Writings

[6516]

This morning I solemnly baptised 4 adults and married one African girl to one of the baptised. Your letter of 23/1/81 reached me a week ago, in which you wrote “Today I am sending (to Sembianti) another 300 florins given to me by a lady, who does not want to be named but who specified: The first African who is baptised by His Most Reverend Excellency in Khartoum, is to receive the name of Enrico (Rex) Anna Maria… and to send me under separate cover the baptismal certificate.”

[6517]

Here then is the baptismal certificate, and of the four young men I chose a Dinka (because you are famous for the Dinka language). He is a handsome young man of about 18, born in To i in the Dinka country, and he is called A-Gher; he knows no Arabic and was instructed by the famous and holy Kheralla (who was with Lanz – myself, Oliboni, Melotto Beltrame among the Kich at Holy Cross) and his instruction was examined by me in the Dinka language. He is a young man who is one metre 82 centimetres tall (taller than I who am 1.75), of virginal behaviour. If Fr Luigi Bonomi, who is also a photographer, was not so very busy, I would order him to photograph the lucky neophyte Enrico (Rex) Anna Maria A-Gher. But we shall see.

[6518]

Next week I am leaving with 30 people, and more, for Kordofan and Jebel Nuba. After organising and visiting these missions, I shall go and plant a most important one myself to the west of the White Nile and of the Kich and the Bari, and I shall follow the course of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, turning south-west. In one part of this new mission they speak Dinka, Jur, Arol, Ghogh and Niam-Niam. It is a magnificent land, it is healthier than all others. This is the target of Kordofan and Jebel Nuba missions. But more on this when I have studied the matter. His Excellency the Hoccomdar, Governor General of the Egyptian Sudan (which covers an area 5 times the size of the whole of Italy) is a great friend of mine and does everything I want.
Vale. Celsissimo Reverendissimo et Benefactrici salutem et gratias.
Tuissimus

+ Daniel Episcopus

The day after tomorrow I shall celebrate a solemn requiem for my illustrious benefactor Cardinal Kutskas, Archbishop of Vienna.

[6519]

The way God has marked out for me is the Cross. But since Christ, who died on the Cross on account of man’s unrighteousness, knew what he was doing, this is a sign that the Cross is a beautiful thing and a just thing. So let’s carry it, and move ahead.
The Superior of Kordofan who was asked by me and by the Vicar General Fr Bonomi to give his accounts, has never given them, either to me or to Fr Luigi. As soon as I reached Khartoum, he wrote to me saying that it was urgent to pay a debt of 1,800 thalers through my Procurator Giorgio Papa, and I paid it on sight here in Khartoum, shelling out 1,800 thalers. With the following post he asked me for a cheque of another 100 thalers, and I paid on sight. Now (without giving any accounts) he has sent me a telegram asking me to send instantly another 800 thalers; and here I stopped, because he did not tell me to whom they were to be paid and what expenses they were to cover. The fact is that I have discovered several defects, only one of which I will cite. When I did my accounts with Callisto Legnani (now Italian Consul in Khartoum) I found I had a credit of 1,600 gold francs. He protested and said that he thought that he was creditor instead; but he had to yield before the eloquence of our orders and notes. Finally, needing money, he brought me the receipts for two letters of credit for 900 gold francs that Signor Isidoro Legnani from Menaggio, his brother, paid through the Bank of Naples to Fr Vincenzo Marzano, etc., etc.,
and he told me had other bills from El Obeid. He knows that I have told him several times that I will not pay him any order that does not come from me or from my Vicar, Fr Bonomi. Let’s proceed.

[6520]

As you will have read, Fr Losi sent to Cardinal Canossa the slanderous lie (and yet I would like to have 30 of these mad saints like Fr Losi, who may well have written, as he did on other occasions, the same thing to the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda, who mentioned something to me, or perhaps Cardinal Canossa himself may have touched on this point at Propaganda) on 21st October 1880 in these precise terms: “Since Your Eminence is still preoccupied by this poor Mission, etc. … The priests of this Station (that is Fr Vincenzo who sends money to his father, and Fr Fraccaro, who, without saying a word to the Bishop and Vicar Apostolic or to his Vicar General, consents to these muddles) assure me that Mgr Comboni has not sent even a single piastre for three years, and that there is an enormous debt with the Procurator, etc. (who now does not advance even one piastre, and with him everything is paid up, as per his receipt) etc.” Now from the records of the general administration of this Apostolic Chancellery from 21st October of 1877 to today, kept by Canon Fiore until 12th April 1878, by Fr Squaranti until 10th September 1878, by me until 19th March 1879 and by Fr Bonomi until 18th February this year, we find that, without counting 11 supply expeditions to Kordofan, in cash alone we sent 262,073 Toggiar Sudanese piastres, equivalent to 13,103 Megid thalers and 13 piastres, equivalent to 3,047 gold Napoleons 7 francs and 33 centimes (I say three thousand and forty-seven gold Napoleons, seven francs and thirty-three centimes).

