Familia Comboniana 803 - January 2022

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Ordinations

Fr. Houinsou Vigninle A. Saurel (T)       Allada (Ben)            04.12.2021

Holy Redeemer Guild

January            01 – 15 A              16 – 31 BR

February          01 – 15 C              16 – 28 EGSD

Prayer Intentions

January (CMS)

We pray for the Comboni Sisters who this year are celebrating the Jubilee of 150 years since their foundation, that they may continue being faithful witnesses of the Gospel in all the situations in which they are present, according to the particular Charism they received as a gift. Lord hear us.

February (CLM)

We pray that our Church may be ever more fraternal so that all of us can participate in it and be co-responsible for announcing the Kingdom of God. Lord hear us.

Specializations

On 27 October 2021, Deacon Habtamu Masresha successfully discussed the thesis entitled “The influence of peer pressure on alcohol use disorder among street youth in slum areas of Kariobangi sub-county, Embakasi Nairobi County, Kenya” at the Institute of Social Ministry of the University of Tangaza (Kenya), for which he received a Master in Pastoral Psychology. Congratulations Habtamu!

Publications

Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Laurence Desjoyaux, “He venido a traeros la paz”. La misión de un cardenal en el corazón del caos, editorial Mundo Negro, Madrid 2021. Cardinal Nzapalainga recounts, for the first time (with the help of a journalist), the events of his life after he was appointed Archbishop of Bangui in 2013, while a civil war was raging that developed into a clash between Christians and Moslems. The book is a testimony to his exceptional courage and his untiring efforts to restore peace and promote reconciliation between the two communities. The voice of his Eminence is one of the voices most respected in Central Africa: it is the voice of peace.

General Postulation

On Monday, 13 December, during an audience granted to His Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, the Supreme Pontiff authorised the same Congregation to promulgate the Decree regarding “The heroic virtues of the Servant of God, Bernardo Sartori”.

His was a life deeply marked by the mission. Born on 20 May 1897 at Falzé di Trevignano, in the province of Treviso, he entered the Comboni Institute in 1921. Ordained a priest in 1923, after some work in missionary animation in southern Italy, he was sent, in 1934, to West Nile in the north-west of Uganda, a predominantly Moslem area. In the years that followed, he opened missions and schools and, in 1962, he promoted the consecration of all men and women Comboni missionaries in Africa to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

He lived through the turbulent times that followed the fall of the Ugandan dictator Amin and, in 1979, followed his people to Zaire, become a refugee among refugees. After a brief stay in Italy, in 1982, he returned once again to Zaire to be close to his people. He was tireless in his apostolic work and in helping his neighbour. He died at Ombaci, Uganda, on Easter Sunday, 3 April 1983. His lifeless body was found in the church before the tabernacle.

On a Journey towards the Synod

On the occasion of the opening of the Synod, the Presidents of the Unions of Superiors General wrote a letter to all Superiors, inviting them to participate actively in the synodal process and informing them of the creation of a Commission composed of two women and two women religious charged with the preparation of a synthesis of the contributions received and present to the UISG-USG Executive Councils.

The members of this Commission have indicated some guidelines for the preparation of the contributions: in a synodal Church that proclaims the Gospel we all "walk together": how is this "walking together" being realised today in your Local Church/Congregation? What steps does the spirit invite us to take to grow in our "walking together"?

Even though the traditional method of synodal consultation – they continue – is based on questionnaires and replies, we believe that the "conversational" method is more appropriate and in line with the synodal theme. Conversations, if well carried out, are an authentic exercise in synodality. They also indicated what the content of these conversations should be.

In view of the launching of the first phase of the Synod on 15 August, the UISG and USG secretariats have extended the deadline for contributions until 27 March 2022.

Furthermore, they have also clarified that the term synodality includes all the members of the People of God; it excludes no member of it; it is aware that God often reveals his mysteries to the least and the simple. It is also good, they emphasised, to take into account the evolution of the human conscience or of the "new conscience" that is emerging in our time, thanks to the Spirit who operates through the signs of the times.

Finally, they have suggested an appropriate method for group dialogue that reflects the spirit of Synodality. An example of this is the method of spiritual conversation that encourages active participation, attentive listening, reflective speaking and spiritual discernment.

