Writings

[1252]
On my return to Cairo I found no letters from Verona. You cannot imagine, my dear Superior, how upset I am to be starved of news of our beloved Institute since Fr Giovanni came to Trieste! I trust in God that all are well and that the Institute is flourishing. It took us 32 days to travel from Cairo to Shellal. We entered the house on the day of Epiphany, and the day after, Fr Lodovico promptly left for Naples on a Government steamer. Then I left with Fr Samuele of Negadeh seven days later: I diligently visited all the Catholic stations in Upper Egypt, and encouraged by all the Missionaries in Cairo I was able to obtain permission from the Prefect Apostolic to found a small female Institute in Negadeh, where I had a house available, which I am entrusting to a Congregation of Daughters of Charity, should Propaganda in Rome deem this appropriate. We are waiting impatiently for authorisation from Propaganda.
[1253]
I have made a small project for the Prefect Apostolic in Upper Egypt, to strengthen his Mission by applying the Plan for the Regeneration of Africa, but I shall explain it to him verbally. It will be most useful to Upper Egypt and to the Missions in Central Africa. All the missionaries are delighted with it and encouraged me. Since the division of the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa into numerous Missions could take time, I think that the preparation of auxiliaries by founding small Institutes to be entrusted to the Sisters of Charity, to the Brothers of Christian Instruction etc., whose Institutions undertake to come to Africa to the Missionaries’ aid, would be doing something useful and necessary. We will talk about it.
[1254]
As for our African girls whom the Foundation Institute made available to me with a letter at the end of last October, I will entrust them to the Good Shepherd Sisters who will accept them willingly even immediately, or whenever I decide. However, as I do not know which congregation Propaganda will allocate to me for Negadeh, it would be better to wait a while until I come to Verona before deciding; and I will hear what you, in your wisdom, find appropriate. In any case, the Institute will be free of Africans in two or three months.
[1255]
I will return to Verona via Rome, where I have many things to discuss with Propaganda. As soon as the Africans are settled, I hope you will make use of me (as long as you fully agree) by allowing me to lend a hand in freeing the Institute of debts, so that it will be able to accept a Mission in Africa: and I hope in God, that everything will be completed in a year’s time so that, backed by the Institute’s moral strength, there will be no lack of ways to succeed in our intentions; especially since not much is involved.
[1256]
I am not writing to you about anything else because my mind is so distracted that it is disconnected. One of the many things I will tell you in person is that I fear that Fr Lodovico’s work is making a mess in Shellal. Yesterday one of the six we took to Shellal returned to Cairo, and his vocation in Central Africa only lasted 28 days. The fact is that Friar Giuseppe Habaschy has mustered support in Shellal and is threatening no less than to oust the friar who is President, to become Superior himself: the two African friars whom you saw in Verona intend to run away.
[1257]
Fr Lodovico then told me that as soon as he had arrived in Naples, he would request dispensation for his age and have another African ordained Priest and two Deacons. Here in Cairo there is a lot of suspicion about Fr Lodovico’s work: it seems to me, as far as I know him, that Fr Lodovico’s head is not properly connected to his heart. Although he said he saw many servants in our female Institute, it seems that the friars themselves in Cairo are saying that only the Mazza Institute will be able to do something in Central Africa, and they all say they approve of the Plan for the Regeneration of Africa. In brief, after getting to know so many, I believe our Institute is one of the most perfect and beautiful in the world. True charity prevails there, together with knowledge and true piety which does not consist in external things. I am therefore bound to it, mind and heart.
[1258]
Give all my greetings to our dear Fr Giovanni, whose name is venerated here in Cairo and everywhere. Greetings to him(Fr Beltrame) from the Bishop in Cairo, Fr Venanzio of the little Convent, Fr Samuele of Negadeh, the Austrian Consul General, Schreiner, and all the friars. The Institute has a very good reputation here. I will tell you in person of a wish of the Bishop, Mgr Vuicic, concerning a work which will be very useful to Egypt, a great honour to the Institute; it will cost no sacrifice and will pave the way to doing good to the Institute. In the meantime, I send you my respects. A thousand greetings to Fr Beltrame, Fr Cesare, Fr Donato, Fr Fochesato, Fr Poggiani, Tregnaghi, Garbini, the Parish Priest of S. Stefano, the teachers and the two Protestant Marys; while with all my heart I profess to be

Your humble and affectionate son,

Fr Daniel

[1259]
After having received so many benefits, my heart feels a powerful need to bring you up to date with what in my feebleness I am doing for the good of this black Africa, burdened by the tremendous anathema of Canaan for so many centuries, for which I am sure you are pouring out from your eminently Catholic and charitable heart the most fervent prayers to that God who desired to die on the Cross for Africans too. I have therefore already sent you a letter from Nubia on 7th January. But, something which has never happened before! My letter with many others stayed in the pocket of our Procurator in Cairo for almost a month; so I received it here, with a letter to His Excellency, the Apostolic Nuncio, and another to Mgr Mislin.
[1260]
Thanks to the recommendations acquired in Vienna, we got away with paying only a third of the price on Lloyd Austriaco and we sailed from Trieste on 12th November. In all the many voyages I have made on the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, never have I encountered such a tremendous gale as that from Corfu to Alexandria, during which, for 37 hours, we were on the point of being shipwrecked at every instant. On the crossing between Zante and the extreme point of Candia the most furious hurricane hit our ship; the iron bars on the port side were smashed and a part of the stern shattered, 48 Hungarian oxen dropped dead and the ship became a plaything of the winds, it was so tossed about that for 37 hours I was separated from Fr Lodovico and could not move for fear of being flung into the sea. Fr Lodovico assures me that he would die a thousand times rather than brave such a storm again. He says he considers the rest of his days a special gift of God and promised the Lord that he would never set foot in Africa again. Finally, more dead than alive, after having heaved the oxen overboard, we reached Alexandria.
[1261]
In Cairo I rented a dhow as far as the first cataracts; and having hailed the famous pyramids which we left on our right, we went on up the Nile in the midst of a magnificent springtime which smiled at us from the banks and fields of historic Egypt; we passed the majestic ruins of Thebes of the 100 gates, beyond which spread those deserts, once sanctified by so many thousand hermits and now, alas, polluted by the sacrilegious profanations of the children of the Arab prophet. After 32 days of tedious navigation, we cast anchor in Aswan. After crossing a small desert we entered Nubia and inaugurated the House in Shellal, which is the first Station of the Vicariate Apostolic in Central Africa.
[1262]
Two days after our arrival, Fr Lodovico left on a government steamship and, after being received in Cairo by His Highness Prince Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, fled to Naples. I left later; and I diligently visited all the Stations in Upper Egypt to see if the Plan for the Regeneration of Africa could be applied there. In fact I not only found suitable places, but met with the approval of all the missionaries who asked me to contribute in this way to their mission. I have now agreed to establish an Institute of African girls in Negadeh, near Thebes. I shall introduce the Sisters of Charity there in May. In addition to the great good they will do for Egyptian youth, they will educate a certain number of African girls. The house is already being restored at my expense. Likewise, I have already arranged for another Institute in Cairo with the Good Shepherd Missionary Nuns of Angers.
[1263]
His Highness the Pasha Viceroy of Egypt has granted us 7 feddan of land in one of the most beautiful sites of greater Cairo on the road to Shubra. I shall therefore leave for Rome on the 9th to obtain authorisation, and will then go to Verona to fetch the African girls who have already been educated and will divide them between Cairo and Negadeh in Upper Egypt, to reinforce these Institutes. By the end of the year I hope to have already established an Institute of African boys in Kenne in Upper Egypt. By doing this, I intend to prepare auxiliaries, which we have never had before, in the Missions in the African interior. I therefore commend myself to your prayers and those of good people. How is your lady wife and your dear little daughters? Please give them my regards as soon as possible, and remember me to the latter: not a day passes that I do not remember your most devout family in the Memento.
[1264]
Also, Cavaliere, I imagine I can see you chatting to some and exercising the apostolate with those who do not like the Catholic Church, and undaunted, supporting the Pope and the justice of his rights. The words of a man of the world are of course more effective than those of an ecclesiastic; but I say that I am more deeply moved by the voice of a layman than that of a bishop when it is a question of defending the Pope. The Lord will sustain and bless your honest words and your apostolate in these times of pride and blindness when authority is ignored, and the world falling prey to a blind and unbridled freedom. To illustrate to you the difference between Turks and heretics and our modern free thinkers, I would like to tell you about this small event.
[1265]
Bored by the long voyage on ship, since Fr Lodovico was in haste to return to Naples where his works are threatened, when we arrived in Esne, the two of us introduced ourselves to the Pasha of that Province which he rules in Shellal and asked his permission to open the house for the education of Africans and to grant us a free passage on a government ship to go to Aswan and Cairo as soon as possible. I cannot say enough of his goodness and kindness in receiving us; it was 9 o’clock in the evening. He had the authorisation to open the house written out immediately, he promised to come and see us, he made it plain that he would give us all we needed and overwhelmed us with his kindness. Further, he himself came to Aswan, had everything done for us and had three passages on the government steamer allocated to us, to return to Cairo whenever we liked. Just imagine, he is a Turk who knows he is dealing with those who propagate the Catholic faith in hatred of Islam.
[1266]
What is more, in Negadeh there are three thousand heretical Copts. I had long talks with their leader who is the richest and most influential man. After long discussions, he confessed to me the truth about the two natures in Christ; and he confessed that he is not far from becoming a Catholic. I hope that the works and influence of Catholic women and of the Daughters of Charity will end by converting him, together with the other three thousand. I spoke to him of the Pope and he is not in the least ignorant. He asked me why he is now making war. I answered him, because they want to strip him of all his temporal goods. He is right to defend himself, he said, and to sustain his rights. Do our Barabbases of freemasons now want to take away the Pope’s temporal possessions, and wrench from the hearts of the faithful their love for the Head of the Church? Christ’s horns are harder than the devil’s: portae inferi non prevalebunt.

[1267]
In Rome, I shall ask the Pope for a special blessing for you and your family. Please convey my sentiments and respects to the lovely, truly evangelical soul of His Excellency the Nuncio, Mgr Capri, to Leonard and to all the others in the Nunciature. A thousand regards to your good Lady, of course; and receive the whole of my most grateful and affectionate heart.