[6521]

I hope that I will not be so small and proud as to justify myself either to our Most Eminent Father Cardinal di Canossa or to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda: I matter nothing. But I would risk my mitre even before the Supreme Pontiff to defend the innocence and loyalty of my missionaries, and of those who have given their lives for Africa. Long live Jesus. (Also, for the family and father of Angelo Composta of Negrar, Legnani sent 100 francs without my permission and with the consent of Fr Fraccaro). After all these petty acts and others that I have no time to describe, I am firmly convinced and can see quite clearly that with the help of Jesus, Mary and my Beppo, this year I will succeed in making a start and to launch my projects on the objective of the present establishments, and to push on towards the tribes bordering on the Equator. I have already spoken at length with the Grand Pasha, who likes me very well and supports all my projects because, although he is a fanatical Muslim, he is convinced that our Work is a Work of sublime civilisation. He also has good relations with Fr Luigi.
Here in Khartoum, I find a letter from Fr Giordano Vinazzano, Vicar of S. Stefano in Padova, from which it appears that there is a credit from Fr Paolo Rossi, not yet claimed. I send it to you, so that you may do as you think best.

[6522]

Fr Bortolo is better, is eating and will be able to leave next week with me for Kordofan. Fr Paolo Rosignoli (who has done quite well so far) is completely recovered. I have decided to leave the two Piedmontese sisters in Khartoum under Sister Vittoria. Since we have set them to work with the girls and the good effect of this was immediately apparent, to the extent that Sr Amalia marvelled at their usefulness, I was asked to leave them here. I also considered that the climate in Khartoum in the last two years was better than that in Kordofan, and this is much better for these sisters who were not acclimatised in Cairo.
I gave the appropriate instructions to Sister Vittoria, and our excellent Superior in Verona should do the same by corresponding with Sister Vittoria.

[6523]

I have just received your letter of 5th February; N. 12. Most interesting. You must know that in the whole of the Vicariate we have no more than about 2,600 francs, and that yesterday I sent Fr Giulianelli the order to pay a letter of credit for 3,000 francs, which he wisely did not pay last year to Monsieur Marquet, because it was not in order. Overall, my current financial situation is deplorable, but I am not afraid. I approve and am pleased that you have good funds in Verona; indeed it was I who wrote to many people to send money to Verona: but I need to think of the Vicariate and also of Egypt, and I alone am responsible for the whole Work and also for its finances, because I alone know the spiritual and temporal needs of all the establishments and of the whole Work. I did not allocate the ten thousand francs to Verona or to Cairo, but only a small part to Verona, and the rest to the Vicariate; you were therefore supposed to send them to Cairo, not for Cairo, but for Cairo to forward them to me in Khartoum. My position is even more critical because no one in the world can give me exact and definitive advice, not even Propaganda itself, because Central Africa is in fact different from the rest of the world; and the one man who has some idea is Fr Bonomi.

[6524]

But on this I am fully at peace because I seek counsel with the Lord, Our lady and St Joseph who have always assisted me in Africa and have never allowed me to make a single mistake, even though in Europe, where Africa is unknown, people think otherwise. But let’s go forward and have courage. I am very happy that God has given you all the zeal and charity for Africa; and even in retaining the 7,000 lire it is all for the good and the economy of the Work, by not spending on sending the money to Cairo, and by later spending on sending money in July from Cairo to Verona. So do keep the money in Verona, for Beppo will look after us. I am confused and do not know where to put my feet. But long live Jesus and Beppo, and let’s push on. I can no longer go back on the Contract made for the church in Cairo: I had to make it, and make it this way and even now I would do it this way, despite the opinion of Bakhit (who is a gentleman), and all the opposition of the Franciscans and the Apostolic Delegate. Here is the pure truth about the deplorable religious conditions in Egypt, that I (let it be said between us in the utmost secret) “The Franciscan monopoly is the primary cause of the standstill in religious progress in Egypt”. At the request of high authorities, I examined the situation in Egypt (for Rome already knows that I have known it for thirty years), I sent these and other ideas to Rome from Cairo and Suakin. You will therefore soon see new things in Egypt, to the great benefit of the true faith and of our establishments.

[6525]

Egypt is the key, the headquarters and the point of departure for the spiritual regeneration of a quarter of the whole of Africa. While the devil labours, Christ carries on his own Works. I now come to the famous Deacon I ordained in Turin; I thought that this matter was over and done with and that I would have nothing more to do with it: but Jesus has again allowed me to have a tribulation here. Fiat! Courage.

[6526]

In April of last year, returning from Rome to Sestri (I had not yet seen you with my own eyes installed as Rector of the African establishments in Verona) I received a letter from the late Canon Ortalda, who for 28 years was the director and patron of Missionaries and Missionary Bishops around the world, inviting me to preach on the Propagation of the Faith in Turin on 3rd May. I answered that I did not have the time, because I had to think of paying 6,000 francs instead of 217 Egyptian guineas (about which Giulianelli had sent me a telegram in Verona which you had forwarded to me in Sestri) which meant that I had to make a trip to France, etc. Canon Ortalda insisted on inviting me to Turin (where I would have to pass to go to France), and I went: preached, etc., delivered my lecture, etc. and did my duty. In Turin, I stayed at Villa della Regina 6, that is in the College of the Apostolic Schools founded by Ortalda, then suppressed (there were as many as 150) and then restored, but without superiors and out of favour with the Archbishop, etc.

