Writings

[2831]
The sad news that Sr Caterina has just given me has broken my heart. How unfortunate I am! I would have wished to be in Paris, to assist Desire and to console the incomparable mother that you are, dear lady. Few people know you as well as I do: few people understand you as I do, few people or anyone in the world are as full of sorrow at the trial the good God has sent you. I am convinced that God wishes to make you a true saint. Human life is sanctified only at the foot of Calvary. The good God has bereaved you to bring you to eternal happiness. Remember, Madame, that after Calvary, Jesus Christ rose again. God is preparing great consolations! Have courage, Madame, our holy Religion, our beloved Faith, teaches us that there is the life militant and the life triumphant. Those in the life triumphant, through the faith, are in perfect communication with those in the life militant. You must see your loved ones who are in heaven as being present with you, they see you, listen to you and count your tears, your sighs and your joys. Have courage, my dear Madame!
[2832]
I would like to be in Paris to weep with you, to console you, to show you my affection; I feel your afflictions, but you must unite these afflictions with those of Jesus Christ whom you love ardently. He wants to make you a saint. I shall pray so much to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that he will have to console you. You are a mother without compare, so Jesus and Mary are with you. God will hear.
[2833]
And for my beloved Auguste whose heart is so fine, my God, what an affliction! My dear Auguste who had so much affection for his loved ones, and Marie! Marie, who loves her husband so much, her dear Désiré. I cannot write without trembling. Tell Auguste and Marie from me, to throw themselves down at the feet of Jesus Christ, to hide themselves away in the Heart of Jesus Christ, and there, in that unquenchable source of consolation they will find their comfort. In the meantime it is in prayer that the necessary consolation must be found. For my part, my pious secretary and I will celebrate Mass throughout this Lent for Désiré. This morning I celebrated it in the Chiesa della Morte where there is a plenary indulgence every day for the deceased. So I shall pray to the Sacred Heart of Jesus until God sends you consolation. Please write me a few lines, Madame: I seem to breathe when I see your writing. Have courage, Madame, God will console you without a doubt and will award you the prize of your heroic virtues even here on earth.
Please accept the expression of my eternal affection in which I remain forever
your most devoted and affectionate servant Fr Daniel Comboni


Translated from French.

[2834]
Having been invited to draft a Report on the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa by Your Most Reverend Eminence, I shall briefly outline its history from its foundation to today and humbly submit a plan of action which to me would seem appropriate for the missionaries of the Institute for the Missions in Central Africa, recently erected in Verona, so as to take up its arduous and important functions once more, were the Sacred Congregation to entrust it with the task of soundly planting the faith in these remote lands.
[2835]
It is most certainly a fact that in the countries of Central Africa, inhabited by more than one hundred million black people who constitute one tenth of the entire human race (as I stated in the Postulatum to the Holy Vatican Council pro Nigris Africae Centralis), Christianity has never been established, or at least it may be said that at present not a single trace of it remains. Of the efforts made by the Holy See in different epochs, whether in the southern part of Mozambique in 1637, or to the west in Senegambia with the help of the Spanish Capuchins in 1645, 1658, 1660, or to the north in Tripoli and Salè with the Reformed Friars Minor, who in 1706 reached the vast kingdom of Bornu, or finally to the east, where a few missionaries crossed the southern part of Upper Nubia, none of these produced any results within the regions of the African interior. The most serious and important efforts made by the Sacred Congregation as regards these infidel populations bent under the yoke of Islam and Paganism took place under the glorious pontificates of the late Gregory XVI and the immortal Pius IX.
In 1844 an extract of a work entitled Journeys to Kordofan was presented to the Sacred Congregation. It stressed the expediency and necessity of sending missionaries into the African interior, where the inhabitants seemed well disposed to the proclamation of the Gospel.

[2836]
At the same time, Canon Casolani of Malta, returning from a trip to the northern coasts of Africa, where he had spoken to some Maltese who had contacts with areas beyond Barbary, and after travelling in the east, where he had encountered Fr Massimiliano Ryllo, the Polish Superior of the Jesuits in Syria, with whom he had discussed the importance of a Catholic mission to the African interior, explained to the Most Eminent Cardinal Prefect Fransoni the most important reasons and the great advantages there would be for the Church if it planted Christianity in Central Africa.
[2837]
Subsequently, after mature reflection on the matter, the Cardinal Prefect ordered that research be undertaken to acquire precise and definitive knowledge on the state of the regions of the African interior, their languages, the temperament and customs of the populations, their relations with foreigners and the basis on which a mission could be established there.
[2838]
To this effect, having questioned Fr Venanzio da S. Venanzio, Prefect Apostolic of Tripoli, whose territory to the south bordered precisely with the mission to be founded, the Most Eminent Cardinal received the reply that it was appropriate to attempt an expedition from Barbary via Ghadamis across the Great Desert where since 1706 a Prefect Apostolic of the Reformed Friars Minor had been established in the kingdom of Bornu, as could be seen in the Archives of the Prefecture.
[2839]
At the same time the Most Eminent Cardinal, having asked Canon Casolani, whom he knew was equipped with similar knowledge, to gather all the information that could be useful for the intended purpose, received an interesting report dated 5th June 1845. This clearly described the immensity and fertility of the countries beyond the Great Desert, giving the natural geographic boundaries, the main mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the agricultural production, the forms of government, the types of industry, the forms of trade, the superstitions and the main idolatrous and Islamic religions. To this general idea of the African interior, Canon Casolani added information on the local geography and confirmed the opinion of the Prefect Apostolic of Tripoli, that the only route to penetrate these lands which remain almost unknown was that of Barbary and Ghadamis, a town located 100 leagues south-west of Tripoli. He concluded that it would be appropriate for the Great Desert and the whole of Central Africa to be included within the boundaries of this Prefecture and that at the head of such a Mission there should be an able Vicar Apostolic, with the rank of Bishop who, with a good knowledge of Arabic, could take with him a certain number of excellent workers, both churchmen and laymen, and go to Ghadamis without outward religious show, to start winning over the local inhabitants’ spirit especially through the practice of medicine and the skills that are most useful in those lands, and with Christian charity.
[2840]
The Most Eminent Cardinal, once he had assured the active participation of Canon Casolani, who placed himself at the disposal of the Holy See, and after a number of dealings with the Most Reverend General of the Jesuits, from whom he obtained the above-mentioned Fr Ryllo for the establishment of the Mission and also associating with them Dr Ignazio Knoblecher, a former student of the College of Propaganda, in January 1846, presented to the Most Eminent and Reverend Cardinals of the Sacred Congregation a Project Proposal for the establishment of a new Mission in the countries of Central Africa, in which it was decided:
1. To send the Reverend Fathers Casolani, Ryllo and Knoblecher to the African interior, notably to Ghadamis, to explore on the spot the lands and disposition of these peoples so as to eventually establish a regular mission there.
2. To place at the head of this expedition Canon Casolani, conferring upon him the title of Vicar Apostolic at episcopal level.
3. To extend the boundaries of the mission to cover not only Central Africa, but also the Great Desert.