Your most devoted

Fr Daniel Comboni

[1268]
When I arrived in Rome I found your dear letter. Although it was meagre and scanty, it gave me great pleasure by bringing me news of you and of our beloved Institute of which I have been deprived since the end of November, when Fr Beltrame came to Trieste. I wish you and the whole Institute, including my creditor Tregnaghi, very happy holy Easter celebrations, and I pray to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary that they are all preserved, for the good of the Institute and of Africa.
[1269]
Cardinal Barnabò told me he had written you a letter and what it said. I gave him a verbal account on the basis of the letter written to me in Vienna by the Fundamental Institute, and it seems that he regrets the excessive procrastination: but then he added: “you have waited so many years you can have the patience to wait a little longer; it is only that I would like to be absolutely certain that the Institute will accept the Mission when the time comes”. His Eminence ordered me to write a report of our journey to Shellal, mentioning these three points:
1. What I and Fr Ludovico were supposed to do.
2. What we positively achieved.
3. What I judge opportune and which can be done hic et nunc for the good of the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa.

[1270]
He then ordered me to outline the progress of Catholicism and of the apostolic work I observed in the Egyptian Delegation and in the Prefecture Apostolic in Upper Egypt, and what I considered it appropriate to do for the greatest good of all Egypt. When I declined for the proper reasons, “No”, he replied, “I want you to give me a general impression, because it must not have escaped you that Egypt is not sufficiently equipped to develop the faith there, etc.” He then prayed to the Lord and had prayers said so that I could make a truthful, conscientious and useful report, since it must be read in the Congregation.
[1271]
Please give my respects to His Lordship the Bishop, and my greetings to all the priests in the Institute and to Fr Cesare and the Protestants, while I hope with all my heart that we manage our affairs well and pay our debts, etc. I have arranged everything for the African girls; I only have to raise funds to pay for the journey. Since God has provided for the great things, he will provide for the lesser ones and we shall easily be able to accomplish everything.
[1272]
Rome is swarming with foreigners, including the Queen of Saxony. Among them all, a great protector of mine from Paris is here, Baron of Havelt, the Custodian of the Holy Land. I am well, except for a little tiredness which will be worse in Holy Week. Please give many greetings to Fr Poggiani. Send me your paternal blessing, so that I can reciprocate by asking the Pope for an enormous blessing for you.

All yours, humble and most devoted,

Fr Daniel Comboni

[1273]
Only a couple of lines because I am having periodical fevers which have left me very weak. In Cairo I received your letter which might have been longer and more full of news, but was exceedingly dear to me. From Cairo I went to Alexandria, Malta, Meson, Naples and Rome which I reached on the 25th of this month, the Thursday before Passion Sunday. I will say nothing of the moving Holy Week ceremonies and of the papal Blessing for Easter. I am only writing about one thing which concerns me.
[1274]
Reverend Nicolet, my friend from Chambray and former Master Tutor of Prince Tomes, Duke of Genoa has left Rome for Venice. It was this able man who translated my Plan into French. He went to Venice and will then come to Vicenza, directly to the Rector of the Cordellina College. The many kindnesses you will do for this friend of mine you will be doing for me, and I will be grateful to you for them. If he were to stay in Vicenza even only for a day or two and if you gave him a small room, he would stay with you more gladly than at the Court of Turin where he lived for many years. Take him to the Bishop, have him shown the sights of Vicenza and Mount Berico. Further, since I do not have the energy, if you would recommend him immediately in Venice to Fr Clerici, or to others, to have him shown the Venetian rarities there, I should be pleased. He lives in Calla del Ridotto Casa Fumagalli, to which I myself directed him. In brief, I recommend this friend of mine to you.
[1275]
I am here with my fevers. I shall probably spend a fortnight in Frascati where the air is good, as there is no other way of getting rid of them. I have been invited by Cardinal Barnabò to write a report of all that I observed for Propaganda. The Bishop of Verona writes to me that a member of our Institute is going to Vienna to obtain an exemption from the adjustment tax, armed with a recommendation from the Bishop. A thousand respects to His Lordship the Bishop of Vicenza, Dalla Vecchia, Prefetto, etc., greetings to Fr Tilino and to our good Carlist Clerics.

All yours, Your most devoted

Fr Daniel

[1276]
I am writing to you to give you my news. It can be said that I am well at the moment. The Roman fevers, the quinine and all the other tablets have sapped all my strength; for a month I did nothing, and the rest of the time I did little. But I am now working somewhat more willingly at writing the report imposed on me by Cardinal Barnabò. His Eminence let me know of the answer given by the Institute about assuming a mission in Africa.
[1277]
May the Lord’s will be ever blessed. When God pleases, the Institute will think of Africa. For the time being, God does not desire it, we must resign ourselves; but I cannot conceal my sorrow at this event. However, God’s goodness in the midst of my serious disappointments has given me great consolation, because last week I received Holy Communion from the Holy Father’s hands. Talking to His Holiness, I asked him for a special blessing for you, one for Fr Poggiani and one for all the members of our male and female Institutes.
[1278]
The Pope, in the midst of the war cries which are resounding around him, is full of peace and trusts totally in God; Christ’s Vicar is helped by a superior strength, and the powers of the world cannot undermine him. Rome is a haven of peace and the city is calm. The month of Mary is being celebrated with great pomp and devotion in a hundred Churches, and all are overflowing with the faithful who address their entreaties to the Queen of Heaven. It seems that God has not yet designated the period of the poor Africans’ vocation to the faith, but we trust and pray for them. Mgr Massaia is already in Egypt. The Bishop of Egypt has been recalled to Rome, and will be sent elsewhere.
[1279]
Since our dear Fr Beltrame does not write to me and does not answer, I suppose that he is already in the capital of the Empire, where he will certainly have obtained from His Apostolic Majesty the Royal Emperor the implored grace. If by chance he has returned, give him my warmest greetings. My respects to His Lordship the Bishop and to Marchese Ottavio, and give my regards to the Pompei family. Greet Fr Fochesato, Fr Donato, Lonardoni, and all the members of the Institute on my behalf, together with Garbini, Tregnaghi and the lady teachers, the African girls and the Protestants.
Please give me your blessing and commend me to the Sacred Hearts of
Jesus and Mary

Your obedient and most devoted

Fr Daniel

[1280]
His Eminence Cardinal Barnabò deeply regretted that the Institute did not accept the Mission in Africa; we nevertheless hope that in a few years time the Lord will dispose.

[1281]
Invited by your Eminence to write a Report on the results of the journey which I made together with the Reverend Fr Lodovico da Casoria as far as Shellal, I immediately set to work, and following your orders, I shall discuss:
1. What Fr Lodovico and I were supposed to do on our journey in Africa.
2. What we really achieved.
3. What it would be appropriate to do hic et nunc with the already existing elements and forces, to improve the condition of the Vicariate Apostolic in Central Africa.

[1282]
Firstly, I will not mention the history of the African Mission before the period of our journey to Shellal, because it is already known to your Most Reverend Eminence; and I shall only say that after receiving the letter dated 24th June 1865 from my late Superior Fr Nicola Mazza, in which he asked Propaganda for a Mission for his Institute in the interior of Africa, Your Most Reverend Eminence ordered me to discuss with the Very Reverend Father General of the Seraphic Order the formulation of a project to divide the Vicariate of Central Africa so that both the Franciscan Order and the Mazza Institute could carry out their work more effectively for the benefit of the Africans.
[1283]
I faithfully fulfilled the order imposed on me, I discussed it with the Very Reverend Father General, who showed himself disposed to a division; and bearing a letter written in his hand, with which he made Fr Lodovico responsible for coming to an agreement with me in order to determine boundaries, I went to Naples, and diligently talked the matter over. On my return to Rome, after hearing the Fr General’s opinion, what Fr Lodovico in my presence declared to Your Most Reverend Eminence was agreed between us: in other words, that we should present the following project for the division:
[1284]
1.Mission of the Eastern Nile to be entrusted to the Mazza Institute with the following boundaries:
In the North, the Tropic of Cancer,
In the East, the Vicariates of Abyssinia and the Galla,
In the South, the Equator,
In the West, the Nile and the White Nile.
2. The Mission of the Western Nile should be retained by the Seraphic Order
and have the following boundaries:
In the North, the Vicariate of Egypt,
In the East, the Nile and the White Nile.
In the South, the Equator,
In the West… in infinitum