[6527]

While I wanted to go and seek my 6,000 francs to be paid in Cairo (it would have been better if I had had them paid by Brown in Cairo), Canon Ortalda made me these propositions:
1. I will give you the 6,000 francs right away, and you will repay me when you can (I have repaid him).
2. I promise to designate for you in Central Africa the best candidates to come from my College.
3. But you must do me the pleasure of ordaining titulo Missionis Africae Centralis the cleric N.N. who currently supervises our young men, and you must ordain him promising me to leave him here in Turin for several years to form him as Director of the Apostolic Schools. The candidate is a good one, continued Canon Ortalda, he is able and he is equipped with his dimissorial letters (exeat), which he obtained when he entered my College.

[6528]

In the face of these three propositions made by someone like Canon Ortalda, perhaps the most zealous promoter of foreign Missions in Italy, and certainly considered as such by all the Vicars Apostolic in the world, what missionary Bishop zealous for the salvation of the souls of unbelievers would have remained indifferent? And how could I refuse at that moment, when I was in need of money, and in even greater need of candidates for Africa, not knowing how things would go at the African Institute in Verona under your direction? I thought and prayed and reflected on the matter, all the more because Canon Ortalda had had another ordained in this manner who then went off as a missionary because he could not get on with him.

[6529]

After examining the papers, and having heard Canon Ortalda repeat to me that he had completed all the necessary documentation in the Curia of the Archbishopric, I of course ordained him Subdeacon and Deacon, and was waiting for the following Sunday to ordain him to the priesthood. When, during the week, I went to see the Archbishop and told him of these ordinations (and naturally he already knew everything), he told that this individual had not been fully approved by his Ordinary because he had “the vice of drinking”. I knew nothing of this, I told the Archbishop, and he replied: “If you wish, I shall obtain a reply from that Bishop (Ivrea), and you will be convinced”. “No”, I answered, “I am convinced from the moment Your Excellency says so and of course I will stop and will not ordain him a priest until Your Excellency assures me that he has a calling, etc.”

[6530]

I went to the College and declared to Canon Ortalda that I would no longer ordain him a priest; and the Canon was extraordinarily afflicted by this. But I would not budge, stood my ground on the matter and left Turin. However, before I left, the three Sisters of St Joseph (and they have flair) assured me that this candidate for ordination was excellent, that they had all seen him and dealt with him every day and that I could ordain him sight unseen. A parish priest in the neighbouring towns said the same and an uncle of his who is a parish priest came and told me that his nephew was a good boy, that he had lived with him a long time and that he was always single-minded; that he had not much talent and was a bit old; but that as regards habits, that he was very sound and had always expressed the wish to be a priest, although only recently had he said that he wanted to be a missionary.

[6531]

I went again to Turin; but nothing new: the Canon was happy, and hoping that before I went back to Africa, I would ordain the priest. I went to lunch with the Archbishop and afterwards, discussing the deacon, I found that he had not changed his mind and that he would never want such a candidate in his diocese.
The last time but one that I went to Turin, I found things quite tense between Canon Ortalda and the Archbishop, who intimated to him that if by September he had not provided the College with a wise and trusted Director, he would ban the use of the chapel, which would force Canon Ortalda to close the College and send the young men and the Sisters away. This is what ruined his health, and made him fall ill and die. This was when Canon Ortalda (still hoping for the survival of the College) proposed that I should provisionally take this protégé of mine into the Verona establishment until he recalled him, etc. … After long discussions, I decided to give him a visiting card for you, whom I intended to inform later. I could not do otherwise, I could not refuse and had to act as I did because after all he was my protégé. The moral of all this is that I then went to Rome and elsewhere and forgot to speak to you about it, because no Bishop in the world is in my condition, with so many different affairs to deal with and without a secretary.

[6532]

When I passed through Turin for the last time on 23rd November, on my way to Africa, I understood that following Ortalda’s death, the College collapsed, the Sisters left and the Deacon gave no sign of life, he never wrote to me and I never thought of him and forgot to tell you about him. I believed (after speaking in Turin with the Canon successor to Ortalda’s mission affairs) that the Deacon had returned to his uncle the parish priest, etc., etc., etc. Besides, having a thousand other things to bear in mind for myself, I thought no more about him.
Now quid agendum???