[2841]
On the basis of these deliberations, His Holiness Gregory XVI, with a Brief of the following 3rd April, erected the said Mission as a Vicariate Apostolic with the following boundaries, to which it corresponds at present:
To t h e north the Prefecture of Tripoli, the Vicariate of Tunis and the Diocese of Algiers.
To the west the Vicariates of Senegambia and Guinea.
To t h e east the Vicariates of Egypt, Abyssinia and the Gallas.
To the south the Mountains of the Moon (which if they really exist, are a few degrees beyond the Equator).

[2842]
The Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa, even without the great expanse covered by the recent Prefecture of the Sahara, entrusted in 1868 to the Archbishop of Algiers, is the most vast and populated Vicariate in the world.
[2843]
While Mgr Casolani, who had been consecrated Bishop, was attending to family affairs in Malta, Fr Ryllo, having been informed in detail of the successful outcome of the expeditions commissioned by Mohammed Ali, the Viceroy of Egypt, along the valley of the Nile to the Sudan, especially the ones in 1838 and 1842 led by Mr Arnaux who had followed the White Nile as far as the 5th degree Latitude North, persuaded Cardinal Fransoni with many sound arguments that it would be better to penetrate the new mission territory from the east along the Nile and to choose as a point of support the city of Khartoum which, due to its geographic location and political importance would be appropriate and safe for the establishment of the first Catholic Station, since it was the capital of the new Egyptian conquests in the Sudan and the natural centre of communications between Egypt and the regions of the African interior.
[2844]
It was therefore decided to abandon Mgr Casolani’s project, which had been to travel the route from Tripoli to Ghadamis. Not wishing to conform to this determination, Bishop Casolani declined the responsibility of leading the decreed expedition, which is why the Sacred Congregation appointed Fr Ryllo as its leader, with the title of Pro-Vicar Apostolic.
[2845]
With the participation in the new expedition of Dr Ignazio Knoblecher, from Liubliana, Fr E. Pedemonte, of the Society of Jesus from Genoa and Fr Angelo Vinco from the Mazza Institute in Verona and accompanied by Mgr Casolani who followed him as a simple missionary, Fr Ryllo set off for Egypt in spring 1847. Having obtained a Firman from the Viceroy for protection from the chiefs in the Sudan, passing through File and Dongola, on 11th February 1848, he reached Khartoum, a city of straw and mud brick huts with 15,000 inhabitants, mostly consisting of slaves snatched by force from the tribes of the interior, and located in Upper Nubia near the point of confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, between the 15th and the 16th degrees of Latitude North, and the 30th and 31st degrees of Longitude East, according to the Paris meridian. Khartoum is two months away from Cairo.
[2846]
Just after buying a piece of land with some rough huts which served as housing for the missionaries, Fr Ryllo became ill with acute dysentery; and on 17th June he went to his eternal repose, leaving the leadership of the mission to Dr Knoblecher.
[2847]
Soon afterwards they received the terrible news of the revolutions that were tearing Europe apart. Propaganda informed the missionaries that in its inability to provide for the needs of the Vicariate, it left them free to return to Europe to be sent on other missions. Mgr Casolani, racked with fevers, returned to Malta for good. The new Superior Knoblecher was not deterred by this. He had the land bought by his predecessors cultivated and built a small house and a chapel on it. He bought a few African slaves to educate them in the faith. He requested and obtained from the General of the Jesuits: Fr Zara from Verona and two lay brothers and, after exploring different tribes of the White Nile, down to the 3rd parallel, leaving the aforementioned Jesuit fathers to head the mission, he returned to Europe, went to his homeland and being granted the greatest favours at the court of His Apostolic Majesty and by the Bishops of Austria, was able to found the Society of Mary in Vienna which, under the Emperor’s protection and enriched with several Indulgences from the reigning Supreme Pontiff by Brief of 5th December 1852, undertook to provide the necessary means to maintain the mission. Indeed, this Society, known as Marienverein, powerfully assisted by the illustrious Professor Mitterrutzner of Bressanone, for a number of years provided abundant resources to the Vicariate.
[2848]
Dr Knoblecher, coming to Rome and reporting to the Sacred Congregation on his activities, was appointed Vicar Apostolic during the Audience of 10th August 1851. Taking with him five Slav priests as well as several laymen, he sailed for Alexandria from Trieste on 2nd September. After buying a comfortable boat in Cairo, to which he gave the name Stella Mattutina, he safely reached Khartoum at the end of December. Leaving the priests Kociiancic and Milharcic to head the Station, he led the others into the Bari tribe and founded the Station of Gondokoro, located between the 4th and 5th degrees Latitude North and the 29th and 30th degree Longitude East of Paris.
[2849]
It is pointless here to describe the geography of this eastern part of the Vicariate Apostolic where the activities of the new missionaries and of those who followed them were mainly concentrated until 1861. I shall not mention for the moment the very gentle temperament and character of these unfortunate peoples who groan under the weight of the most inhuman slavery, victims of the barbarous trade practised by the Muslims and the Jallaba, who simulate friendship and then violate the sanctuary of peaceful African families and violently snatch boys and girls from their mothers’ arms, sometimes mercilessly slaughtering the parents themselves who offer opposition, to sell them as slaves on the markets of Kordofan and Nubia and fill the harems of the Turks. It is equally useless to point out that to remove this shameful plague, neither the treaties repeatedly made by the European powers, nor the feigned rigours of the consular and Muslim authorities will have any effect; only an active Catholic apostolate and the proclamation of the Gospel will, in time, triumph over this barbarity and radically destroy the horrible African slave trade. It is finally useless to mention the extraordinary fertility of the land, the places visited by the mission, the multifaceted superstitions, the traditions of the Old Testament, the customs of the people who inhabit the White Nile, the idolatry and the fetishism which prevails there, the devastation caused by Muslim propaganda among these tribes and the happiness with which Africans embrace Christianity, especially when they are young; it is useless, I say, to mention all that has been done by the 32 missionaries who have reached Africa in seven different expeditions, who strove under the active and wise leadership of Knoblecher, and most of whom died as victims of charity for the salvation of these souls. A very brief report of mine on the history of the Vicariate, from its foundation to our day, was published in the Annals of Propaganda Fide in March 1871.
[2850]
I shall therefore limit myself to giving a summary of the advances made under Knoblecher’s governance, which lasted until 1858.
1. The Khartoum Station was founded. The very large house and the small church with the ample garden which produces good resources and is enclosed by a wall, all built by the mission, cost more than sixty thousand Roman scudi.
2. The Gondokoro Station was founded, which is normally a two month’s journey from Khartoum. A house with a chapel and a garden were built there, costing the mission about thirty thousand scudi.
3. The Holy Cross Station was founded in the Kish tribe, between the 6th and 7th degrees Latitude North and the 28th and 29th degree Longitude East
from Paris, which is about forty days from Khartoum and twenty days from Gondokoro. It was made up of about twenty huts and a reed church built entirely with our own hands, and cost a few hundred scudi.

