September was a month of blessings for the Comboni province of Egypt-Sudan

The Superior General, Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse, has come to visit the communities in the Sudan from 21 August to 11 September. With his visit, he completed the visit to EGSD province, which had started with his visit to Cairo last year in October. In the first week, Fr. Tesfaye preached a retreat to a number of confreres and to other religious. After that, he visited the communities of Masalma, Comboni College, Kosti, El Obeid and Port Sudan, spending at least a couple of days in each. For him this visit was the chance to come back to his first mission, where many among the faithful still remember him, even though it has been around twenty years since he left the Sudan (back in 2010 he also visited the Sudan while he was General Coucilor).

At the end of his visit, which had included a visit to most of the bishops in the country as well as a recollection day with the Comboni Sisters in Villa Gilda, he met the Provincial Council as well. Before leaving for Rome, he shared his thoughts with the confreres who were in Khartoum at the moment. His encouraging words were most appreciated by the confreres, who are blessed to live and work in the land where Comboni died and the Institute was born, a land where challenges are still many.  The confreres in the Sudan zone expressed their great appreciation for the visit of Fr. Tesfaye. Sudan greeted him with a “See you back soon!”

Celebrating the perpetual vows of Mina Albeer Tawfiq and José Jeremias Salvador
This year, 2021, celebrating the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the province of Egypt-Sudan witnessed the perpetual commitment of two of its members. The Comboni family welcomed two new perpetually professed confreres assigned to this province, namely, Sc. Mina Albeer, an Egyptian National who has just completed his theological studies in Nairobi, Kenya, and now back in the country for a missionary assignment. Together with him, Sc. Jeremias Salvador from Mozambique who did his theological studies in Cape Coast, Ghana, and was later assigned to the Egypt-Sudan for Missionary Service and the study of the Arabic language and Islamic studies. This event took place in the historical shrine of Cordi Jesu set up by St. Daniel Comboni himself, although the present building is an expansion of the original one. This shrine is the first ever dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Africa.

It does not come by chance that this event was organized in this shrine to remember the central place of the love of God for his people that every missionary is called to incarnate in his/her work. Striking also is that this memorable event took place at the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. The Cross was a dear point of reflection and inspiration to St. Daniel Comboni. He writes to Cardinal Alessandro Franchi from Khartoum on the 12th of May, 1875 emphasizing “that all the works of salvation are born and grow at the foot of the cross is a fact proved by the constant experience of the nineteenth centuries”.

Certainly our present age also experiences a number of crosses that each one needs to carry. Because of this, it also remains inspiring to draw from St. Daniel Comboni who in the same letter writes that “the divine Heart of Jesus will in his infinite goodness and mercy put right everything that has gone wrong, since by his grace he has always and will always guide his holy work.”

This profound experience of Comboni brings to convergence the works of salvation born at the foot of the Cross and the Sacred Heart of Jesus that puts all things right. It is in light of these two faces of the same coin that the perpetual commitment of our two brothers to follow Jesus in the footsteps of St. Comboni can be better perceived.

This event was braced by the presence of most of the members of the Comboni Missionaries in Egypt Zone and a few friend priests from around the country. The vows were received by the provincial Superior, Fr. Richard Kyankaaga, as a delegate of the Superior General. Representatives of our sister institute, the Comboni Missionary Sisters, were led by their Provincial Superior. Family and friends of our two brothers also gave a positive notch to the celebration. It is with unforgettable joy that the institute as a whole and the province in particular raise their thanks to the Lord for the gift of vocations.

With gratitude to the Lord, we turn in constant prayer that the He will guide those who made such a daring step to definitively follow Christ as Comboni did, as well as keep those yet to take the step focused on Christ who calls and inspires many more to follow in the Comboni charism. May our founder, the great missionary of Africa, always intercede for us and keep us as one family, Familia Comboniana.

Fr. Giuseppe Benito Cruciani: Celebrating 60 years of fidelity to God and the Mission
September has been a month of immense blessings for the Province of Egypt-Sudan. On September 8, 2021, Fr. Giuseppe Cruciani Benito, the oldest member of the Province, celebrated his sixty years of priesthood. The principal celebration was held in Aswan, where the Father is currently serving, on September 12, 2021, joined by the Coptic priests, our confreres, the Comboni sisters and the great number of the faithful. Earlier, a similar celebration was held at Luxor together with the clergy of the diocese with their Bishop Mons. Emmanuel Bishoy.  September 19 was the day the celebration was held in Zamalek Parish, Cairo, in the presence of the confreres working in Cairo, the Comboni Sisters and many friends. The main celebrant on this particular occasion was the Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt and the Arab League. In this same celebration, our sc. Jeremias Salvador Jose was ordained deacon.

Ordained in 1961, Fr. Cruciani worked in Italy for 8 years after which he was sent to Khartoum, Sudan, where he remained until 1991. Since 1991, he has been in Egypt where he has served in almost all the communities. He has been in Africa for 52 uninterrupted years.

His class of 1961 consisted of 25 confreres 10 of whom are still in active ministry. It will not be possible, unfortunately, to celebrate together as a group due to the prevailing pandemic times. We wish Fr. Cruciani and all his group a fruitful anniversary year and lots of God’s blessings and graces upon them as they continue serving Him and the mission with unwavering zeal and fidelity, always Holy and Capable stewards of God’s abundant wealth of love and faith.

Provincial Assembly in Bahri
The provincial assembly in preparation to the General Chapter was held in Bahri for the Sudan zone. In the EGSD province, the two zone hold the yearly provincial assembly in two separate sessions. The gathering, held from 10 to 12 August in the provincial house, focused on three issues: (1) the situation of the communities, with special regard to the challenges represented by the ongoing pandemic; (2) the preparation to the XIX General Chapter following the questionnaire that was distributed by the preparatory committee in Rome; (3) a revision of how the six year plan has been implemented. The assembly was meant to be attended by the Superior General, Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse, who unfortunately had to wait more than expected for his tourist visa (eventually, his visit took place in the following weeks).

At its conclusion, the assembly drew some recommendation for future discernment in the province, along five guidelines: sustainability, requalification of our houses, vocation promotion, formation of local clergy and opening of the teaching work in CCK to other congregations.
P. Richard Kyankaaga, mccj