[6533]

To you, as my representative in Verona, etc. I delegate all the faculties, rights and duties I may have regarding this individual; and I assume my responsibility before God and the world for whatever mistake I may have made. What is certain is that before God, I had the best and the holiest intentions for the good of Africa.
You have ways of seeking advice quoad ius in Verona, from the Most Reverend Superior, the Most Eminent Bishop, Fr Peloso. Either the Deacon shows a true missionary vocation, or he simply has a vocation to the priesthood (which I doubt). Should he have an inclination to become a missionary (if there were any sign of this), and he undertook the obligation to pay the journey and one franc or more a day for the trial period, payable six months in advance, you could (if you see fit) try him out in Verona. Should he just have a vocation to the priesthood, let him find a Bishop who will receive him, for which I give him an exeat, which I enclose herewith…

[6534]

So do what seems best to you. For my part, hic et nunc, I do not know what else to tell you. Forgive me my position, or mistake, long live Jesus!
The Superior of the Jesuits in Cairo told me that Fr Normand, Superior of Syria and Egypt wanted to offer me the Belgian who is a good young man and whom I saw in Cairo: and that I could even have taken him to the Sudan. But since he comes from Fr Boetman who has sent us so many, I told him to contact you; and I forgot to warn you. Now you will see. Certainly the Cairo Jesuits told me that he was a good an able young man, but not called to the Society of Jesus.

[6535]

I am grieved about Giorgio: do whatever you think best: you can even help his family in Beirut. However, be careful that we do not lose Virginia because of this, because she can do for Africa what ten of our Sisters do. Our Sisters are excellent, but hic et nunc none of them, not even Sr Vittoria nor any of the others I know, is a patch on Virginia in the principal points of apostolate in practice. If Virginia and I have suffered through the calumny (and I am proud of this, because I am not guilty, and neither is Virginia, not even of a tiny flaw of what is alleged by the brigands and the holy madmen) in Africa by the Friars, and in Verona and Rome, this does not mean that she is not an instrument in the hands of God for Africa, in a manner that pleases God. Certain small tests that are necessary for brand-new postulants are not appropriate and are certainly not a clear assessment of those who have already exercised the apostolate in the battlefield, like Virginia, who faced the cannon and showed proof of heroic virtues in the arduous and difficult field of Africa. This is my opinion, and the opinion of Fr Bonomi and others who have seen Virginia in Africa. If she had no great virtues, she would have already left. Our opinion would be that she should be clothed as a religious, and be granted the charitable respect that is due to veterans of the apostolate.

[6536]

In the meantime (for the love of God do not say this to the Superior and to the female Institute so as not to discourage them, for a cosmopolitan Congregation like ours is not formed in two or three years, we need time, and it is certain to succeed), here in Khartoum there is no female school, and the 38 oriental families from Syria that are here are not even known by Sr Vittoria (who nonetheless is a devout and able Sister), and she needs to call Fr Luigi every day for the catechism to the African girls boarding here; and many of these families have come to me, begging me to bring back to Khartoum the Sisters of St Joseph, or at least Sr Germana and Sr Anna (who is Virginia) for the school, etc. Yesterday, a family from Aleppo with two girls came to see me; and I asked them why they did not send the two girls to the Sisters; and they answered me that it was because our Sisters neither write nor understand Arabic. This is a great mortification for me… Let us therefore take care of Virginia, who has been the most loyal of all the missionaries and Sisters, to me and to the mission. And for me, who have been betrayed by so many and by those who were most loyal, it is a title of profound respect and veneration for Virginia, and I wish I had a hundred Virginias, and I am interested in keeping her, even putting up with her faults, because she has done and will do her duty. I will not forget Virginia until the day I lose all my zeal and love for Africa. But since this could hardly happen because God himself called me to care for Africa, I will always hold Virginia in high esteem, for she has eminent
qualities and greater talent and courage than all our Sisters in the Sudan, including the Superiors.

[6537]

Sister Amalia is convinced of this, even though she has never seen her, but on the basis of what she has heard from competent persons. Sister Vittoria would also apparently be happy to have her; but now it is good for her to stay in Verona to teach Arabic, and with self-denial, patience and mortification (because she knows how much, through God’s will, she has suffered unjustly even in Europe), let her become holy, perfect herself in the interior virtues and prepare herself for greater things for the glory of God.
Here, our Sisters from Verona are all good, and Sister Vittoria is a soldier. For the above-mentioned reasons (I say this to you alone), I am leaving the Sisters from Piedmont in Khartoum. In the last few days they have been caring night and day for Gessi Pasha, who was at death’s door, and he told me that he hoped to be cured by them, who are real angels. Gessi Pasha is a man who, as Governor General from Sobat to the Equator, in the last three years has had more than five thousand Jallabas or slave traders shot or hanged. Well, this fellow now does nothing but kiss the Sisters’ crucifix in respect. So let us take courage and proceed and with Virginia’s help our Congregation will receive great advantages. This is what I say, now that I am in danger of dying and ever closer to death; and I say it in conscience even if I were at the point of death, whatever anybody says who does not know the mission and the true Sister of charity in Central Africa.

[6538]

I completely approve of your idea of raising the yearly subscription for our Annals of the Good Shepherd to 4 lire. If you remember, I too wanted to alter the miserable one lira a year. Well, put the Annals at 4 lire, or better still at 3 lire. At 3 lire a year there will be more subscriptions. Three is better. Since there are so many charities, people would refuse to subscribe at 4. You will have no lack of reports from the missionaries and the Sisters: be sure of that. Have courage, and always remember that Fr Giuseppe Sembianti is the first, and must be the first of the Apostolic Missionaries of Central Africa.