[2851]
4. A knowledge was gained of all the tribes spreading to the left and right of the White Nile, among which the following may be distinguished: the Shilluk, the Dinka, the Janghé, the Nuer, the Kish, the Tuic, the Gogh, the Eilab and the Bari. A study was made of the superstitions, the temperament, the social condition of these Africans, so as to know well the easiest method and the surest way to win them for the faith. In addition, medicine and charity were practised so as to enable them to distinguish the spirit of the missionary who wanted their welfare from that of the white adventurer who mistreated them and stole their children and goods.
[2852]
5. Some of the languages of these lands were learned, two of which are the main ones: Dinka, which is spoken by 22 tribes and several million natives; and Bari, which is spoken by Africans living between the 5th parallel and the Equator. In these two languages, the illustrious Professor Mitterrutzner of Bressanone, with the help of our manuscripts, compiled and published dictionaries, catechisms, several dialogues and the translations of the Psalms and St Luke’s Gospel. The publications in these two languages, of which scientists in Europe ignored even the name, will be immensely useful to future missionaries in Central Africa.
[2853]
6. Finally, about one hundred idolaters became Catholics. And here it should be noted that it was thought proper to grant baptism only to those, save a few exceptions, who consecrated themselves entirely to the service of the mission, and who could therefore be maintained by it and if necessary be taken to Khartoum or Egypt to safeguard their faith in all events. Many thousands of Africans, indeed whole tribes, would have embraced our holy religion: but due to the frequent death of missionaries which meant that the mission was not fully stable and could not be sure of maintaining a constant priestly ministry or regularly teach the converts, it was deemed better to await the time when it would be possible to consolidate and perpetuate the mission. Knoblecher told me this several times.
[2854]
During this period, Europe saw the appearance of two new Institutions which were preparing to consecrate their efforts to the formation of candidates for Africa.
The first was the Institute for the distinctly talented founded in Verona by the most zealous Fr Nicola Mazza who, through the late Mgr Besi, presented a humble petition in 1853 to the Eminent Cardinal Prefect asking for a small portion of Central Africa to be evangelised by his priests. His Eminence referred the petitioner to the Pro-Vicar Apostolic for the matter to be dealt with. Once everything was agreed, the Mazza Institute sent seven missionaries, of whom I was one, to Central Africa on the two expeditions of 1853 and 1857. Five of these died, one went back home for good, and the last, the poorest of the lot, is still being a servus inutilis in the field of the mission.

[2855]
The other Institution is that of Fr Lodovico da Casoria, a Franciscan, who in 1854 established two colleges in Naples. One was for boys, consisting of more than 80 young Africans; and the other for girls, with more than 120 African girls. The pious founder had these African boys and girls educated to prepare them as candidates for the missions, most of them having been ransomed from slavery by the great zeal of the late Fr Olivieri of Genova.
[2856]
Just as there was a glimmer of hope that the Vicariate of Central Africa could be strengthened by these important means and measures, Dr Knoblecher, returning to Rome to see to matters concerning the Mission, died in Naples on 13th April 1858. Three days later in Khartoum, his Vicar General, Fr Giuseppe Gostner from the diocese of Trent, also succumbed. Those in charge of the Stations of Holy Cross and Gondokoro and a few other missionaries also died.
[2857]
The Reverend Fr Matteo Kirchner, returning from the White Nile in August of the same year, received orders from the Sacred Congregation to take up the reins of the Vicariate. Since the number of missionaries was decreasing without any hope of others in the future, he came to Rome and asked the Most Reverend Fr General of the Franciscans for some candidates, the latter having begun to deal with the Vicariate on account of the Institutes for Africans in Naples and the Missions in Upper Egypt. After being granted three, one of whom was Fr Giovanni Reinthaller-Ducla from Graz, he returned to Africa.
[2858]
His first concern, after consulting the missionaries, was to remove his colleagues in the apostolate from the inexorable menace of death which threatened shortly to exterminate the mission. It was decided that a single central residence should be established at a point in the territory that was less exposed to the deadly influence of the climate. From there the missionaries would be able to go once a year to visit the Stations of Khartoum and the White Nile, which in the meantime were entrusted to some influential and good Catholic of the place. The site chosen for this purpose was Shellal, a village located at the beginning of the cataracts of Aswan opposite the island of File, 1,000 kilometres from Khartoum, on the border between Egypt and Nubia, about 40 miles on this side of the Tropic of Cancer, between the 30th and 31st degrees East of Paris. Propaganda covered the expenses of this foundation, after the land on which the establishment was to be built had been obtained from Said Pasha, the Viceroy of Egypt.
[2859]
In the meantime, other missionaries having died, the Pro-Vicar Apostolic Kirchner, overwhelmed by so many losses and moved by the absolute necessity to ensure the indispensable number of workers for the mission, decided to entrust the care of this arduous Vicariate to a religious Order.
[2860]
Coming to Rome for this purpose, he again turned, with Propaganda’s approval, to the General of the Franciscans who, with the approval of his Council, formally declared himself prepared to assume entire responsibility for the Mission, if it was declared Seraphic. This project, to which His Excellency the Court Councillor Frederick de Hurter, historiographer of the Austrian Empire and President of the Committee of Marienverein in Vienna fully adhered in favour of the Franciscans, was supported by the following motives:
1. The benefits offered by a large Religious Body capable of supplying individuals to suit the needs.
2. The fact that the Seraphic Order already possessed the Institutes in Naples created by Fr Lodovico da Casoria, completely dedicated to those distant and difficult regions.
3. In recognition of those very few missionaries remaining almost abandoned to themselves, and foreseeing that they might soon join those who preceded them, victims of the climate and their apostolic labours, and without any hope of finding reinforcements that were ever weaker and harder to find when recruitment had to be made here and there in different dioceses.