[1285]
Although I am inclined to believe that the Very Reverend Father General has always been prepared to cede to the Mazza Institute a portion of that Vicariate where it has worked and made great sacrifices for that Mission over a period of 15 years, I nonetheless very soon realised that the honourable General Administration of Ara Coeli and Fr Lodovico da Casoria himself, opposing the project, wished to abort the proposed division; and I then remained fully convinced that, while at the very time your Most Reverend Eminence openly declared your wish to divide the Vicariate between the Seraphic Order and the Mazza Institute, I read in a Catholic newspaper l’Indirizzo, a copy of which I enclose, a text which last September was preached by Fr Lodovico’s friars in S. Pietro ad Aram and in other churches in Naples. A new direction, etc.
[1286]
Indeed, following the representations of the Seraphic Order, Your Most Reverend Eminence did not deem it appropriate to issue any decision on the proposed division; although in your great wisdom you decided that when Fr Lodovico went to Africa to take possession of the Station of Shellal, one or two representatives of the Mazza Institute should accompany him on that journey, so that the matter could be discussed in detail on the spot, by both parties; and after hearing the opinion of the Vicar Apostolic of Egypt, to whom the entire responsibility for the Vicariate in Central Africa has been entrusted for more than three years, it would be easier to formulate a project for a division, equitable and suitable for both parties, which could then be presented to the Holy Congregation of Propaganda Fide.
[1287]
On the basis of this decision and after sending four other individuals to Africa via Messina, Fr Lodovico accompanied by Fr Bonaventura of Khartoum and two African tertiaries dressed in the Franciscan habit, left Naples on 10th October. He made a brief stop in Rome and arrived in Verona, where having spoken to my new Superior Fr Gioacchino Tomba, it was agreed that I alone would accompany him to Africa; and without delay, on 26th October, we left my Institute and headed for Germany, stopping in those cities where I had decided to present Fr Lodovico and put him in touch with the most distinguished benefactors of the African Mission.
[1288]
In Bressanone lives a man of rare talent, to whom Africa is indebted for some of the greatest services. He is the devout and capable Prof. G. Mitterrutzner, a Canon Regular of the Lateran of the Order of St Augustine, Doctor in Sacred Theology, a member of various Academies and the Committee of the Society of Mary in Vienna, etc., etc., who having made thorough studies of Central Africa, followed all the stages, and subsequently published the events and history of the African Mission. Ever since 1850 he has collected thousands of scudi for the mission, and gave Central Africa almost half the Missionaries who proclaimed the Gospel in that vast field before the Franciscans, and with his pen and his activities he has kindled enthusiasm in Germany for the African Missions, which on all occasions found him the most faithful friend and the most effective protector. Recently, with the help of the manuscripts sent to him by the Missionaries (especially by Fr Giovanni Beltrame and Mgr Matteo Kirchner), and with the aid of a few indigenous Africans he had with him in Bressanone, he succeeded in compiling a dictionary and a grammar in the language of the Bari and published for the use of Germans and Italians a dictionary and grammar, a catechism and several conversations in the language of the Dinka, and translated into this tongue the whole Gospel of St Luke and the Gospels for all the Sundays and Feasts in the year, thereby providing the necessary material for new missionaries to exercise their apostolic ministry in the vast expanse which lies between the 13th and 1st degrees North in the regions of the White Nile.
[1289]
Since I consider that Fr Lodovico (who does not know the African territory at all and had never been on the spot) would never be able on his own to make a fair division suitable to both parties, in order to clear myself of any pretext of delay which might obstruct such an operation on the part of the Franciscans, I advised him to contact the distinguished Professor Mitterrutzner, as the man who today is the most qualified to judge in these matters, and to ask him to formulate a plan for the division of the Vicariate of Central Africa. Since he agreed to this, we discussed the matter minutely with the aforementioned Professor Mitterrutzner, who accepted the assignment and applied himself to writing the project which seemed to him most suited to both the Mazza and Fr Lodovico Institutes. He promised to send it in a few days to Vienna. Indeed, we received it there on 1st November set out in the following letter in Latin addressed to Fr Lodovico, which I faithfully transcribe as follows:

(translation from the Latin)

Reverend Father,

[1290]
Truly my heart swelled when, a few days ago, I was able to meet you Reverend Father, whom I have been following for a long time with admiration and interest due to your apostolic zeal for our Africa and your stupendous charitable works. Indeed I saw not only you, the true son of St Francis, but also the fruit of our mission: Fr Bonaventura, whom I brought from Egypt about nine years ago. You have raised him to the dignity of priesthood and now you are taking him back to his home country as an apostle. What made my joy even greater was the appearance with you of the most beloved D. Comboni who for many years already has been toiling, sparing no pains for the regeneration of Africa to Christ. One of the many things for which we must be grateful to him is the fact that the Catholic Mission to Central Africa, which it must be said is almost extinct, may again flourish.
[1291]
I heard from your lips that the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide in Rome was considering dividing the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa between the Franciscan Family and the Institute of that victim of love Fr Nicola Mazza. Now you ask me what I think of this division: and I cannot but answer your request, and candidly and sincerely say what I think. Among other things, I must stress my conviction that this really most difficult mission must be totally catholic. This is undoubtedly the feeling of all the benefactors who have contributed in some way to supporting this Mission. Let Christ be preached; souls must be won for Christ without us observing whether this is achieved by regular or secular priests, by Italians or Germans. The Missionaries in Central Africa must be true apostles and men of God.
[1292]
Thus while I recognise all that has been prepared for Africa so far by you, Most Reverend Father, and what the illustrious Institute of the Venerable Fr Nicola Mazza has accomplished and can do now, I think it an excellent thing for the present Vicariate to be divided in such a way that the northern part, that is of the Vicariate of Egypt from about the 24th degree to the Dinka mountains (Gebel Nuba or Gebel Nyuemati) on about the 12th degree, be assigned to the Franciscan Family, under your responsibility, Most Reverend Father. The southern part, on the other hand, from the Dinka mountains to the Equator and beyond should be given to the Mazza Institute.
[1293]
My motive for thinking this way may be deduced from the following reasons:
1. The missionary station in Shellal is assigned by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide to you Father, and this will be accomplished in a few days.
2. It seems to me that the method established by you for the regeneration of Africa, that is through works of charity, the teaching of crafts and the education of children, is all the more suited especially to those parts where Islam has been established for a long time.
3. Furthermore it is not unimportant that from Shellal to the Dinka mountains there is only one language, Arabic. This means that it will not be necessary to train the adolescents in many languages, but with time they will be able to commit themselves and learn the languages that are most useful in Shellal, Khartoum, etc.

[1294]
The reasons for which I would like the southern part to be assigned to the illustrious Institute of the venerable Fr Nicola Mazza are the following:
1. When he spoke of the African Mission, this venerable old man Fr Nicola Mazza often said that he definitely refused to have his Missionaries in places where there are Muslims. Now it is precisely from the Dinka mountains that the black tribes begin, so the venerable man’s wishes may thus be fulfilled.

[1295]
2. Many apostolic missionaries from this Institute have already toiled in these regions with the Dinkas. The most distinguished of these, Fr Giovanni Beltrame and Fr Daniel Comboni, are thus armed with experience so that they will avoid many things not pertaining to the Mission.
3. As regards the languages which are completely different from Arabic, these same Missionaries will work there with much greater ease since they are familiar with the Dinka language spoken between the 12th and 5th parallels. The Most Reverend Fr Beltrame has already written in the Dinka language.

[1296]
Moreover I know both the languages, that of the African girls educated in the Verona Institute and that spoken by the Dinka. For you to be completely satisfied in your wishes, I include the map showing the regions of the Catholic Mission to the White Nile. May you therefore receive what you requested: use it appropriately!
Remember me therefore in your prayers
Dr J.C. Mitterrutzner.

[1297]
In Vienna the Committee of the Society of Mary, which left all the furniture and equipment of the Shellal station to Fr Lodovico, declared that it could not provide any financial subsidy for our expedition, which is why we had to think of finding the means for our journey to Africa. His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio put us in touch with the new Society of the Immaculate Conception, founded by the famous historian of the Austrian Empire, the court councillor Fedde Hurter and which aims to help Catholics spread around the Turkish territories. We asked them for a subsidy; but since it was not yet properly reorganised after the death of its illustrious President and its most active members not being in the capital, we were given the answer that our petition would be submitted to the Committee at its next session; and should it meet with approval, the agreed subsidy would be sent to the Most Reverend Apostolic Delegate in Egypt. After an ineffectual telegraphic despatch to Rome from Fr Lodovico to His Majesty the King of Naples imploring him for urgent help, we resolved to ask the praiseworthy Professor Mitterrutzner and the Cologne Association.
[1298]
The former, who had already given money for all five of us to travel from Bressanone to Vienna, sent us all his offerings of 400 francs; and the latter immediately sent us a donation of 200 thalers. So after obtaining from the most illustrious Cavaliere Noy, Councillor to the Austrian railways, a free passage to Trieste and negotiating a considerable discount on the Lloyd Austriaco steamers, we set sail on 12th November. After a furious tempest in the Mediterranean, we reached Alexandria where we joined the four others who had preceded us, and all nine of us left for Cairo. Once there, having taken a small loan, armed with a recommendation from Cavaliere Schreiner, the Austrian Consul General, with the valid help of Cavaliere Madrus, we rented a dahhabia (dhow), and left Bulacco. At Kenneh, we sought the help of Fr Samuele d’Accadia, President of Negadeh, who accompanied us to our destination and provided most useful services. In 32 days of navigation on the Nile we reached the first cataract and under the protection of the Government Authorities of Esneh and Aswan, we were able to take peaceful possession of the Shellal Station on 6th January 1866.
[1299]
Shellal is the first village in Lower Nubia, inhabited by about a thousand Muslims and located on the right bank of the Nile, two miles from the last city of Upper Egypt from which it is separated by the cataracts of Aswan. The present Viceroy, who has just acceded to the throne, ordered the Effendi of Aswan to keep a close eye on the Missionaries in Shellal lest they disturb the faith of the believers in Islam by exercising Catholic proselytism. The Mission House, which faces the island of File, is solid, comfortable and at the moment well equipped with domestic utensils and carpentry tools, and it has an elegant chapel inside. It can serve as a resting place for Missionaries coming and going to and from Central Africa, and be used effectively for the creation of a college for numerous Africans. The air is quite good, but given the extreme aridity of the soil and the poverty of the village, food has to be obtained from Aswan, or from Cairo or Europe. Thus at this particular time, the maintenance of this Station entails very heavy expenses. Fr Lodovico left two Franciscan Priests there, two lay tertiaries and two African tertiaries; and two days after our arrival he left for Cairo and returned to Naples.
[1300]
So, what was really achieved by Fr Lodovico and myself on our journey to Africa? None of the things we had to do. We were supposed to formulate a project for the division of the Vicariate of Central Africa, discuss it with the Most Reverend Apostolic Delegate in Egypt, and through the legitimate channels of our Superiors, submit it to Propaganda and await the latter’s decisions. That was what we had to do, because those were Your Most Reverend Eminence’s orders. And it is not because he understood in Trieste that my Institute is unable, for a few years, to accept missions in Africa that he was released from dealing with the division, because I accompanied him to Africa with the full consent of my Superior, with whom he himself had held discussions for this very purpose. But good Fr Lodovico is completely opposed to any other Institution than his own coming in to share the apostolate for Central Africa with the sons of St Francis; and all he said to me when we separated at Shellal, without even having mentioned the matter to the Most Reverend Vicar Apostolic of Egypt and after a long discussion, was that should Your Most Reverend Eminence question him on the plan for the requested division he would present the one defined above by Professor Mitterrutzner.
[1301]
This is why, realising that the main purpose of my journey to Africa had vanished and wishing to make myself useful to the poor Africans, I applied myself diligently to examining the Catholic Mission Stations in Upper Egypt to see if it was possible for me to establish some male and female Institutes to gather African boys and girls with a view to forming personnel for Missions in the African interior in accordance with my Plan.
[1302]
In fact, as a result I became convinced that in each Station of Upper Egypt occupied by one Franciscan receiving an annual subsidy of only 300 francs, I could install two or three Sisters of charity for the education of Coptic girls and two or three Brothers of Christian Instruction or other members of some recent Institution, for the education of Coptic boys. As a result I would not only be giving valid assistance to the Prefecture Apostolic of Upper Egypt, but with the introduction of African boys and girls in these Institutes, in time I could form catechists, craftsmen and good elements for those Missions in the African interior which would be set up among the Africans, whatever the Institution to which they would eventually be entrusted.
[1303]
Indeed, the small city of Negadeh, which lies 100 miles from Shellal and two leagues from the ruins of Thebes, inhabited by 150 Catholics and more than 3,000 heterodox Copts whose chief assured me that he was not far from embracing our faith, could prove appropriate for the first girls’ Institute according to my Plan. Since the house next to the church is ready, in the hope that the efficient work of Catholic women will be useful not only to the feminine class, but also to the conversion of the heretics, I have agreed with the President to establish three Sisters in Negadeh with an allowance of 500 francs each, which is the maximum normally given by the Pious Society for the Propagation of the Faith. When I reached Cairo, I presented to the Very Reverend Father Venanzio, Prefect Apostolic, the following petition which gives a brief summary of the general situation in this poor Mission:

Very Reverend Father,

[1304]
The Prefecture Apostolic for Upper Egypt, which for over a century has been entrusted to the Reformed Friars Minor, aims to assist the orthodox Coptic Church spread over quite a number of Egypt’s cities and villages, so that it may preserve and develop the sacred deposit of the true Faith among believers who are surrounded by Muslim fanaticism and frequently threatened and bullied by the fury of heretics. The Seraphic Order, despite their lack of evangelising personnel and financial aid, have been able, wherever there are Catholic Copts in the main Egyptian cities, to support most zealous Missionaries, who with admirable self-denial and by dint of sacrifices have managed to accomplish their difficult mission.
[1305]
Now because of the spread of trade and the spread of the European colony in the most fertile lands of Egypt, and due to the speed with which communications have developed between Lower and Upper Egypt, with steamships and railways which are rapidly being built between Cairo and Aswan, it would be necessary to strengthen the priestly ministry in this Prefecture over which you preside, and all the more so since Protestant propaganda is spreading its activities all over Upper Egypt, and the Protestants have established a rich Anglican school at Assiut, which has seriously harmed the Catholic faith. In such a serious emergency, it is therefore necessary that God, ever loving in the ways of his Providence, deign to view the lands of Upper Egypt with compassion and extend his merciful hand to help the missionary’s work, giving him most powerful arms, not only to keep intact the deposit of the faith among Catholic Copts, but also to empower him with the means to call to the ways of truth the dissidents, who for more than 14 centuries have slumbered in the bosom of error.
[1306]
Having returned from Nubia, where I examined the Catholic stations of Upper Egypt for the 4th time, I think I have fully understood the situation of the orthodox apostolate and the most urgent needs affecting these lands under your care. This is why, full of desire to make my small contribution to assist you slightly in your ministry and at the same time to prepare elements for the Central African missions, I turn to you, Reverend Father, for permission to found small male and female Institutes in the chief Stations of Upper Egypt, ever mindful of the condition that, as regards their external activities, they will always be under the authority of the local Superior, and under the jurisdiction of the Head of the Mission.
[1307]
Having only limited financial resources at my disposal for the moment, and having already made an agreement with the President concerned who is giving me appropriate facilities, I implore you allow me to set up a small female Institute at Negadeh, to which I would send three Sisters from a religious congregation, should this please you Father, and Propaganda. I would also add a few African girls educated in the faith, languages and domestic skills from my Institute in Verona. This small body would undertake the education of the Coptic maidens and do charitable work for the benefit of the heretics in this important Station. Since it is also my intention to prepare elements for the conversion of Africans according to my Plan, I would like the Sisters, with the help of the African girls, to make the effort simultaneously to educate in religion and home-crafts all the African girls whom, financial resources permitting, I will supply to the said Institute, so that once their training is over, they may be transplanted to whatever Central African Mission it may please Propaganda to select, preferably of course of the Mazza Institute, should it have a Mission there at the time.
Fr Daniel Comboni

[1308]
Delighted with this proposal, the Reverend Prefect of Upper Egypt said he was most willing to second my intentions and immediately wrote about it to Your Most Reverend Eminence to obtain the necessary authorisation. With the consent of the Most Reverend Apostolic Delegate I agreed with the Provincial Superior of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd to form a small African Institute with a few African girls educated in Verona and with other new ones I am in the process of purchasing. This Institute will be entrusted to the Congregation of the Good Shepherd which will set up a Section for African girls in an appropriate house next to their convent.
[1309]
I am not far from the hope of gaining yet more African girls from the Fr Olivieri Institute, who are at present with the Franciscan nuns in Cairo. That is what I have tried to do and hope to finish within this year in order to render my little journey to Shellal fruitful.
[1310]
What is the most appropriate thing to do hic et nunc with the elements and forces that already exist to improve the situation in the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa?…This is a very difficult problem to solve. I shall strive to expose it thoroughly so that we may at least make a start at solving a small part of it.
[1311]
The borders of this Mission, according to the Apostolic Decree of Gregory XVI, are: to the east, the Vicariate of Egypt and the Prefecture of Abyssinia; to the west, the Prefecture of Guinea; to the north, the Prefecture of Tripoli, the Vicariate of Tunis and the Diocese of Algiers; to the south, the Ghamar mountains, also known as the mountains of the Moon. (Annals of Propaganda Fide. F. 20 N. 121 p. 593). Subtracting the region occupied by the Missions founded since then, the Vicariate of Central Africa can be seen to cover the area between the 5th degree Latitude South and the 24th degree Latitude North included within the 10th and 35th degrees Longitude East, measured from the Paris meridian. To this must be added the area stretching from the 10th to the 29th degrees Latitude North between the 9th degree Longitude West and the 10th degree
Longitude East from the same meridian, which is as much as to say that the Vicariate of Central Africa is about 20 times larger than France.

[1312]
Since being established, none of this immense Vicariate has been looked after except for one part of Nubia and the right bank of the White Nile as far as the 4th degree Latitude North across a little more than one degree of Longitude, which is to say that not even a twentieth fraction of the Vicariate has been cared for. Moreover, it should be said, that according to the recent calculations of geographers accredited by the most famous European Geographical Societies, Central Africa as such has as its eastern border the Nile and the White Nile, whereas the Central African Mission has so far only concentrated its activities especially on the right bank of the Nile and the White Nile, that is on the north-eastern border of East Africa: and in Central Africa it has only concerned itself with one part of the Kich tribe (Holy Cross Station, between the 6th and 7th degrees Latitude North) covering a surface area smaller than the present estate of St Peter’s.
[1313]
Let us therefore define the question and say: “What do I judge to be the appropriate thing to do with the elements currently available for the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa which we have tried to evangelise from 1846 to 1866?” I will then give an outline of the way an attempt could be made to regenerate the remainder of the Vicariate, which is so far totally unknown to the Missionaries.
[1314]
Your Most Reverend Eminence knows what has been done in Africa under the rule of the three Pro-Vicars Apostolic Ryllo, Knoblecher and Kirchner which can be summed up as follows:
“Four Mission Stations have been founded, namely:
1. Khartoum in Upper Nubia, between the 15th and 16th degrees L.N.
2. Gondokoro in the Bari Tribe, between the 4th and 5th degrees L.N.
3. Holy Cross in the Kich Tribe, between the 6th and 7th degrees L.N.
4. Shellal in Lower Nubia on the Tropic of Cancer.

[1315]
Furthermore, 100 infidels, including children and adults, were baptised, the two languages, Dinka and Bari, were properly learned, the respective dictionaries, grammars and catechisms were compiled and many texts from the Holy Scriptures, etc. were translated and that most important book for the Dinka language by the worthy Professor Mitterrutzner was typeset and published in Brixen. Moreover, a good knowledge of the country, the local customs, the ways of many African tribes was acquired and the easiest way to evangelise them was devised”. All this was done by Jesuit Missionaries, Germans and the Mazza Institute, especially under the rule of the Most Reverend Pro-Vicar Knoblecher.
[1316]
After these, in 1861 the Seraphic Order came in, bringing 60 individuals, including priests and laymen. What were the results of their operation?… Nearly all the good that had been done before disappeared. Your Most Reverend Eminence knows that the two Stations of Holy Cross and Gondokoro, which constituted the true field and core of the mission that brought most fruit, have been abandoned. For more than three years, the Khartoum Station has been occupied by a single Franciscan missionary, Fr Fabiano, and two laymen. Over a period, these men took in some twenty African slave girls, most of whom had escaped from their masters. Some of these claimed their black girls back from the Austrian Consul: but Fr Fabiano did not think it appropriate to release them; and an appeal was sent to the Consul General of the Austrian Empire in Egypt. Although the latter disapproves of Fr Fabiano’s behaviour and the European colony is gossiping about him in connection with the slaves, who do not in fact live in his house, but in huts within the garden enclosure of the Mission, I still want to believe him innocent. The only positive aspect in all this is that the Austrian Consul General has sent a report to the Imperial Ministry in Vienna about Fr Fabiano: which does nothing for the missionary’s reputation.
[1317]
I will never ever be able to approve the system of leaving a missionary alone, without means to defend himself with the shield of the Sacrament of Penance, and for over three years in so remote and perilous an area, where for some time there has been a rich Prussian Protestant Lutheran school, which practically drains the European colony and spreads its proselytism throughout Sennar and the main Nubian towns. Lately, the Shellal Station was occupied by Fr Lodovico after having been abandoned for eight months.
[1318]
Bearing these notions in mind, let us see what can be done for the good of that part of the Central African Vicariate which we have so far tried to evangelise using the elements available hic et nunc?… These elements are at present concentrated in the Seraphic Order. I shall not speak here of the Mazza Institute, which although it has the firm intention of later joining the difficult apostolate of Africa, has however declared that for the time being it cannot assume responsibility for any mission among the people of Africa.
[1319]
With a circular dated 1861, the Seraphic Order made an appeal to several religious Provinces so as to muster a powerful brigade of Gospel workers to undertake the Central African Mission. Despite serious losses suffered, attempts were repeated: as many as 22 individuals died in this scorching land without achieving any satisfactory results. Finally, after deploying every effort, this illustrious Order determined to send in the Institution of the worthy Fr Lodovico da Casoria. What is this Institute of Grey Friars which has recently emerged at Palma in Naples?…From the following letter, written on the banks of the Nile by Fr Lodovico to his sons, which he himself told me sums up the substance of the new Institute and is like the testament of its pious founder which is read each week within the community, Your Most Reverend Eminence will get a good idea of this emerging Institution which is to regulate the Institute for Africans and govern the efforts in Africa.