[6539]

Between us, you, I and certain oriental Jesuits I know (under the protection of Fr Vignola, the Provost General, and the auspices of His Eminence Cardinal di Canossa) must do great things for Central Africa. The missions at Nyanza of the Missionaries of Algiers are heading for disaster, even if wondrous accounts are being printed in Lyons: those who do not walk straight and for the glory of God alone are not blessed; let’s hope they pull themselves together and that the Archbishop of Algiers trumpets less and does more, etc.

[6540]

As regards Fr Francesco Walcher, I have spoken with two of his confreres Fr Dichtl and Fr Giuseppe Ohrwalder. They think he should not go to Gratz at all, but that he should stay in Verona and study at the Stigmatines and be formed under your direction. His sister Gabriella (my daughter) who, for as long as God pleases, is looking after her sister Anna, is delighted that Francesco should stay in Verona. Francesco wrote me from Verona: “I found everything clean here, I can say no more. The direction is now understandably good and firm; but what Grieff did has not yet passed, and this is the reason that I find no rest at all”. I tell you this so that you know what to do, and for the memory of that perfidious individual to be erased. When he returned from Cologne (I found this out here) with 6,000 francs, he told Fr Paolo: “I give them to you on the condition that I become Superior of either Verona or Cairo”. He even ordered Alberto here never to speak to the Arabs, and did many other much more serious things against several individuals. The Superior of the London Seminary, when Grieff asked to leave, said to Fr Bouchard: “His departure is a blessing for the college: it is incredible how much malice and perversion there is in that soul, etc., etc.”

[6541]

Coming back to the Deacon Giovanni, why did he not apply to Verona as soon as the Ortalda College collapsed?… This is what makes me suspect that the mission does not matter at all to him, and that he tried (without success) to become a priest in his diocese… Think about it, and may you find the right way to deal with the problem.
I had news from Rome that our Most Eminent Bishop has published a splendid pastoral letter on the Propagation of the Faith, and that he cited the important subsidies received by Central Africa and the Canossians in China. Please thank His Eminence on my behalf, and for his appeal for aid to the Propagation of the Faith and the Holy Childhood. From the Society for the Schools of the East I receive little, because that work is the monopoly of Mgr Lavigerie, and because I write little to it. I only receive 600 francs or a little more a year, and that is thanks to the Founder of that Work, my good friend Mgr Soubiranne, now Bishop of Belley, who when he was Director even gave me 2,000.

[6542]

As regards the letters of former missionaries in correspondence with Fr Bricolo, I looked for them in Khartoum and found them intact, still bound together just as Fr Squaranti received them from Fr Bricolo. I glanced through them and found even my letters and letters from Fr Oliboni, etc., but the main part of the correspondence is from Fr Dalbosco to Fr Bricolo: That holy priest, my companion and the 1st Rector of the African Institute in Verona when I opened it at S. Pietro Incarnario, informed Fr Bricolo from Khartoum about many things, etc. And I would say that many of these letters could be used in our Annals with the permission of Fr Bricolo. I will therefore send them to you as soon as possible. Inform Fr Bricolo that, just as he entrusted them to Fr Squaranti, he can also entrust them to you. Give him my greetings, thank him for the fine book he published, translated from the French; and I will write to him when I have the time.

[6543]

I heard about Fr Moron: I bless him and let him pray for us. As regards Sestri (I have no time to write to Fr Angelo or to the outstanding Sr Metilde), do what you think best in the Lord, and also keep in touch with the Most Reverend Canon the Archpriest, giving him my greetings. Fr Luciano knows me very well and will certainly forgive me if I do not write: since the death of his brother-in-law I have been meaning to write to his sister Angelina, but could not find the time. Give him my heartfelt greetings and let him pray for me.

[6544]

This morning I solemnly baptised 5 adults, among whom I chose a pious and excellent young Dinka man of 18 to give him the name requested through Mitterrutzner: Enrico (Rex) Anna Maria. I chose a Dinka because Mitterrutzner is the author of the first grammar and dictionary of the Dinka language. This young man, as black as coal, was born in Toi (a Dinka town), is 1m. 82cm tall, quite a bit taller than me. He does not know Arabic, so I had him instructed in Dinka and examined him myself; and found that he had a good knowledge of the catechism and a very good one of the spirit of our holy faith. He was instructed by Kheralla (whom Fr Beltrame knows well) and his surname is A-Gher, which means white, virgin etc., and his soul is really white. After the baptism this morning, Fr Luigi drafted the baptism certificate, which reads Enrico (Rex) Anna Maria A-Gher. His godfather was my loyal servant, the American Domenico Correia, and I am sending the certificate to Mitterrutzner today by this post. There are four men and one woman. There are many more catechumens to baptise, but they have not yet been sufficiently instructed.