[2861]
So it was that the present Most Eminent Cardinal Prefect, at the audience of 5th September 1861, presented to the Holy Father his subordinate opinion that he should approve the said project, leaving the Vicariate as it was, and simply entrusting it entirely to the Order of Friars Minor in accordance with the rules in force in other similar Vicariates, and continuing to govern it by means of a Religious Pro-Vicar Apostolic who was not a Bishop, until the results could decide the Sacred Congregation to send it a Vicar Apostolic of episcopal rank. The Pontifical Rescript was favourable, as can be seen in the records of the said audience (p. 1792 vol. 139) which uses the following terms: “Ss.mus etc. benigne annuit, et propositam cessionem probavit et confirmavit, iuxta votum Card. Praefecti relatoris”. The Pontifical disposition was communicated to the General of the Franciscans by the letter of 12th September 1861 (Vol. 352 p. 505).
[2862]
Once the mission had been entrusted completely to the Seraphic Order, the surviving priests of the Mazza Institute in Verona had to withdraw. Although Fr Mazza later presented the Cardinal Prefect with a new project for the founding of a mission in some African tribe, this could not be carried out for lack of means.
[2863]
Once the Order of Friars Minor had taken over the Vicariate Apostolic, the Sacred Congregation appointed as Pro-Vicar Apostolic the above-mentioned Fr Giovanni de Ducla Reinthaller who, having received quite a few blank appointment documents from his Most Reverend General, presented himself in quite a few friaries in Venetia, the Tyrol and Austria and soon recruited 34 religious, priests and brothers. The Fr General had sent a circular in advance to the religious of the aforementioned Franciscan Provinces. In November this large caravan of sons of St Francis reached Egypt. By mid January 1862, Fr Reinthaller took possession of Shellal. He then departed to settle the new missionaries in the old Stations. Some men died during the journey, and he himself was taken ill in the Shilluk tribe. After being brought back to Khartoum and then to Berber, he died. Other missionaries later succumbed. The arrival of another caravan of 23 more Franciscans was insufficient to make up for these losses; they had to abandon the two Stations on the White Nile and retire to Khartoum and Shellal. Even the latter had later to be abandoned too. Only Khartoum remained, occupied by a single Franciscan priest, Fr Fabiano Pfeifer from Eggenthal in the Tyrol, and two laymen. This Father remained isolated in Khartoum for all of five years without a fellow priest to hear his confession.
[2864]
Fr Reinthaller had no successor in his arduous duties. After his death the Sacred Congregation entrusted the governance of the Mission indefinitely to the Vicar Apostolic of Egypt.
The Seraphic Order sent nearly 60 men to Central Africa, including priests and brothers. Twenty-two died and the others returned either to Egypt, the Holy Land or Europe.

[2865]
In 1865 the Sacred Congregation had agreed to allow Fr Lodovico da Casoria with some of his friars and African tertiaries to occupy the Station of Shellal, where I was asked to accompany him; but after seven months he had to abandon the mission through lack of means. Four-fifths of the African boys and girls in Naples either died or abandoned the Institute. The remainder of the boys either became religious or remained as students. Of the girls, some became nuns. In a word, Central Africa has so far not received the slightest benefit from such a holy institution.
[2866]
Of all the Stations in the Vicariate, the only one that remains is Khartoum, which is governed by Fr Dismas Stadelmeyer of Innsbruck, who is assisted by Fr Ilario Schletter, a Tyrolean, and two lay brothers. These two Fathers minister to the few Catholics who are in Khartoum.
[2867]
This is a very brief historical outline of the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa. In the face of this long series of trials and in view of so many victims of Christian charity, a question comes naturally to mind: How could it possibly be that such a fine corps of zealous missionaries, guided by the most able leader, Dr Knoblecher, did not succeed in planting the faith solidly in a single part of this important mission? Why is it that the Seraphic Order with such imposing forces proved unable to pursue the already established enterprise with so many resources at its disposal?
[2868]
The African Apostolate is in itself extremely arduous and laborious. Nevertheless, it seems to me that the lack of success of the first stage of the Mission under Knoblecher was due to the following causes:
1. Europe lacked the base of a special Seminary dedicated exclusively to the formation of candidates for such a difficult mission. Gospel workers must be educated and formed before they can be exposed to apostolic duties; they must be trained in self-denial and sacrifice, they must have their way, as it were, mapped out towards that great end for which they have to consume their whole life. To achieve this, time and perseverance are required. Instead, Knoblecher’s missionaries, although they were of excellent spirit and virtue, were recruited here and there from different dioceses and sent immediately to the mission before being prepared adequately for the great enterprise and being enabled, through a serious apostolic education, to face the dangers and difficulties.

