoral Ministry”.
Holy Redeemer Guild
May 01 – 15 ET 16 – 31 I
June 01 – 07 ER 08 – 15 LP 16 – 30 P
Prayer Intentions
May – That, Like Our Lady, “health of the sick”, the nations my join forces to respond to the worldwide humanitarian crisis, helping to restore health care, security and education to those impoverished by conflicts and disasters. Lord hear us.
June – That the Holy Spirit may help us to discern the will of God for our pastoral ministry and to be always witnesses of cooperation and communion. Lord hear us.
Publications
Fr. Daniel Cerezo Ruiz, La cortina de bambú. La misión del encuentro en China, ed. Mundo Negro, Madrid 2021. Behind the bamboo curtain, Fr. Xie Minghao (as Fr. Cerezo was re-named in China) presents “A mosaic of stories worthy of the best travel books ever written – we read in the prologue – though the author goes even further by bringing us closer to the people”. Some leaders have passed years and even decades in prison or concentration camps without being accused or tried in court, giving us an example of strength and serenity supported by faith. Others live the faith clandestinely and in fear while others work in homes for the elderly and the hospitality centres. From this, there emerges a dimension of mercy and charity of the faith that impresses those who approach Christianity.
Justo Bolekia Boleká, Cuando se narraban los cuentos en África. Sabiduría bubi de ayer y hoy, ed. Mundo Negro, Madrid 2021, pp. 246, illustrations by Fernando Noriega. “Entering the bubi world – according to the author – means accessing one of the oldest and most dynamic African environments”. The reader finds in this book some stories in which life is described, from the simpler relationships (father-son, husband-wife) to the more complex, between humans and their environment, “with all th teachings that adults transmit or impose upon the young generations”.
The book (not a book of stories for children but a book for adults) is available from the Mundo Negro administration at the price of €15.
Retreat online
From 5 to 9 April, Fr. David Glenday preached a retreat online for the confreres of the NAP on the theme “Having one common Father” (Comboni, S 2742), begging the grace of being His children in the mission of today.
Those interested in obtaining a recording may contact Fr. David by email: dkglenday@gmail.com
CONGO
50 years of self-giving
On Thursday 8 April, Fr. Alfredo Ribeiro Neres celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his priestly ordination. The Eucharistic celebration, followed by the feast, took place in the chapel of the Comboni novitiate in Magambe, Isiro, in the presence of the Comboni Family, men and women religious, the employees of Magambe and some friends. The Bishop of Isiro-Niangara, Mons. Julien Andavo, participated personally in the Eucharist of thanksgiving presided over by Fr. Alfredo.
In his homily and testimony, Fr. Alfredo told the “pre-history” and the history of his vocation. Referring to the pre-history, he revealed that his parents, after their wedding in 1930, agreed to pray every day that one of their children would become a priest. “I didn’t know that. Nobody else knew. They kept it secret until the day of my ordination”. Concerning his desire to come to the Congo, he said: “When I was eighteen, I heard that seven young Belgians who were on their way to the Congo as lay missionaries had been killed in a plane crash. I offered myself to the Lord to replace one of them and go to the Congo. After some years, I had forgotten my promise but the Lord remembered it”. Alfredo was working in Lisbon for a cosmetics firm where he was in charge of an important sector of the business with a large salary when he decided to leave everything “to go and proclaim the Gospel”. It was when he heard a reading from the Gospel of St Mark (16,17-20) and the words of Fr. Angelo La Salandra during the Mass of the Ascension in May 1959 that he decided to become a Comboni Missionary.
Fifty years later, he says: “I fell full of joy for all the Lord has done in my life. Even in times of sorrow and difficulty, it brings joy and peace to my heart. I was therefore called to hand on, share and bring alive this joy among the people whom the Lord places on my path every day. I feel I should love other people and it is the love of Christ Himself that I receive and give. I urge people to love the Lord and the Virgin Mary. I must continue with this same energy and never fear for the future”.
ITALIA
Missionary sending
On Saturday 10 April, in the parish church of di Milland, Bressanone, dedicated to the Ladin missionary Saint Joseph Freinademetz, Fr. Stefano Trevisan, a 37-year-old Comboni missionary received the missionary mandate after a course of formation and studies which, among other things, involved a six-month stay in Ireland. Fr. Trevisan is called to carry out his missionary service in South Sudan.
The celebration was presided over by Bishop Ivo Muser who presented the missionary cross to the young man. On 28 June 2020, Mons. Muser had ordained him in Bressanone Cathedral. Fr. Stefano, originally from San Vigilio di Marebbe, a former ski instructor, after visiting Africa in 2009, decided to take the path of the priesthood and the mission among the Combonis.
“May your missionary service – Mons. Muser said to him – be marked by a commitment to justice, peace and care for planet Earth as our common home. And may you, following the example of Saint Daniel Comboni, always work not only for the people but with the people, so that they themselves may become the protagonists of their own lives”.
In his “farewell” homily, Fr. Stefano read a passage from the homily of St. Freinademetz before his departure for China: “The Lord invites me to go away with Him to these brothers of ours beyond the seas … It is hard for me to leave my beloved parents … but man is not for this world. He is something more; not to enjoy life but to work wherever he is called by the Lord. And so, full of confidence and peace I go where he calls me”.