[6545]

I am also sending you the death certificate of Fr Domenico Noya for Barletta, signed by the Italian Consul. I have already written to Noecker in Cologne from Khartoum, and we are preparing reports for Cologne.
I still owe a bill more than a year old to Cavaliere Melandri, to whom I entrusted the purchase of books on philosophy in Naples, and who is one of my main correspondents in Rome because he is very serviceable. I asked him to wait because I am waiting for the moment when I am ready to ask Propaganda to pay, etc. But I am not ready to do so since they gave me 10,000 francs. I am waiting for them to pull out some other small offering for me. I’m alerting you: but I hope to pay him myself. I will personally soon see to paying Cavaliere Melandri of the Tipografia Poliglotta of Propaganda and Tanfani at S. Luigi dei Francesi (for two cushions which are in Verona), unless I die, in which case you will pay.

[6546]

The best means to dispatch boxes directly to Khartoum is via Genoa, Suez and Suakin and to my address, because it is only to my name that no customs duty is charged, neither in Alexandria nor at Suez nor at Suakin; otherwise we pay eight percent of the value of each item of merchandise, as they had to do with Legnani. Here is the address:
To Monsignor Comboni Bishop of Khartoum at Suakin (on the Red Sea) (trans-shipment at Suez) sending things to the Rubattino Company in Genoa.
The two sacks of Grigolini rice and the wax from Montorio have arrived in Berber.
My agent in Alexandria is Mr Germano Carcereri
My agent in Suakin is Monsieur A. Marquet
but things must always be addressed to me, and care of my agents.
My Procurator in Suez is Mr Zahr, Vice Consul of Belgium (he is a schismatic Greek, and does not know Arabic, but he has scribes in all languages; so write in Italian, but clearly).

[6547]

When you send items of value to Alexandria, use my address commending the dispatch to the Imperial Royal Consul of Austria-Hungary in Alexandria.
I will give you other letters and names of my agents elsewhere.
I read in your letter N. 11 about Sestri: “and the material the Sisters have been using for 10 months, and the outcome of their relations, which from the start was established (is this true?) must be paid immediately, etc.”, I do not understand, I established nothing, nor is anything true, and you must ask to be shown my commitment in writing.
I bless you and all, and pray for your most affectionate

+ Bishop Daniel

[6548]

This morning our great caravan left for Kordofan, with four Sisters, Fr Luigi, Fr Bortolo, Fr Rosignoli, Isidoro, etc., etc. more than 30 camels. I sent the provisions 20 days ago. Since I still have a lot to do here, I shall leave in 5 day’s time, and since I trot along at a fair rate to save time, I am bound to catch them all up in just 10 days and arrive in the capital of Kordofan together with them. As I have no money, I must borrow a thousand thalers here.
I have left as Superior in Khartoum Fr Arturo Bouchard, a man who is sound and of great self-denial who, like Fr Luigi, myself, and especially the two Germans Fr Giovanni Dichtl and Fr Giuseppe, and Francesco Pimazzoni, hardly ever drinks wine, but merissa. His assistant is Dichtl, under whom Francesco is studying admirably, among other things the Roman catechism. Beshir is also staying as catechist and factotum with Gabriele and Domenico as gardener.

[6549]

Please have the bookseller Mayer of Vienna paid, or send him, 4 florins, 8 kreuzer. Moreover, since the cash reserves are greater in Verona and lesser in the Sudan, today I have written to the Bon Marché (Mme Veuve Boucicaut) in Paris, telling this huge establishment, from which I ordered the white habits for all the Sisters in Africa and for all the missionaries (who were most satisfied with the grey hats I brought them from Rome, and about which the Imperial Royal Austro-Hungarian Consul congratulated me) to send the bill to you, which you will pay immediately (either by post or by letter of credit, because they always send the goods and take payment on delivery). I ordered 1,000 metres of satin, etc. and also the stuff for the blue veils and other little things.
It is right that you should keep the money in Verona, as long as God wishes. I bless the male and female Institutes, and yourself, pray for
Your most affectionate

+ Bishop Daniel

[6550]

I cannot resist giving you two pieces of news, one sad and one splendid. The sad one is the death of our dear Kherallah, of the one who helped us so much (and especially you) in bringing the Dinka language out of the shadows. You know the life, death and miracles of this incomparable Christian, who lived as a saint and died as a saint. You will see a stupendous biography which is being written by Fr Giovanni Dichtl, an alumnus of my African Institute in Verona, whom I have posted here in Khartoum.

[6551]

The good news is… guess what… Fransis… (your travel companion to Benishagol)… has finally settled down… he has taken as his wife the most beautiful Abyssinian woman in Khartoum, previously the concubine of a Greek, converted to Catholicism by one of my Arab Sisters, and who spent three years in the mission. She is a good girl of about 23 who was courted by traders, but who said herself that she would either remain unmarried or would marry a good practising Catholic, even an old one. Now Fransis is old, an able bricklayer, but he has shrunk in size and lost his voice. I married him on the last Sunday of Carnival, and yesterday I asked the bride if she was happy, and she answered “ana fil fardùs… I am really happy, and I will be grateful to you, my father, until I die, because you have given me a man as husband who is the best I have ever known”. Later Fransis came to see me, and when I asked him whether he was happy he answered, arching his fingers in the way you imitate so well: “am I happy?… You have been a real father to me… now I am settled”. He gave his bride a rich gold necklace and gold bracelets, etc. He sends you his regards.