[2869]
2. In Egypt, where Europeans can live and work although its very hot climate can be defined as half way between Italy and equatorial Africa, there
was no Institute where the missionaries could adapt themselves gradually to the heat, the customs, the food and the way of life in Africa. Knoblecher’s missionaries left Germany, that is, from a very cold climate, and without any intermediate stage, set off all at once into the most burning regions of the world, thus exposing themselves to almost certain death. Why is it that many European traders have lived and are still living for many years in Central Africa, whereas Knoblecher’s missionaries died? It is because these traders, all of whom I have met, did not go to these regions without having spent several years on the coasts of Africa or in some city in Egypt. I think our missionaries would still be alive if they had done the same.

[2870]
3. The way of life adopted by the German missionaries was not suited to this climate. On the mission, they retained the methods practised in Germany, especially as regards meat and drinks. Naturally they could not get used all of a sudden to the most appropriately parsimonious and moderate system of the Africans, because they moved too rapidly from their homeland to Africa. It is necessary to exercise great moderation as regards food and drink to live in Africa.
A wise and well-regulated system of nutrition is an essential condition for survival in those distant lands; and it is impossible to adjust to it without the training of a special apostolic education, without having practised at length self-denial and sacrifice in well-adapted preparatory Institutes for such difficult missions.

[2871]
4. This mission lacked indigenous clergy and even young local catechists capable of helping the missionaries in their ministry.
[2872]
5. Finally the Mission lacked the help of the female element, a house of women religious to form women teachers and indigenous female Missionaries, who are indispensable in a distant and dangerous mission.
[2873]
The illustrious Dr Knoblecher would certainly have seen to all this at a later stage. All the good that has been done to Central Africa is due to him, in whom the sublime gifts of a strong character and unshakeable steadfastness were combined with great perspicacity, great activity, intelligence and generosity.
[2874]
As regards the most unfortunate outcome of the mission in its second phase under the governance of the Franciscans, apart from the fact that some of the above-mentioned causes apply, it seems to me that the following should be added. For this most difficult enterprise, as the Lord saw fit, those chosen from among the Friars Minor were the least suited to accomplishing the holy purpose. Instead of placing at the head of the Vicariate a German religious, more suited to preaching than to the difficult art of leadership, not experienced in the foreign missions and not used to the African climate, instead of sending on such a risky assignment a band of little friars recruited at short notice from various friaries in three large Provinces with different languages and characters, sometimes without consulting the local Superiors or followed their advice, they should have chosen an able leader from the Order, who had already spent many years exercising his ministry in the Holy Land or in Upper Egypt (and there certainly were some) and thus was already acclimatised to the countries of the East. Such a man, availing himself of the aid from the Franciscans, with a well thought-out and prudent plan of action, would have been able gradually to establish solid bases for the achievement of the holy enterprise.
[2875]
If the praiseworthy and generous efforts of the Institutes for African boys and girls founded in Naples by Fr Lodovico da Casoria were unsuccessful, it is because in Europe, even in its southern countries, Africans generally cannot live and be educated to qualify for the ministry in their own land. They reach Europe racked by the horrors of slavery, by the mistreatment of the Muslims and by the exhaustion of long and arduous journeys. The air of Europe is too strange for them; and I dare add with conviction that even Egypt can only just lend itself to the education of Africans. I have noted from experience that for many young Africans the climate of Egypt itself is too different and is therefore harmful to them. Great care must be taken to make it bearable to the natives of the African interior who have been enslaved by the inhuman barbarity of the Jallabas.
[2876]
Now since it appears that, through lack of sufficient personnel, the illustrious Order of Friars Minor has the intention of withdrawing altogether from the Vicariate, to this brief historical Report, I shall be adding in a few days’ time a short Report on the Institutes of Verona and Egypt which were started under the auspices of Bishop Canossa of Verona and Mgr Ciurcia, Vicar Apostolic of Egypt, for the direct purpose of assisting the missions in Central Africa. In conclusion I shall explain in two words the plan of action which, in my opinion, should be followed for this most important Vicariate to be revived and to prosper. I will submit all this humbly to the wisdom and venerable deliberations of the Sacred Congregation, prepared as ever, together with my companions and dependants,
for every sacrifice unto death in the arduous and laborious apostolate of Central Africa, in order to procure – down to the last man – in the way most pleasing to the Holy See, the salvation of these souls, who are the most unhappy, the most needy and the most abandoned in the world.
I have the honour of remaining, with all respect
Your Most Reverend Eminence’s
most humble, unworthy and obedient son

Fr Daniel Comboni

Superior of the Institutes for Africans in Egypt
Missionary of Central Africa

[2877]
As I thank you with all my heart for your letter, maps, life of Knoblecher, etc., I ask of you another urgent favour.
In the latest document I am presenting to Propaganda I must explain what plan I intend to follow in occupying the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa, which Stations to occupy, whether it is necessary to found new ones, which should be the ordinary residence of the Pro-Vicar Apostolic, etc. Generally, I have to explain to the Sacred Congregation the plan I intend to carry out with the forces existing hic et nunc. These are:
9 missionary priests
1 cleric theologian from Jerusalem
7 nuns
20 African women teachers
7 lay brothers and 1 African

[2878]
Should we occupy Khartoum? Gondokoro? Shellal? Kordofan?
In addition we have the Institutes:
The Institute for the Missions of Africa in Verona
The Institute of the Pious Mothers of Africa in Verona
Three Houses in Old Cairo.

[2879]
Now with these bases and with these forces, what would you do if you were in my position? I await your venerable advice on this.
Yesterday the printing began of the secret Position on Central Africa, that is: the Rules of the Institute in Verona, the famous letter to the Pope from the Cologne Association, the letter from Marienverein in Vienna, the letter from the General of the Franciscans declaring their withdrawal from Central Africa, the Decree of Canonical establishment of the Institute in Verona for Egypt by the Bishop of Verona and by the Vicar Apostolic in Egypt. There is also the letter from the Bishop of Verona to the Pope, in which he requests a mission in Africa for us. In addition there is the Report I finished yesterday on the complete history of the Vicariate from 1844 to today. All this is currently being printed and I have been charged with correcting the secret proofs of this Submission. This is the second Submission on Central Africa: the first one was in January 1846. In the meantime I am writing the plan I have told you about and I beg you to come to my help. This Report on African history features the name of the well-deserving Dr G. Mitterrutzner. Our Ponenza to the Congregation of Cardinals will take place shortly after Easter, and I must choose the Cardinal who will present it, and I have the right, etc.