[1320]
+Ave Crux etc.
From the River Nile, 17 December 1865
My dearest Grey Friars,
The Lord has called you from the world to the Religion of the Third Seraphic Order. I too was called from the world to the First Order of this same Religion. Poor us if we do not take advantage of this infinite love of God! You and I have new duties, beyond those of God’s commandments and those of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Rome. I am bound by true solemn profession, you by the ties of simple profession; I to the ministry of the priesthood, you to the ministry of charity; I to save souls, you to educate souls; both ministries are God-given: one is the priesthood, the other is the vocation to charity. Both these sublime ministries go hand in hand. The former cannot save souls if the latter does not prepare them. The Lord inspired me, a little friar, to found this Institute to call the corrupt world to Jesus Christ, both through example and through charity. St Francis is the Holy Father of this Institute so that it may be ruled and governed in the highest poverty, not only of spirit, but also in external poverty, as practised by Jesus Christ, by St Francis and by all his true sons.
This is my command to be obeyed by all the Grey Friars: and to those who do not want to embrace it because it is a burden, I order them through the Superiors of the Grey Friars to go back to the world and live as good Christians or as secular tertiaries. This work will spread immensely if those who govern it do not stray from this celestial treasure of being loved by Jesus Christ, who wished to be born poor, to live in poverty and to die in poverty. He who governs in poverty, governs in humility and in Christ’s charity. Community life with all, in all and for all, with no distinctions of title or of dignity, except for the sick, living images of Jesus Christ, who must have all exceptions and dispensations as long as the sickness lasts, and who must be separated from the community and all kept in the infirmary. I recommend strongly that they be shown visceral compassion and the service of spiritual and temporal charity until the last moment of their lives.
Any Grey Friars who leave the communal life, possess wealth or have money on them should be expelled immediately for being wealthy and rich. Let those who do not need to touch money not touch it. Let those who have to touch money touch it and give it immediately to the Procurator of the house. I implore the friars not to sleep or stay overnight where there is money, lest sister death should come unawares and find this devil in the cell. I warn you strongly, I repeat, my most beloved brothers, I warn you strongly about the use of money.
The Order of Grey Friars may also have Grey priests, but under the same rule and with the same complete poverty of the Grey Friars who are not priests. However they must be very few in number, enough to constitute, according to the Institute’s rule, a resident government in the Mother House to rule and govern the Institute of Grey Friars. These priests can neither preach to or confess external laity; and their entire task is to propagate the Institute, to keep the Rule, to visit the houses and promote the good of the poor of Jesus Christ.
To all Friars, I recommend morning and evening meditation and mental prayer on the Passion of Jesus Christ. Meditate upon it as if what you read and meditate were before your eyes. What point is there in meditating on Jesus Christ without humility and love for your brother? Without obedience to your Superior? Without suffering insults and hatred? What good is it to meditate on Jesus Christ without brothers being compassionate towards their other brothers? Weeping over Jesus crucified means loving and bearing with others. If during the interval between one meditation and another, that is from morning to night in the course of the day, you can put up with another sinning brother like you, you can thank Jesus Christ in the evening meditation for the fruit you received from your morning meditation.
Act and govern through example and with charity, and everyone will love you and be dear and obedient to you. Love silence, dearest brothers: speak little, avoid questions, yes, yes, no, no and flee. Consider yourselves the last of the house, and if you are a Superior you are all the more obliged to do so because you are the servant of the servants of the Lord.
Your daily maintenance is manual work, and if this is not enough for the charitable work, let the friars go from door to door for the love of God begging for offerings, taking everything that divine Providence sends them for themselves and for the poor, whether these be children or sick persons. I ask the Friars always to be at the feet of priests, especially secular priests, to whom I want humility and submission to be shown, for they are the true and real figure of Jesus Christ. If they do not love you, you must love them; and if they despise you, do not speak badly of them, but show them compassion and good will, for they despise your sins. Wherever you find poor and sick priests, if you can, take care of them, medicate their wounds.
Let your grey habit be always uniform, in accordance with the Rule of the Third Seraphic Order, sandals on bare feet, except the sick who may wear stockings and linen underwear; a hemp cord, wool tunic and a rosary made of wood. You must be poor in all things, sleep in habits and if through illness you cannot, you must ask for permission from the local Superior. I recommend cleanliness in the oratories, in the dormitories, in the cells and in the friars. Friars who are ordained say the Holy Office, using the Franciscan First Order’s breviary. Friars who are not ordained and know how to read say the Office of the Passion of St Bonaventure: the ones who cannot read, the Pater nosters, etc. I recommend that the friars fast every Friday of the year, as well as the Lenten days recommended in the Rule of the Grey Friars. It is forbidden for the Friars to form special friendships; and this in order to follow the spirit of Rule of the holy Father. When you enter the church, say: “We adore you, O Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ, in all the churches throughout the world, and we bless you because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world”.
I beg you, I entreat you, I exhort you for the love of God and for your holy perfection, to obey these and all the other things contained in your Rule and Constitutions, and have them obeyed through your example and your word. May the Lord Jesus Christ be your mind, your heart and your work. I, your little friar, will always be with you: if you do not love me, I love you; if you are not fond of me, I am fond of you. Do not spurn what I have written to you, because I wrote it in the presence of Jesus Christ, with whom you must live and die, and reign forever and ever. Amen.
Please have copies made and send it to all the Superiors of the Grey Friars, with the obligation to have it read once a week in full community. Bro. Diego is asked to do this.

Friar Lodovico da Casoria

[1321]
From the content of this letter, from the fruit produced by the Grey Friars’ houses, as I saw in Naples, and from the performance of individuals coming from the Palma Institute who went to Africa, it seems to me that I have to deduce that, given its nature, Fr Lodovico da Casoria’s Institute by itself absolutely cannot assume any Mission. However, if it were to be supported and directed by the Seraphic Order I am confident that it could again prove most useful to the African Missions.
[1322]
In fact this Institute has so far produced nothing but craftsmen, and not a single priest. Even if in time it were to form some priests, what could they do for the apostolate if it is forbidden for them to hear confession, preach to the people and exercise a ministry outside, and their whole mission is limited to the internal government of the houses and the management of craftsmen? Without sufficient knowledge, without a sound and extensive moral formation, how can one undertake a mission? This Institute will never make it on its own, even if it were to develop and prosper in accordance with the ideas and wishes of its holy founder. If in addition I consider the ease with which this good father gathers together in his Institute all sorts of characters, often without the slightest qualification except the ability to recite the rosary or master a craft; if I think of the imprudence he is wont to display in preparing the work and the risks in this most delicate mission, without the necessary equipment and without vocations, then I must affirm that his Institution could prove harmful to Africa. Without mentioning what occasionally happens in some of his houses in Naples, let us consider the evidence from the field of the African Mission.
[1323]
In 1861 and 1862, on two separate occasions, Fra Lodovico sent a total of eight individuals to Africa:
1. Fra Pietro, 2. Fra Ziario, 3. Fra Mariano, 4. Fra Giuseppe Maria, 5. Fra Gerardo, 6. Fra Bonaventura, 7. Fra Romualdo, 8. Fra Corrado.

[1324]
Of these, the first two died in Khartoum; the third had quite a good death in Cairo staying with the Apostolic Delegate; the fourth is in Bethlehem and the fifth is in Ismaelia at the Suez Canal: I do not know those two. But the sixth and seventh, who live in the Friary in Cairo, assured the Franciscans of the Holy Land that neither the latter nor the former would ever return to Central Africa, or associate themselves with Fra Lodovico’s Institute. The eighth, Br Corrado, who was in Shellal, after abandoning himself to shameful acts, to flee the reproaches of his Superior who is now the Guardian of Bethlehem, applied to an employee of the Egyptian government to be made a Muslim, telling him that he liked the freedom of the followers of Islam. Fortunately for him, the Egyptian official, on the principle that it is not good to abandon the religion of one’s Fathers, brought him before the Guardian of Alexandria, who instantly had him accompanied to Naples, where after another five months in one of Fr Lodovico’s houses without the habit, he abandoned the Institute of his own accord, and is now worthily employed as the gas-lighter in Via della Chiaia in Naples.
[1325]
So of the first eight that the Institute of the Grey Friars groomed for Africa, three died and all the other five deserted its banner.

Now let us discuss the last recent expedition to Shellal.

[1326]
There were six individuals destined for this Station by Fr Lodovico; namely:
1. Fr Bonaventura da Casanova, the President. He is not from Fr Lodovico’s Institute, but from the Reformed Province of Naples, and has been associated with the Palma Institute for about two years. He is a good friar and knows his stuff quite well. He was Guardian at Caserta, and although he is narrow-minded, I believe he will be able to run internal matters in the house; but he will be able to do little outside since he does not know any of the customs of the country and completely lacks Arabic. He says that there is absolutely no agreement between Fr Lodovico and the Naples Provincial and Friars, who are little pleased with his Institute which they fear might compromise the Franciscan Family. He has received strict orders from Fr Lodovico never to report from Shellal on matters concerning the Mission, neither to the Apostolic Delegate in Egypt, nor to the Provincial in Naples, nor to the General, nor to Propaganda; and this under the threat of being deprived of food supplies. He asked me to convey this to his Superiors, Provincial and General and to Your Most Reverend Eminence, but I am informing only yourself.