[6552]

In Cairo, I had a long audience with the new Khedive, who gave orders to all the governors where I passed with my large caravan of 16 Sisters, missionaries and craftsmen, etc. The fact is that with such a large caravan it took only 29 days to go from Cairo to Khartoum: I stayed 5 days in Suakin and as soon as I reached Berber I found the steamer which had waited eleven days for me, sent by the Grand Pasha at the Khedive’s orders to take me to Khartoum.

[6553]

Here I found Gessi Pasha, the tamer of the slave trade on the Bahar-el-Ghazal (where he had over 5,000 Jallabas hanged or shot). Here he fell seriously ill, at death’s door and the doctors gave him up. I put him with our Sisters in the house of the Italian Consular agent, Callisto Legnani, where Gessi stayed, and with continuous care, with the help of an able German doctor, we brought him out of it and yesterday he left for Berber by steamer and will be going to Verona to meet my Rector and visit my female Institute, because he says that he was saved by my Sisters. I have sent on ahead to Kordofan and Jebel Nuba a caravan of more than 30 people and I, my man servant and Slatin, the Governor General of the Darfur, will leave next week by dromedary. In five days I will be going to El Obeid. Greetings to Fr Tomba, Betta, the priests, Canterane, Dr Braschera and Fr Mamolo.
Your most affectionate friend

+ Bishop Daniel

[6554]

I have found Fr Bricolo’s letters, which I shall send with Callisto Legnani next summer. Nearly all of them were written by Fr Alessandro Dalbosco, the first Rector of the African Institute in Verona, and you will find much for the Good Shepherd. Yesterday the African Kherallah died, of whom Dichtl will write a biography, and whom Fr Beltrame knew (today I wrote him a letter to give him the news). He is an African Dinka saint. I have never seen such a deeply convinced Christian, imbued and educated by grace, at least among the Africans. I know few such Christians in Europe: sanctity, virtue, rectitude, etc. If I can, I will provide Dichtl with details. But it would be good if you went to see Fr Beltrame, and heard some details from his own mouth.

[6555]

With Kherallah, Fr Beltrame perfected the Dinka dictionary and grammar. (In secret: the patience Kherallah showed with Fr Beltrame, who tore him to pieces, rebuked him, etc. when he did not understand the Dinka word, is enough to understand that Kherallah is a saint. But Fr Beltrame – who was only cross at the time, for this is what the fevers do in the Sudan, and then calmed down – knows well the firmness and the virtues of the African Kherallah).

[6556]

Gessi Pasha (who has had more than 5,000 jallabas, or merchants in human flesh, hung or shot to destroy slavery… and together with all the missionaries who know the area, I say he did well) is cured and has got moving again and yesterday was able to leave by steamer for Cairo. He attributes his cure to the Mission (and I say also to God, to his courage and to the doctors I sent), and especially to our sisters who assisted him night and day. This is why he wanted a letter from me, because he specially wants to go to Verona to see you and the Sisters, and show his gratitude. He also wanted a letter for my father, whom he wants to visit in Limone. Gessi Pasha was Governor General from the Sobat to the Equator (a territory more than three times the size of France); with unheard of bravery and courage without compare, he tamed the rebels without competent forces, because the Turkish government did not give him the necessary means, so that he would fail to abolish slavery entirely.

[6557]

However, the Government was forced to make him General Pasha, at the insistence mainly of England, and to cover him with medals. When he was near death, I suggested to him with great politeness that he make a confession; he started, and told me: “I ask God to forgive me all my sins: I have more faith than you people think; but at my age of 50 and more, telling my miseries to another man… it is that which I do not believe I am obliged to do, God does not require this…” but he began a little… but then said: “let me rest”. Once I had left the room in the house of Callisto Legnani where Gessi was staying, he said to Callisto Legnani: “Monsignor wants me to confess, I am too old, etc., etc.” But Sr Vittoria sewed a medal of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart inside his shirt, and I also gave her some Lourdes water that Sr Virginia brought back for me, and with the help of Sr Francesca who mixed the Lourdes water with his medicine, we got him to drink it. The fact is that with his courage, and perhaps also the Lord and Our Lady (but I think it was Our Lady) he began to get better; and to the greatest surprise of the doctor and of everyone, he recovered.

[6558]

Gessi Pasha is a real hero, but he never practised a religion, though he always liked priests and it was he who one day lent me 20,000 twenty thousand francs without receipt, etc… Well, he will be coming with his wife (who is now in Trieste, and they married 20 years ago in Odessa) so receive them well. It is he who invited me two years ago to found a mission at Bahr-el-Ghazal, for which he would have covered all the costs of building two large establishments, etc., etc. He is a hero full of virtues and sins. Since he was in open conflict with his Superior, Rauf Pasha, I arranged with the Consuls to give him his pay, the second remuneration of one thousand Egyptian pounds (26,000 gold francs) and the steamer and a dhow, and he left the day before yesterday, Thursday, for Berber.