[2880]
I thank you for the money collected for me, etc. I shall write to Mgr Gasser in Salzburg. In the meantime I would ask you to send me this money either in Austrian gulden or in Italian lire, etc. here in Rome, because I need it here. Please direct the money to Piazza del Gesù 3rd floor. n. 47 3rd floor, Rome. This evening at 6 I am seeing the Pope; so I shall request a great blessing for you. A thousand respects to His Most Reverend Highness from

Tuis.mus Dan. Comboni


[2881]
I would like to know how much the Society of Mary can dispose of for the benefit of the Vicariate each year? That is what the Sacred Congregation will probably ask. I will then write to all the Austrian Archdukes, Princes and Nobility I know asking them to send money to Marienverein. Instead I shall write to the princes and nobility of the rest of Germany to help the Cologne Association. I also receive from Lyons and Paris, so the means are coming in the haec omnia adiicientur vobis, and we can dedicate ourselves entirely to the quaerite prium regnum Dei et iustitiam eius. Propaganda is very excited about Central Africa. The Postulatum was the first coup de grace, Marienverein, Cologne and the Institute in Verona was the second. Our poor Fr Beltrame, I am sorry to say, is joining the camorra of the italianissimi in Verona, and having read Cardinal Barnabò’s letter on behalf of the Pope, in which His Excellency congratulated me for refusing the decoration of the “italian Crown”, in which His Eminence said that a Catholic priest could not in conscience –

N.B. The letter is incomplete.

[2882]
Since the Seraphic Order seems prepared to withdraw from the Vicariate of Central Africa, as can be seen from the Document of 5th January last by the Most Reverend Father General of the Friars Minor, featuring in the Summary, n. III p. 10, in accordance with Your Eminence’s wish, I here present briefly my Plan of apostolic action, which in my humble opinion, should be followed by the new Institute for the Missions in Africa in reassuming responsibility for this arduous Vicariate, should it please the Holy See.
[2883]
For this purpose I must first of all make a very brief observation:
1. On the special condition of the Institute and the forces available to it hic et nunc.
2. On the present condition of the Vicariate of Central Africa. As a corollary to all this, I will describe the Plan in question.

[2884]
As regards the first point, two formation Institutes exist in Verona for both sexes, created on the basis of the Plan for the Regeneration of Africa exclusively to serve, in accordance with the venerable dispositions of the Holy See, the Apostolate of Central Africa. They are the following:
1. The Institute of Missionaries for Africa.
2. The Institute of the Pious Mothers of Africa.
These Institutes which operate under the governance and the supervision of the Bishop of Verona and a select Central Council made up of the most respected and distinguished personalities in the diocese, have as their objective to form, by means of a sound and solid education, truly apostolic men and virtuous women missionaries so that, after a novitiate lasting over two years in Verona and three more years in the Houses in Egypt, they may dedicate themselves entirely to the missions in Central Africa.

[2885]
The essential norm these Institutes have set themselves, apart from the prescribed norms for the formation of the spirit and the development of the good conduct of the male and female students, is to select good candidates and to train them in the spirit of sacrifice. For on this depends not only the success, the prosperity and the permanence of the Institutes, but also their greatest interest, combined with that of the men and women missionaries, as well as that of the souls and the missions that will be entrusted to them in Central Africa.
[2886]
The Missionary Institute deeply inculcates and tries to imprint and plant firmly in the spirit of the candidates the true and precise nature of the missionary for Africa, who must be a constant victim of sacrifice destined to working, toiling and dying without perhaps ever seeing the fruit of his labours.
[2887]
The Superior of the Institute and the Novice Master, therefore, make the students feel right from the start that the life of any man who in an absolute and final way breaks off relations with the world, must be a life of the spirit and of faith. The missionary who lacks a strong awareness of God and a lively interest in his glory and the good of souls is without the right attitude for his ministry, and will end by finding himself in a kind of emptiness and intolerable isolation. His work will not always be graced by that devout attention, that atmosphere of approval and almost of applause, which is often accorded to the priest who works in the midst of intelligent souls and sensitive hearts.
[2888]
Such human comfort may indeed strengthen a zeal that is little founded on God and on love. But the missionary to Africa cannot and must not hope always to find such comfort for himself. He works among savages who are brutalised by the horrors of the most inhuman slavery [ … ] into which they have been thrust by misfortune and the boundless cruelty of their enemies and oppressors. These unhappy Africans have become accustomed to seeing their children snatched violently from their bosom to be condemned to a deplorable servitude, with no hope of ever seeing them again; often they see their dearest relatives and even their own parents mercilessly slaughtered before their very eyes. And since the wicked perpetrators of such horrible crimes are not generally of their own race but are foreigners, so these unfortunate savages, accustomed to being betrayed by everyone and mistreated in the cruellest of ways, sometimes regard the missionary with distrust and horror because he is a foreigner [… ]. Consequently he must, rather than expecting to receive an encouraging response of affection, resign himself to hostile resistance, saddening inconstancy and dark betrayal.
[2889]
This is why he must often see the hope of results receding into a remote and distant future. On occasion he will have to be happy to sow a seed with infinite labour and in the midst of a thousand privations and dangers, a seed that will produce some fruit only for his successors in the mission. He will have to think of himself as just one unnoticed worker in a long line of missionaries, all of whom can only hope for results, not from their own personal work, but from the gathering together and continuation of efforts mysteriously guided and used by Providence.
[2890]
The missionary to Africa will often have to reflect that he works in an undertaking certainly of the highest merit, but one that is, nonetheless, hard and difficult. He will have to understand that he is a stone hid under the earth, which will perhaps never come to light, but which will become part of the foundations of a vast, new building that only those who come after him will see rising from the ground, over the ruins of fetishism, a building which will grow to gather within it the more than one hundred million unfortunate descendants of Ham, who have been languishing for more than forty centuries under the rule of Satan. Completely emptied of self and deprived of every human comfort, the missionary to Africa works only for his God, for the most abandoned souls in the world and for eternity.
[2891]
He is moved by the pure vision of his God, and so, in all these circumstances, he knows how to sustain and nourish his heart abundantly, whether he gathers the fruit of his apostolate either sooner or later, by his own hand or by that of another. Indeed, with his heart thus inflamed with the pure love of God and with his eyes lit by faith as he contemplates the supreme benefits, the greatness and the sublime nature of the eminently apostolic Work for which he has sacrificed his life, all his privations, his constant efforts and his hardest tasks become to his spirit like a paradise on earth, and death itself and the most painful martyrdom are the dearest and most prized reward of his sacrifice. Turning their minds perpetually to the great purpose of their apostolic vocation thus necessarily imbues the students of the Institute with a true spirit of sacrifice.
[2892]
They form this most essential disposition in themselves by keeping their eyes fixed firmly on Jesus Christ, loving him tenderly and constantly striving to understand more clearly the meaning of a God dying on the cross for the salvation of souls; often renewing the offering of their whole selves to God, the offering of their health and even of their lives, in certain circumstances of special fervour, all together making a formal and explicit dedication of themselves to God, declaring themselves ready, with humility and trust in his grace, even for martyrdom.
Educated according to these norms, our students cannot but become good instruments in God’s hands and his legitimate representatives in this difficult enterprise.