[1327]
2. Fr Bonaventura from Khartoum. He is the best element ever to have graduated from the Palma Institute, after having been more than four years in my Institute in Verona. He was taken to Naples by me at the end of 1860. He is a devout young man who has great zeal, judgement, ability and is very promising, although he is not yet thoroughly rid of the fiery temperament of the Orientals. Without having done the necessary studies in theology, of which he has only a pale idea, he made his religious profession two years ago and was ordained a priest on 8th October of last year, and two days later he left for Rome and Africa. Since this one knows Arabic and the country, in Shellal he gained great sway with the people and this gave rise to a great schism with the President. I foresee that Fr Lodovico will not be able to deal with it except by separating the two.
[1328]
3. Br Pietro, Procurator in Shellal. He was a soldier for seven years and in 1860 fought in Capua against Garibaldi. A few years later he was accepted by Fr Lodovico, and after a few months, being a good carpenter, he was placed at the head of the Capo di Monte craftsmen. He came with us to Africa, and although he is illiterate and does not know Arabic, he was made Procurator of Shellal. He stayed there 28 days and after the above-mentioned divergence, went away alone and travelled to Cairo, where he told the Friars that he would never return to the Mission or to Fr Lodovico.
4. Br Innocenzo, phlebotomist and infirmarian, is a good young man who is full of charity and is most useful in the Station.
5. Br Lodovico and
6. Br Giovannino, young Africans most gifted in music. They are two good youths, although they find the Franciscan habit and way of life a burden. The success of these two will later provide criteria to judge how successful an African educated as a Friar in Europe can be when he returns to Africa as a layman.

[1329]
Fr Lodovico’s nephew, Fr Francesco Palmentieri, also came with us. This young priest, who is active, knows his stuff quite well, is not ingenuous and is full of zeal for all the works of the Palma Institute, is Fr Lodovico’s most powerful assistant who has been at his service for eight years. He has already returned to Africa with a new Grey Friar who will replace the Procurator, and to take food supplies to the Shellal Station. He may prepare a new House for African craftsmen in Old Cairo, which Fr Geremia from Leghorn obtained for Fr Lodovico from the devout Dragoman of the English Consulate.
[1330]
To set forth in conscience what I feel about Fr Lodovico, I will say he is a man with a big heart, burning to involve himself in great works, a lover of poverty, prayer and regular observance, of which he is a model. Limited are his talents, his education and his knowledge of the European and African worlds, and in general his mind is not in equal proportion to his heart. He is most tenacious in his ideas and cares greatly about appearances and external things.
His charity and humility are not exempt from human weaknesses: he is not frank in his speech and not many people will fully understand his works. Propaganda will rarely know from him the real truth about what is happening in the mission, unless things really are going marvellously well. Notwithstanding all this, Fr Lodovico has done an extraordinary amount of good to those who are destitute and suffering: loved as he is by both the nobility and the humble people of Naples, he is accomplishing before God and man a sublime career, that will immortalise his name among the champions of Neapolitan good works.

[1331]
From all this, which I have exposed in the presence of God, fully aware of the implications and in duty to my conscience, and all of which I can reconfirm with a thousand other proofs, may Your Most Reverend Eminence assess the results that Propaganda can draw from Fr Lodovico da Casoria’s Institution for the benefit of Africa. There is no doubt that it is doing good in Naples, and I hope and desire that time, experience and trials will render it capable of doing much good to Africa too. But at the moment I am convinced that on its own it can do very little, and it needs the support and guidance of the Seraphic Order in order to bear fruit for the benefit of the Mission. It therefore seems prudent to me that Propaganda should recognise and give responsibility for operations in Africa only to the Seraphic Order and refrain from entrusting Stations and Missions exclusively to Fr Lodovico’s Institution, who in view of the history of facts I have just referred to, envisages nothing less than the hope of obtaining for his Institute absolute jurisdiction over the whole of the Central African Vicariate.
His positis, this is what I consider could appropriately be done to make the Franciscan apostolate in the central countries of Africa more effective.