ASIA

Consecration of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia

On 10 December 2021, the cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia was consecrated by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect 0f the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. On the previous day, 9 December, the civil ceremony of inauguration was held. Present at both ceremonies was the Vicar General Jeremias dos Santos Martins who had come from Rome for the occasion. A numerically reduced representation of the local Catholic community also participated, observing the rules laid down by the local authorities due to the pandemic.

The new cathedral is located in the municipality of Awali and is one of the principal churches of the Arabian Peninsula, the see of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia; it has room for 2,300 people.

In February 2013, the Comboni bishop Mons. Camillo Ballin, (who died, as we know, on 12 April 2020), the Vicar Apostolic of Northern Arabia, announce, through Agenzia Fides, the news that the King of Bahrain had donated a nine thousand square metre site to the Vicariate to build the new church. Mons. Ballin immediately noted that the document of the royal donation was dated 11 February, the day on which the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. “Our prayers have been answered. Our Lady of Arabia is indeed able to work miracles” wrote Mons. Ballin. On 19 May 2014, during a visit to Pope Francis at the Vatican, King Hamad bin Isa personally presented the Pontiff with a model of the cathedral under construction.

There are about eighty thousand Catholics living in Bahrain, many of whom are workers from Asia, especially the Philippines and India. The territory of the Kingdom of Bahrain consists of an archipelago of 33 islands close to the west coast of the Persian Gulf.

ESPAÑA

“Mundo Negro” African Museum: “Christmas Cribs of the World 2021”

The “Cribs of the World” display, organised by the Madrid Mundo Negro African Museum and the Comboni Missionaries, reached its fifteenth edition. From 26 November to 9 January, visitors can admire free of charge more than 200 cribs from five continents, part of the collection of the museum. During the previous edition, more than 4,000 people visited the exposition and it is hoped that more will do so this year.

The first cribs were brought to the African Museum by the missionaries but, little by little, the collection was increased by purchases made by the museum itself and private donations. At the centre of the exposition stands a large crib from the Democratic Republic of Congo which was made by Comboni Brother Duilio Plazzotta helped by a group of young Congolese.

As explained by the Museum Director Fr. Miguel Ángel Llamazares, the cribs are a place of encounter between the mystery of the incarnation and the different cultures that accept it and represent it through the medium of materials, colours and forms that are their own and this explains the great variety of cribs.

The traditional representation of the mystery of the Incarnation that we call The Crib” dates back to Christmas 1223 when Saint Francis of Assisi created a living crib in a grotto at Greccio (Italy). The intention of Saint Francis was that the representation of the crib of Bethlehem should help to understand the humility and simplicity of God who became man for the salvation of the world.

SOUTH SUDAN

Work and the training of Catechists in Comboni Parishes

During the month of October 2021, the annual workshop of the Provincial Mission Secretariat was held in Juba on the theme “Work and the training of Catechists in our Comboni Parishes”. The workshop was well received and seen as necessary for our pastoral work. There were 27 participants: 12 Combonis and 15 citizens of Juba.

The moderator was Fr. Gregor Schmidt, assisted by the catechist Augustine Omugi from the parish of St. Vincent de Paul, Gumbo. During the first part of the workshop, each parish presented its work with the catechists.

In the second part, Augustine presented three chapters of the new Directory of Catechesis of the Pontifical Council for New Evangelisation. After that, Fr. Gregor presented an intervention on inculturation, an aspect also covered in chapter 11 of the new Directory.

In the third part of the workshop, the participants divided into small groups and, bearing in mind the challenges they face, wrote down some suggestions and recommendations for the bishops and Comboni provincials and discussed how to improve the formation of catechists.

LET US PRAY FOR OUR BELOVED DEAD

THE BROTHERS: Zegay, of Mons. Menghesteab Tesfamariam (ER); Lorenzo, of Mons. Guerrino Perin (I).

THE SISTERS: Rosaria, of Fr. Michele Sardella (I), Tigist Ensermu Wakuma, of Fr. Fufa Ensermu Wakuma (CO); Virginia, of Bro. José Godínez Pérez (M).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sr. M. Pasqualina Pili; Sr. Miriam Armanasco, Sr. Maria Tullia Passini, Sr. Angela Didoné.