He then dwelt upon the meaning of departure with the words of the Brazilian Archbishop Hélder Câmara: “Departing means giving up turning around on ourselves as if we were the centre of the world and of life. Humanity is greater and it is that which we must serve. Departing is first of all opening up to others, discovering them and going out to meet them; opening ourselves to ideas, even those contrary to our own. A good traveller is concerned for his discouraged and tired companions. He takes them as he finds them. He listens to them intelligently and carefully, above all with love and renews their courage. Departing means setting out and helping others to start setting out to build a more just and human world”.
Homage to Comboni in Guinea-Bissau
In Verona Cathedral, Bishop Giuseppe Zenti presided, on 30 April, at an evening Mass for the dead on the 30th day after the death of Mons. Pedro Zilli, a Brazilian PIME missionary who had been Bishop of Bafatá (Guinea-Bissau) since 2001. Three Combonis took part in the concelebration since Mons. Zilli was a missionary bishop who was very close to the charism of Saint Daniel Comboni, as Fr. Romeo Ballan explained during the Mass. It happened that, just a few months after the canonisation of our Founder in 2003, Mons. Zilli set up a new parish dedicated to Saint Daniel Comboni and entrusted it to the Fidei Donum priests of the diocese of Verona. It was probably the first parish that took the name of the new saint and, we may add, in a country far from the lands where Combonis are present. When Mons. Zilli visited our Mother House in 2010, the community presented him with a large picture of Comboni for the faithful of Bafatá.
PORTUGAL
Provincial retreat 2021
This year, due to the pandemic situation, the annual retreat of the Portuguese Province (led by Fr. Adelino Ascenso, Superior General of the Sociedade Missionária da Boa Nova) was held in a special way: each community was given a timetable so we could feel spiritually united and the reflections were presented via Zoom. In this way, it was also possible for the confreres of the Spanish province to participate.
It was a moment of grace! With the missionary experience of Fr. Adelino (who was a missionary in Japan), the Asian culture and experience of the faith were at the forefront and the foundation of his sharing … The invitation “to till inhospitable ground and to climb mountains” and then “with the silence of God and the deconstruction and reconstruction of the image of Christ” descend with fire into the periphery … having as an icon that of the Good Samaritan. In all this journey, we take account of the presence of the “little stones” that enter the gears of our life and make this process difficult: “The danger of the lack of spirit; the deadening of the passion; the fear of gazing deeply; the challenge of interculturality and inter-generationality”.
In his conclusion, he suggested a basic attitude: “The attitude of humble listening: what is the Spirit saying to us in the midst of all our failures and all our searching? What is the Spirit saying to each of us in the midst of this disconcerting pandemic situation? Jesus is the one who directs our gaze and encourages us to risk all in the art of being, surprising us and causing us to wonder at the beauty that comes from the strength of first love”.
We thank Fr. Adelino for his sharing, for his inspiration and for having helped us to discover “the image of a Christ who is weak, friendly and compassionate”.
TOGO-GHANA-BENIN
Golden Jubilee of Priesthood
On Saturday 24 April, at the parish church of Marie, Mère du Rédempteur, there was a solemn Mass to celebrate the fifty years of priesthood of Fr. Sandro Cadei, a moment of great joy which saw the gathering of religious men and women, priests and lay-people, each of whom was marked by the person and missionary service of Fr. Sandro.
In the course of his homily, Fr. Severin Gakpe, one of the “sons” of Fr. Sandro, invited the faithful above all else to thank God for his marvels, he who chooses whomsoever he wants and chose Fr. Sandro to perpetuate the gift of himself that Jesus made through the Eucharistic sacrifice.
Fr. Gakpe presented a panorama of the years spent by Fr. Sandro in the various missions of the Comboni province of Togo-Ghana-Benin and elsewhere, with the conclusion that his life was prophecy and incarnation of the love of God; always ready to serve and to welcome, he lived and still lives the works of mercy in the true sense of the word. What enables him to do so, in his opinion, is his “insane love” for God: Fr. Sandro “is madly in love with God” and this accompanies him in all the services he carries out in the Institute whether pastoral, formative or administrative.
The Provincial, Fr. Timothée Hounaké, while thanking all those invited, was generous with his words on the goodness and availability of the person being celebrated, emphasising that it is his love of personal prayer, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and ongoing formation that enable Fr. Sandro to incarnate these two virtues.
Fr. Sandro, in a joyful voice, noted his similarity to the “Founder”: both are from the province of Brescia, were ordained and sent to the mission at the same age, and expressed the wish that he, too, might take the path of holiness even though “in this field, Saint Daniel Comboni was far ahead of him”.
The celebration concluded with a happy feast while observing the demands of anti-Covid-19 measures.
LET US PRAY FOR OUR BELOVED DEAD
THE MOTHER: Cesira, of Fr. Daniele Moschetti (I).
THE BROTHER: Lorenzo, of Fr. Egidio Tocalli (I).
THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sr. Luisa Emilia Zoia, Sr. Santina Lena Pagani, Sr. M. Grazia Teruzzi, Sr. Sandra Lisa Campedelli, Sr. Italina Serato, Sr. Rosalba M. Bertoni, Sr. Giannantonia Comencini, Sr. Ezia Sala, Sr. M. Domenica Calligaro, Sr. Pier Stella Agostini.