[1332]
It is necessary for Propaganda to assign to the Seraphic Order that portion of the Vicariate of Central Africa which it is capable of assuming; and it is essential that the said Order formally renounce any responsibility for the rest of it so as to remove any obstacle to other Institutions that might wish to undertake operations in those lands. Now it seems appropriate to me that the Franciscan Order should retain those countries which are bordering on their Egyptian missions, that is Nubia, a region which covers 18,795 square miles, thus nearly twice as large as France, and which Propaganda Fide could erect as a Prefecture Apostolic. Nubia is currently divided into the six large Provinces of Dongola, Kordofan, Berber, Taka, Khartoum and Fazoglo and it is populated by just under 2,000,000 inhabitants, among whom there are 80,000 blacks and a small number of heterodox Copts led by a Bishop resident in Khartoum. If, however, Propaganda should judge this Mission too vast for the Seraphic Order, it could assign to it the whole of the right bank of the Nile, which lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Blue Nile, or the whole of the left bank of the Nile as far as the 16th degree Latitude North, which includes the huge provinces of Berber, Taka, Dongola and Fazoglo, with a population of more than one million inhabitants.
[1333]
Now I am convinced that the Seraphic Order could take over and run the Nubia Prefecture by associating it provisionally with that of Upper Egypt, naming the Prefect of Upper Egypt Sub-Prefect ad interim of Nubia, dependent on the Vicar Apostolic of Egypt and Delegate, and this until such a time as, following successive improvement and development of Fr Lodovico’s Institute or by increasing the number of Franciscan evangelisers, the projected Prefecture of Nubia will be able to govern itself alone.
[1334]
Your Most Reverend Eminence will object: “how will the Prefecture of Upper Egypt, which is so scant and delicate, and insufficient unto itself, be able to extend its activities over Nubia as well?”. In the first place, it is certain that the Seraphic Order can and must make every effort to strengthen Upper Egypt with a greater number of Missionaries. In the meantime, the two Prefectures of Upper Egypt and Nubia, provisionally joined together, giving each other a hand, are to put their reciprocal resources in common and mutually to collaborate in the development of their common apostolic ministry; as will appear clearly from the following observations.
[1335]
The Evangelisers of Upper Egypt are Reformed Friars Minor: Fr Lodovico is himself a Reformed Friar Minor, as are all those who join him. Moreover, the Prefecture Apostolic of Upper Egypt, not to mention Suez, has a central house in Cairo, equipped with necessary means and comforts so that new missionaries can be trained in Arabic and oriental customs, and a spirit of religion reigns there. Furthermore, in Upper Egypt, divided into six Stations, there are six Franciscans who are completely fluent in Arabic, quite able and full of self-denial and zeal for the redemption of souls.
[1336]
Fr Federico, called Abuna Botros by the Arabs, President of Assiut, who was Prefect several years ago and Fr Samuel d’Accadia, President of Negadeh, are two worthy men who are competent in running a Mission. The latter has a deep knowledge of the eastern character and customs. Although he is persecuted by the heretic priests and by some Coptic Catholics, who tried in vain to sully his reputation, he is the one who more than any other has done the greatest good to the Mission and has produced the most fruit among the Egyptians. In his 26 years of apostolate, through the most serious obstacles, he built three churches, had the Stations of Negadeh and Farshiut finished and brought to the faith about a hundred heretics and a few Africans and Muslims. Being respected by the Viceroy, by all the Muslim authorities, by the European Consuls and above all by the General Agent of Austria, he has great influence in the whole of Upper Egypt over the Coptic Catholics and heretics, and over the Mohammedans, and is trusted by his Franciscan confreres who find in him a wise and experienced adviser, and a valid and feared advocate in the most delicate circumstances in dealing with the Turkish government and the sly manoeuvres of the heretics. Almost everybody agrees that if Fr Samuel were the head of the Mission, the Prefecture of Upper Egypt would change and would produce better fruit.
[1337]
Fr Serafino from S. Antimo, President of Kenneh, and Fr Alfonso from Cava, President of Kackmin are both able missionaries who for eight years have worked with great zeal, and promise much more for the future. Many conversions were also obtained by Fr Giuseppe from Naples who lives at Tahhata; and full of self-denial, Fr Andrea, President of Girgeh, has suffered greatly. These good and zealous missionaries live far away from each other, each fully taken up by the place to which obedience has assigned him; and they generally pass several years without seeing each other.
[1338]
Now the missionary in Upper Egypt, for the time being alone in his Station, with all his zeal and ability, cannot do much for the good of the faith because he lacks the help needed to develop male and female Institutes and to promote crafts among these neglected people. It is therefore a fact that the Prefecture Apostolic of Upper Egypt is amoral entity and is indeed equipped with leaders in the form of its missionaries, but it is weak since it lacks members to support and strengthen it. Instead Fr Lodovico’s Institute, transplanted into Nubia, is a body without a head: while it lacks able men to lead the mission, it has many able members and material resources, which under wise management could become most useful. Indeed, from his Naples colleges Fr Lodovico obtains craftsmen of all kinds and catechists, both black and white, and from the Stigmatine Institute, which he moved from Florence to Naples for the education of African girls, he obtains European and African Sisters with a knowledge of religion and feminine crafts. It seems to me therefore that by provisionally joining the two Prefectures together under the spiritual influence of a single institution, one could provide the one with the required leadership, while the other could provide the required work force. Certainly, it is up to the prudence of the Prefect Apostolic to get the best out of both his own Reformed religious and Fr Lodovico’s Institute.
[1339]
Moreover, following the irrevocable principle established by Fr Lodovico (which I have heard repeated many times by him and by the Most Reverend Father General) according to which no Reformed Franciscan will ever be able to aspire to the African missions without first receiving training in and graduating from the Palma College, all the good religious from the German, Austrian and Veneto Provinces (which are the most distinguished for their attitude and observance of the rule) will be excluded from the apostolate in Central Africa. Consequently Africa will not only be deprived of the benefits deriving from a greater number of evangelisers, but it will also have difficulty in obtaining the spontaneous support of the Society of Mary in Vienna, which has never given up the wish that Germans be preferred for the apostolate in the African interior.
[1340]
Instead, with the temporary union of the two Prefectures, the Seraphic Order will be able to avail itself of good missionaries from Germany, the Austrian Empire, where enthusiasm for the African mission is not at all extinct. If this were to be done, certain missionaries who do not have much trust in Fr Lodovico’s work in Africa would instantly rally round. One of these is the distinguished Prussian Fr Mainrad, who has already been to Central Africa, and now exercises his priestly ministry with great zeal in Alexandria, where above all he has the full trust of the German colony.
[1341]
To help the Franciscan operations in Upper Egypt and Nubia, the construction of the railway will be most useful; it has already been started between Cairo and Aswan, and according to His Highness the Viceroy’s calculations, should reach across the desert to Korosko and Khartoum in about six years. Should the Sacred Congregation not deem it appropriate to adopt the project of provisionally uniting Upper Egypt and Nubia, it will then be necessary for the Seraphic Order to choose from among its Missions to the East some of its most experienced missionaries to direct the African missions, and refrain from the system so far used of risking sending new and unskilled superiors to the difficult apostolate of those perilous areas.
[1342]
It does not befit my weakness to proffer advice on the way to introduce this new organisation little by little as regards the Franciscan operation on the banks of the Nile. It seems to me that it will prove less difficult for its implementation to be started before the Vicariate Apostolic of Egypt enters the new phase towards which it seems to be moving.
[1343]
If after a while the Mazza Institute does not accept the White Nile Mission, I hope it will not be very long before I can present a project for the introduction to that area (within which the Egyptian government has already formed a Mudiria of the Shilluks, and is organising other provinces) of a body of Missionaries from another Institution with which I have already begun negotiations.
[1344]
That is what seems to me might appropriately be done for the good of that part of the Central African Vicariate which we have tried to evangelise, from the time of its establishment until today, with the elements and forces existing hic et nunc. So far we have only spoken of the twentieth part of this vast mission. What can I say about the way to evangelise the rest of this Vicariate, which has never been visited or known by any Missionary, and which includes practically the entire centre of the African peninsula, covering an area larger than the whole of Europe?
[1345]
This is an even trickier problem to resolve. In the inability to proceed sure-footedly in such a difficult and important matter, we must be content with hesitant progress and limit ourselves to proposing what is reasonable and proper in substance, though only probable in practice. And so it will remain, until others can address the matter with more concrete ideas offering stronger motives to attempt the conversion of the unknown tribes of Africa. Propaganda is not unaware of the strong support religious Corporations and Seminaries for the foreign Missions can provide in this respect, and it knows how many and which ones can lend themselves to this tricky enterprise. On the horizon which looms before us today, however, all these nurseries for the apostolate are not providing the necessary contingent for the regeneration of Central Africa. Must we therefore give up all concerns and abandon those unhappy lands where there are perhaps 60,000,000 souls? Every way must be tried and we must resolve and persevere in every reasonable sacrifice, trusting in Him who sees all, can do everything, loves and vult omnes homines salvos fieri.
[1346]
This is why, evermore deeply convinced of its effectiveness, I do not hesitate to propose my Plan for the Regeneration of Africa printed in Venice in 1865, which I thought out on the basis of the area of the Vicariate established by Gregory XVI at the time of its establishment. By presenting a plan for the evangelisation of Africa that is simple, just, practical and suited to the needs of the huge tribes of Central Africa, and if I am not mistaken, approved by all, we wish to make the most, for the good of Africa, of all the existing elements and human resources of Catholicism, to create new ones, especially through the institution of new seminaries for the apostolate in the heart of the various orthodox nations, which will arouse in them a religious enthusiasm for the most unhappy and derelict part of the world, and will produce missionaries and funds.
[1347]
If I had had to formulate a plan for just one Corporation, I would have measured its strength and its means and I would have written a project adapted to the Corporation itself. But since no single Institute can embrace the vast expanse of the Vicariate of Central Africa, which borders with nearly all the Missions that surround this great peninsula, I thought fit to propose a grandiose but most simple Plan which, under the aegis of Propaganda, and with the co-operation of the Vicariates and Prefectures Apostolic of the African coasts that would be willing to give it, would potentially open the way to numerous battalions in the apostolate for Africa and to the start of a new age of salvation among those virgin and unfortunate nations over which the curse of Canaan still weighs heavily.
[1348]
To make it easier for me to do something for the good of the Africans, I ask nothing more of Your Most Reverend Eminence than a single favour, that is: “A letter of encouragement to Fr Comboni, in which Your Most Reverend Eminence exhorts and encourages him to work energetically to implement what is good, just and practical in his Plan for the regeneration of Africa, (without citing anything in it that is far-fetched and not feasible), showing that his poor efforts are pleasing to the Holy Father and Propaganda”.
[1349]
I trust Your Most Reverend Eminence will deign to answer this humble plea of mine so that the substance of my Plan may be generally adopted. Whatever in it is not feasible is purely accessory. If we sit and wait for a better time and easy means to convert Africa, we shall be dead and buried before anything gets done. Everything concerning Central Africa is difficult. The history of its Missions teaches us that all other systems and attempts have been ineffective. As my Plan is gradually implemented, it will bring great benefits to any of the Vicariates and Prefectures Apostolic of Africa where it is applied. It is true that general experience has shown that it is not appropriate to have two Institutes in one mission. But when a single Corporation is not able to meet the needs of souls, as is the case at present in the Vicariate Apostolic of Egypt, it seems to me just as well for one to govern and work, and the other to work under the authority of the former. In Africa, where everything is sacrifice, it is less likely for peace to be broken between two different bodies, especially if to foster co-operation one chooses recent Institutes not prone to contamination with the egoism of castes and in which the Spirit of Jesus Christ reigns and flourishes together with zeal for the salvation of souls.
[1350]
In any case a letter of encouragement from Your Most Reverend Eminence will always do some good, because it will truly help me to procure the means to implement my Plan little by little, both in Europe and in Africa. Such means are: personnel and money. And it will facilitate my task in gaining exclusively for the regeneration of Africa, the participation of the Opera di Riscatto (The Redemption Society) founded by the late Fr Olivieri.
[1351]
As regards personnel, a letter from Your Most Reverend Eminence
1. Opens the way to my convincing recently founded Institutions to work for Africa. I attach great importance to the advantages these can offer in the formation of small Institutes for African boys and girls in the Vicariates and Prefectures of Africa, should they be prepared to participate in the work, also in view of the good this will do to their Missions. If, for instance, a few priests of the Don Bosco or Cottolengo Institutes of Turin were to be introduced in the Vicariates of Egypt and the Gallas, the Friars Minor and the Capuchins would have no need to fear that these might wish to take over their Vicariates, particularly if one reflects that the conditions under which they establish themselves there are governed by the organisation of the Plan. Some Superiors may be against participating in this work, to stay clear of whoever might criticise them… and report to Rome. I hope this Work will meet with Your Most Reverend Eminence’s approval, because it is also apt to promote holy emulation in Africa and better ensure the smooth running of the Missions.

[1352]
2. Facilitates my creation of a number of small Seminaries for the African Missions in the main cities of Europe. Vocations to the apostolate increase in accordance with the instruments and means by which ideas are promoted for such a sublime objective. France provides the largest quota of funds and Missionaries on account of the Pious Associations for the Propagation of the Faith and the Seminary for the Foreign Missions in Paris, which are flourishing there. Verona and Bressanone have given more Missionaries for Africa than the rest of the whole Austrian Empire on account of the Works of the Mazza Institute and Professor Mitterrutzner. If this were to be started up in Germany, England, Brazil, Spain, etc. it would arouse a greater apostolic movement in these cultured nations.
3. It will provide a powerful incentive for the Congregations which have Missions in Africa to strengthen their ministry with a greater number of evangelisers by preparing elements for them to extend their operations little by little into the interior and assume new Missions there. Many of the advantages that are to be brought to the central areas will depend on the strength of the coastal Missions. Furthermore, other Orders will be able to assume Missions for Africa. As regards money it should be noted that funds are needed for the preparatory work in Europe, as well as for the operations to be carried out in Africa. A letter from Your Most Reverend Eminence will facilitate my raising funds for both these purposes.

[1353]
To build the preparatory work in Europe aimed at creating elements for the African missions, such as small seminaries and craft schools, etc., I have decided to try to found a Pious Association modelled on the rules of the Pious Work for the Propagation of the Faith, which I will start in the Venetian region. When it is well under way and approved by the Bishops I shall inform Your Most Reverend Eminence. In Catholic Germany alone there more than a hundred such Associations for different purposes. I hope to succeed in such a beneficial work, which will unite in the same spirit all the Institutions that work in Africa and have Seminaries and Colleges in Europe, and will establish a most useful confederation between them.
[1354]
As for the money needed for the work to be carried out in Africa, the existing Pious Associations for the Propagation of the Faith will provide the funds for their maintenance:
1. The Association of Cologne for the redemption and education of Africans is inspired by an eminently Catholic spirit and is completely devoid of any form of nationalist egoism which characterises several associations of this nature. The President of its Committee, the Most Reverend Fr Noecker, who is the founder of a great Institute approved by the late Cardinal Archbishop Geissel, is a man of great heart, sense and competence, who does everything to make this association accepted in the eyes of the German episcopate. It was the member Dr Stricker, well known for always having promoted religious associations, who as Secretary contributed the most to the establishment of this illustrious Association which, in adopting the Plan for the Regeneration of Africa, assigned to me the fruit of nearly all their offerings, with the firm promise to increase the contribution each year according to their resources and the results of the work undertaken. This Association is small as yet, but as progress in the work for Africa increases it will become stronger in Catholic Germany, and will grow gigantically above all when it sees that Your Most Reverend Eminence encourages the Plan to which it has granted its protection: (Letter from the Cologne Association, Venice 1865, p. 12).