[2893]
What I say about the male Institute is practised in the same way in the Institute of the Pious Mothers of Africa, whose novices are taught in the same spirit.
[2894]
I am also pleased to point out to Your Eminence that there are at present many applications from good candidates wishing to join the Men’s Institute in Verona; and I hope in the Lord that it will provide many true Apostles for the good of unfortunate Africa.
[2895]
The Institute for the Missions of Africa in Verona has a daughter house in Cairo dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and founded on the feast of the Immaculate Conception 1867, whose purpose is described in the Summary, n. I V, Fifth Article, p. 19.
[2896]
In this Egyptian Institute, which constitutes the second novitiate and a preparatory schooling in practical sciences for missionaries to Central Africa, apart from the other disciplines, a special study is made of African controversies, which takes place twice a week covering the following points:
a. Matters of primary importance and topical relevance to the ministry of missionaries.
b. Errors and superstitions of Central Africa.
c. Errors of Islam in general and the characteristics of the Muslims of Egypt, Nubia and the Arab nomads of Africa.
d. Errors of heretics and schismatics of all species and rites in general, and the particular features of heretics and schismatics in Egypt, which include Copts, Greeks, Armenians, Anglicans and Protestants.
e. Pernicious prejudices prevalent among Catholics of all rites in Egypt and of some Oriental monks and priests: prejudices which can be an obstacle to the progress of true Roman Catholicism.
f. Pernicious tendencies and vices prevalent among European Catholics in Egypt and practical methods to remedy them.
g. The devilish principles and the most serious harm produced in the East by Freemasonry.

[2897]
Through these careful and conscientious studies a practical system is gradually developed with which to achieve, by the grace of God, the salvation of souls.
Apart from this, the errors, superstitions and false beliefs of infidel, Muslim and heterodox women are carefully studied and a sort of Treatise is prepared which is suited to the abilities and intelligence of the Sisters and the African women teachers so that they may use it efficiently to convert and assist in the best way possible those of their own sex.
This Institute for Africans is made up of:
1. Missionary priests.
2. Clerics and catechists.
3. Lay brothers.
4. Catechumenate for Africans.
5. African students.
6. A small infirmary for sick and abandoned Africans.

[2898]
The Missionary priests are the following:
1. Fr Daniel Comboni, Superior, aged 40
2. Fr Pasquale Fiore, Canon, Vice-Superior, aged 34
3. Fr Bartolomeo Rolleri, aged 30
4. Fr Giuseppe Ravignani, aged 37
5. Fr Stanislao Carcereri, Minister of the Sick, aged 29
6. Fr Giuseppe Franceschini, Minister of the Sick, aged 25
7. Fr Vincenzo Jermolinski, aged 32
8. Fr Giovanni Losi, aged 30
9. Fr Pietro Perinelli, aged 29
10. Fr Calis Gerosolimitano, Cleric in Theology, aged 21

[2899]
Ten minutes away from the Institute for Africans in Cairo, there is also the House for African girls, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Mary and also founded in 1867 for the purpose of forming good indigenous missionaries to assist in the Apostolate of Central Africa. It is under the direction of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition.
[2900]
In this Institute, apart from the other practices and branches of education described in my Report to Your Eminence of 15th April 1870, apart from the Old Cairo parish school which is run exclusively by African women teachers in different languages, there is an internal school where the African girls make a broad study of the catechism and are formed to become useful and true missionaries in their lands of Central Africa.
[2901]
This school is presided over from time to time by a missionary, who explains and develops the ideas and the test cases which have been discussed and elaborated for this purpose in the male Institute. In the different subjects, a sort of controversy takes place in which is taught the most efficient way of converting African women, of whatever superstition, as well as mentioning the most practical and plain reasons and comparisons to combat and destroy the errors and superstitions of pagan and Muslim women.
[2902]
Experience has shown us that the Institute for African girls in Cairo is an important element in the apostolate to the Africans living in Egypt. Seeing them so well educated and brought up, talking to them, hearing them sing in church, many women, even among the Muslims, develop the wish to become Catholic. After putting them repeatedly to the test, we have accepted them in the bosom of the Church and they persevere steadfastly. How much more useful will the work of these women be in their native lands of Central Africa!
This House includes:
1. The Sisters.
2. The African women teachers.
3. The school for Africans.
4. The catechumenate for Africans.
5. The infirmary for sick and abandoned African women.