[6559]

Since I cannot write to my father of Gessi’s visit, please write to him: indeed, at that time it would be best for my father to go to Verona, because as my father does not have the proper means to receive him, he gets scared and trembles like a leaf. This will be in the summer or later. I am leaving Fr Arturo Bouchard here as Superior, assisted by the able Dichtl, who is instructing Francesco Pimazzoni. I have ordered them: “You must consider Pimazzoni as dead for a year; he must do nothing but study”. I do not understand this Sr Vittoria (she is a true missionary, and will be an even better one when she has learned Arabic). Either the cancer she had in Kordofan is a figment of her imagination and of Sr Grigolini’s and Fr Fraccaro’s, or Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has worked an amazing miracle, because she is healthy and strong, she is everywhere, she spends whole nights on her feet tending the sick and is at work in the morning, with me and everywhere, she eats everything and with good appetite and has perfect health (and she says she knows and feels the illness). Fr Bonomi believes the cancer never existed. I cannot yet pass judgement. Her Protestant doctor is here in Khartoum, and he cured Fr Bortolo, says that it is cancer and that it is his medicine that cured her. I shall wait until I am in Kordofan to express my judgement.

[6560]

I send you a letter from the late Fr Alessandro Dalbosco to Fr Bricolo dated 9th June 1858, which came to my attention in the Fr Bricolo bundle. Kherallah, who came every day to enquire when I was arriving, is a real saint in heaven who will pray for Africa. He had been granted permission by me to go and preach the Gospel in his tribe when I went to Bahr-el-Ghazal.
My respects to His Eminence, the Very Reverend Fr Vignola, to Fr Luciano, the Mother Superior, etc.
Your most affectionate

+ Bishop Daniel

I have just received the note from the Polyglot Press without your letters.

[6561]

Today I am 50 years old! My God! One gets old very quickly and achieves nothing. It is true that I am here faced with the most challenging and difficult Vicariate in the world, and that it is making good progress and has reached a point, through God’s grace, that eight years ago I would not have thought possible, because of the enormous obstacles I had foreseen. It is true, too, that by God’s help and through his will I have been able to make my contribution to the progress of this work. But after all, it is a grace if I was able to avoid being a hindrance to this work, and I can only exclaim with the Apostle: servus inutilis sum. And the little I was able to do was only through the support of Your Most Reverend Eminence. Therefore let us repeat: servi inutiles sumus.

[6562]

I thank you infinitely for the moving Circular you issued through your apostolic zeal for the Propagation of the Faith and the Holy Childhood in which you mention and describe Central Africa. I hope some good will come of this quoad pecuniam and quoad vocationes, which is precisely the intention of the most wise Leo XIII. You will see that priestly vocations will also come of it; because the dioceses that produce the most missionaries also produce the most priests. Times are difficult, but Christ is experienced and does not die, and he will put sinners to shame.

[6563]

Here I am smothered in visits from Europeans, Turks, etc., who know it is my birthday, and this evening our table will be graced by the Hoccomdar with his whole court of Pashas, Beys and Mudirs, etc., that is, Rauf Pasha, Governor General of the Sudan who governs a territory (all under my jurisdiction) five times the size of the whole of France. Our caravan consisting of more than 30 people, which left a week ago led by the very competent and able (though a bit rough and wild) Fr Bonomi, and which included Fr Rolleri (and which I was to join in three days’ time), has already entered the agabe or desert. But Fr Rolleri, just recovered from his illness and fearful of catching the fevers, prudently decided to turn back (and he did well), and he is here. He has really changed his mind, because he has told some people that he had not thought that he would find so much activity and so much good in Khartoum. He in fact is no use at all at the moment, and always stays in his room. Although it has been nearly a month that he says neither Mass nor the office, he is nonetheless useful through his good example, good conduct and piety. To facilitate my journey, His Excellency the Pasha told me today that by Friday or Saturday he will have at my disposal (free of charge, of course) a steamer to take me as far as Tura-el-Khadra, from where I will be able to reach Kordofan in only six days by dromedary.

[6564]

I have done some wonderful things with the Egyptian government and with this viceroy-governor general. I have said and experienced that the Catholic mission is the most powerful element of civilisation, and that it is established here to civilise Africans by making them Christians, and to help in the abolition of the African slave trade, etc. And this Muslim governor promised me all his protection; and since at Jebel Nuba the people are tormented by thieves and Bedouins who abduct persons and even steal our provisions, the Pasha is prepared (but we made the order reach him from above, between you and me, even from that devious England) to send a troop of 200 soldiers to defend us: for the time being I am refusing this, but when a European commissary comes here at the head of the expedition, then I will accept. In the meantime he offered me all his help, and sent orders to the Pasha of Kordofan to be at my bidding, and to grant me men and everything at my slightest request.

[6565]

Enough for now. When I have made my visit to Kordofan (I will leave Saturday evening, the feast of St Joseph, by steamer) and Jebel Nuba, I will send you a brief but exact report. I hope that the Mission, despite all the difficulties, will make progress. Please God, in Verona let them study Arabic, especially the Sisters, because one who knows Arabic is like ten good Sisters who know none.
I wish you a very happy Easter on behalf of the whole Vicariate, also to Marchese Ottavio.
Your most devoted son

+ Bishop Daniel