[1355]
2. Mr Berard de Glajeux, President of the Council of Paris in plenary session and in the presence of Mgr Massaia, ordered me to assure Your Most Reverend Eminence that the Association for the Propagation of the Faith will give special assistance to the missions, Institutes and Colleges in Central Africa as soon as the personnel of evangelisers is ready and the site in Africa for the mission, Institute or college is determined.
3. The Association for the Schools of the East and the Holy Childhood, based in Paris, and the Society of the Immaculate Conception located in Vienna, have promised me assistance for the Institutes that are to be founded in Africa.
4. I am confident we shall see the growth of the little Association for the Redemption of Slaves, which a parish priest from Amiens is now in the process of founding in Spain.

[1356]
Finally, the longed-for letter from Your Eminence will help to gain the exclusive support for the regeneration of Africa from the Redemption Association. In order to rally this holy association to my cause, I have been dealing with the Very Reverend Fr Biagio Verri, the successor of Fr Olivieri, and last May he answered me from Marseilles that he would study a way for us to help each other when the small Institutes for African girls in Egypt have been set up […] [“in Egypt” is written over a word suggesting a future tense and followed by “clear the direction which…”]. This is why I have sent to His Eminence the Cardinal Vicar of His Holiness in Rome, whom this Association of Fr Olivieri’s regards as its protector, this Promemoria which I hasten to communicate to Your Most Reverend Eminence so that you may be persuaded of the benefits to be had from the Association for Africa, as long as it modifies its old programme of transporting redeemed slave-girls to Europe and agrees to help our undertaking to form new Institutes in Africa.

Promemoria sent to His Eminence Cardinal Patrizi, Vicar of Rome


[1357]
The stupendously charitable Association of the late Fr Olivieri has the objective of redeeming African children of both sexes from the grip of barbarity and to place them in secure asylum o save their souls. Until now this has been done by buying African boys and girls in Egypt and transporting them to Europe where they were distributed to various monasteries and schools in Italy, France and Germany. The enormous good done in this way has remained limited to the individual thus redeemed and has not spread to the African race. To do this great sums of money were allocated and immense efforts were made, both by the founder, the promoters of the association and the Institutes which took them in. Due to the Paris treaty of 1856, which prohibits slavery, and through the absolute will of the Viceroy of Egypt and the representatives of the European powers, who have forbidden the exportation of Africans, the Association, structured as it is, can only operate clandestinely, that is by buying African girls, keeping them for some time in an Institute in Egypt and taking them in secret, two or three at a time, accompanied by Sisters, via the tortuous route of Syria to Europe.
[1358]
Should the director of the Fr Olivieri Association, instead of taking the redeemed African girls to Europe, resolve to buy them in Egypt and then entrust them to the male or female Institutes which now exist and are being founded in Cairo and Upper Egypt to form elements for the conversion of Central Africa, this Association would have the following advantages:
1. Each African girl brought to Europe at present costs the Fr Olivieri Association about 400 scudi, because it costs 100 scudi to buy her, about 130 to keep her in Egypt until the right time comes to take her to Europe and about 170 scudi to be brought by the Sisters to Europe via Syria. If instead, the redeemed girl, as soon as she was bought, were entrusted to the Institutes in Egypt it would only cost the Association 100 scudi, because the Institutes would take care of all the rest; thus, with the 400 scudi an African girl costs, four could be redeemed and four souls would be saved instead of only one. It is purely mathematical.

[1359]
2. If only Fr Olivieri’s Association did not limit itself to saving the redeemed individual, it could turn these into the very instruments of salvation for many more souls, and it would be of enormous benefit to the Missions in Central Africa. Since experience has shown that the Missionary cannot live in the African tribes and the African has the same difficulty in living in Europe, a plan is at present being implemented to set up male and female Institutes in Egypt, to which African boys and girls are brought, so that they may be educated in the faith and the crafts in order to create as many elements for the African Missions. Fr Olivieri’s Association is useful and necessary for the conversion of Central Africa.
[1360]
3. For Fr Olivieri’s Association to bring African girls to Europe it has to do it illegally and is thus threatened every instant with extinction. Should it come to the rescue of the African Institutes, its work could proceed openly in Egypt, it would develop marvellously and its future would be assured.
[1361]
4. Because it takes Africans to Europe, the Fr Olivieri Association does not have the approval of the Bishops and the faithful who are happier with my modifications. During my travels throughout Europe, more than 40 people including Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals, notably including the Most Eminent Cardinal de Angelis, assured me of this, as well as most of the benefactors, including the Cologne Association.
[1362]
5. In moral terms it is impossible that all the 800 African girls redeemed by Fr Olivieri should all be called to virginity and to life in the cloister. From what I know of the lively temperament of African girls in the 15 years I have been dedicated to work among Africans, and y experience in both Europe and Africa, I am convinced of the contrary. If the African girls were placed in African Institutes they could be taken from fatal slavery and would progress, under the guidance of the Sisters, towards the state to which they are called by the Lord.
[1363]
6. If the as yet incomplete Fr Olivieri Association were reorganised (as regards the co-operating personnel) and directed towards a fuller objective (as described above) it would receive ore subsidies from the faithful in Europe.
[1364]
For these and many other reasons I am convinced that Fr Olivieri’s Association would be perfected were it to adopt the above-mentioned modifications, and this would be of immense advantage for the conversion of Africans. And this is the reason I implore this Association to come to the aid of the African male and female Institutes which, under the aegis of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, I hope to found on the coasts of Africa in accordance with my Plan for the Conversion of Africa.
[1365]
I have endeavoured, O Eminent Prince, in my feeble way, to explain to you in this brief report what I judge may appropriately be done for the conversion of Central Africa. I do this in obedience to Your Most Reverend Eminence’s venerable orders, with the single objective of promoting the greater glory of God and the salvation of Africans, to whom I have consecrated y life. Should Your Eminence wish to have more detailed elucidations on any points I have not explained properly, a single hint will suffice for me to give you satisfaction. In the meantime, declaring myself ever prepared to obey your commands, I take this opportunity to kiss the sacred purple, and sign myself with all respect and veneration

Your Most Reverend Eminence’s
most humble, devoted and respectful servant

Fr Daniel Comboni of the Mazza Institute

[1366]
I hope that Fr Beltrame will have received my letters sent before the 24th of last month. I also hope that this one which I am sending via France will reach you. I am in perfect health, and filled with longing to have news of our dear Institute, and especially of you. I have to talk to you about little Hans.
[1367]
I have found out that Propaganda in Rome takes in young boys from unbelieving and heretical nations. So when, the other evening, I begged His Eminence Cardinal Barnabò to accept Hans if I felt it appropriate, he answered me in the affirmative, and even for the coming academic year 1866–67. It seems to me that it would be good for the boy and for me, and the Institute could be charitable to another in his place. I am telling this to you alone, so that in your prudence you may decide what you like, and persuade Maria Kessler to do some good for this nephew of hers. Please let me know about this matter and also notify me of Hans’ academic standard through Fr Giovanni or anyone else you think fit, so that he can join Propaganda this month and so that we can see if he is advanced enough by November to be accepted at the Urban College of Propaganda Fide.
[1368]
I have finished my work, ordered by Barnabò, on what can be done for Central Africa with the existing forces hic et nunc. Speaking of the Institute I said that for the time being it does not feel able to accept a mission; but I gave a glimmer of hope that after a few years, in different circumstances, the Institute will perhaps be able to return to its activities in Africa and accept a mission. May God grant it.
[1369]
I am always worried about you and your health. Fr Beltrame wrote to me to look out for a way to help the Institute. With time, I hope that I will do something successful: I am keenly concerned with the interests and good of this Institute to whom I owe a second life. As I wrote to you from Africa, for my part I shall do all that is within my limited power. I am glad to hear that zealous efforts are being made to strengthen the Institute and that our Fr Beltrame is being a valuable instrument in this. Did his family suffer in the events of the 24th at Valeggio? I imagine that they must now be in Verona. I pray to the Lord every day for you and for the Institute. I beg you to pray to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary for me. The Bishop of Egypt, who was transferred by Propaganda from that Vicariate to Bosnia, is now here in Rome. The new Delegate in Egypt is Mgr Luigi Ciurcia who was born in Ragusa in 1818; he is a Friar Minor, who became Bishop of Alessio and then of Scutari in 1853. When I am back in Verona we shall make arrangements for the African girls in Egypt.
[1370]
Please give my regards to His Lordship the Bishop, Marchese Ottavio and Tregnaghi: but especially to Fr Beltrame, Fr Brighenti, Fr Poggiani, Fr Bolner, Fr Fochesato, Fr Lonardoni, etc. etc. etc. The Failoni Bevilacqua, etc., the Protestants, etc. Send your blessing to

Your most devoted

Fr Daniel

[1371]
Although I have written to you on other occasions, I still also want to enclose a couple of lines for you in my letter to our Superior. Mgr Vuicic sends you his greetings. He would like to have some news of you and of Valeggio. I already imagine that there must have been a great tumult of things to do. I always think of you, and you know that I love you. You know my mind; and I am immensely comforted to know what you are doing for our beloved Institute. I hope that once I am in Verona, my wholehearted co-operation will be of some use. You know what my intentions are. Please write to me via Germany and Marseilles and give me all the news of the Institute. I am expecting a really long letter, and tell me how the Superior’s hand is. You have greetings from Mgr Nardi, whom I now see very frequently. Give my greetings to Fr Girolamo, your family and Garubini, and my regards to the Pompei Family and Fr Beltrame, the preacher. Goodbye.
[1372]
Oh what lovely laughs I want us to have on my return! You cannot imagine how impatient I am to see myself at the Institute. What a lot of changes! What a new world! It will of course seem strange to me, because of other ideas, another life, other things, few people, few priests, no seminarians, few boys! Then to see ourselves confined up there in the Zenati house like Hermits! Think of the impression it will make on me, who have not seen the Institute for more than two years other than for a few days, because I have been travelling constantly in the capital cities etc. Ah! I want us to be happy even if the world should collapse, and to spend merry nights in long chats with our Fr Brighenti, Doctor and companions. Give Baschera my greetings too, and Betta, and if you have time, also those Protestants who never wrote to me, for whom I believe I have busied myself.
Goodbye, my dear Fr Giovanni, be well, happy, younger, rejuvenated and
bouncing, so I can be happy too

Your Fr Daniel,
who is as devoted to you as a brother