[2903]
In this Institute, in addition to other individuals, there are 20 African women teachers of proven morality and ability, who are ready for the proper exercise of their ministry in Central Africa. As well as having a good knowledge of Italian, of French or German, each of them speaks Arabic and some of them speak the mother tongue of the African tribe in which they grew up. These twenty African teachers are very skilled in the art and methods of teaching and bringing their fellow African women to the faith, however set in their superstitions and fanatical about Islam they may be.
[2904]
These two Institutes for Africans in Egypt, apart from preparing indigenous candidates for the apostolate in Central Africa, lend themselves effectively to the Mission in Egypt, in accordance with the venerable Vicar Apostolic’s authorisation. They are particularly beneficial to the Africans living in Cairo, who live in wretched conditions, as was made clear in two Reports published in the January issue of this year, 1872, of the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith.
[2905]
In the founding of the Verona Institutes and maintaining the ones in Cairo, erected in 1867, I have spent the sum of 54,000 Roman scudi, all offered by the charity of the pious Catholic Associations for the Propagation of the Faith and my private benefactors.
[2906]
As of today, to resume responsibility for the Vicariate of Central Africa, the following personnel is available hic et nunc:
8 Missionary priests.
9 Lay assistants.
4 Sisters, one of whom is from Bethlehem.
20 African women teachers.

[2907]
Coming now to the present state of the Vicariate of Central Africa, it must be pointed out to Your Eminence that the apostolic action of previous missionaries, of which I am one, was deployed only over the eastern part of the Vicariate, that is, from the Tropic of Cancer in Lower Nubia to the Equator between the 25th and 35th degrees east of Paris. Of the four Stations founded, only three remain, that is, Shellal, which is more than a month’s journey from Khartoum, which is two months away from Gondokoro. The old Station of Holy Cross in the Kish territory, has been destroyed.
[2908]
The fact is that along this same line all the way to the sources of the Nile the conquering action of the Muslims has also been deployed; and Protestant propaganda will not be long in following the same route.
[2909]
His Highness Ismail Pasha, the Viceroy of Egypt, either to enlarge his possessions or to ensure a kingdom for himself to serve as a refuge in case of political trouble, or intrigues of the Gate, the effects of Russia’s machinations that might knock him from the throne of Egypt, has already to a large extent achieved his plan of conquering Central Africa as far as the sources of the Nile. For this purpose he made use of all kinds of individuals: Muslims, Protestants, Freemasons.
[2910]
As from 1866, he definitively took possession of the vast tribal territory of the Shilluk and made it into an Egyptian Province whose Mudir, or Governor, lives in Hellah-el-Kakah on the left bank of the Nile on the 10th parallel.
[2911]
At the end of 1869, he sent the English Protestant, Baker, into Central Africa with the title of Pasha of the Sudan, or Africa, with seven steamers, 2,600 soldiers of all sects and a large sum of money. Letting the diplomats believe that the purpose of this enterprise was to introduce European civilisation to these tribes and to abolish and destroy slavery there, he stationed various companies of soldiers at the principal points along the White Nile, such as the confluence of the Sobat and the Bahar-el-Ghazal, among the Dinka, the Nuer, the Kish, the Eliab and in Gondokoro, and he began to make a road from Gondokoro to Lake Albert, or Luta N’Zige, which is the first source of the Nile he himself discovered in 1864, two degrees of latitude from Gondokoro.
[2912]
As a result of this violent invasion, the majority of the Africans along the White Nile withdrew westwards into the interior to flee the oppression of the conquerors who, despite Mr Baker’s great severity, violently snatch African children from the bosom of their families, steal their daughters, mistreat the inhabitants and barbarously practice the slave trade, as I am assured by the most reliable sources in Egypt and Mr Baker’s private letters published recently in the German press.
[2913]
In addition to all this, it is the Viceroy of Egypt’s firm intention to extend the railway from Upper Egypt, through the Atmùr desert, to Khartoum, and to establish a steamer service on the White Nile and at the sources of the Nile, which are most enormous lakes where the climate is clement and healthy. So in a few years’ time there will be a railway from Alexandria to Khartoum, steamers from Khartoum to Gondokoro, a carriage-way from Gondokoro to Lake Albert and European trade all the way to the sources of the Nile. With the development of this material progress (from which the missions of Central Africa will be able to profit for communication) to these distant lands will perhaps come the breakdown of morals produced by the pestiferous influence of Muslim, Protestant and Masonic propaganda. The longer the Catholic apostolate delays establishing itself in these parts, the greater the obstacles and oppositions it will encounter.
[2914]
Faced with this scheme of events, in view of the persistent energy of the enemies of Religion in tackling the greatest dangers in these remote lands; with over seventy Europeans, including Germans, Dutch and English, participating in Baker’s expedition and who are now enduring the burning African climate for a passing glory and worldly interests, it seems to me that Catholic zeal and the beneficial action of the Church should not lag behind. Since we already possess a large house in Khartoum and an important Station in Gondokoro, which is the operational base for extending our activities as far as the sources of the Nile, where the climate is healthy, and since we already know the main languages, the customs and the character of the people who inhabit the banks of the White Nile, it would not be opportune to abandon the thought of evangelising these vast tribes which constitute the eastern part of the Vicariate.
[2915]
Although it makes sense to deploy our activities along this great line which from Shellal to Khartoum extends as far as the sources of the Nile, we should not lose sight of the centre of the Vicariate, and especially of the inland African tribes that live to the south and south-west of Kordofan and Darfur, such as the Teqaleh, Gebel Nuba, Fertit, Birket, Abodima, Ming, etc. who, while they are further from the ordinary means of communication of so-called modern civilisation, and less exposed to the pestiferous influences of the Muslims and European adventurers, are for that very reason simpler and more moral, and therefore easier to evangelise. The key to penetrate these tribes of the interior is Kordofan, whose capital El-Obeid is the headquarters of an Egyptian Governor, communicates with Cairo by a weekly postal service and is inhabited mostly by Africans from the above-mentioned tribes of the interior.
[2916]
Having carefully considered these circumstances, after seriously examining all that was done by the missionaries of Central Africa, with whom for several years I shared the toils of this rugged apostolate, after having meditated on all the vicissitudes, the studies, the explorations and the wise observations of the late Pro-Vicar Knoblecher, which Your Eminence certainly knows and part of which are recorded in the Annals of the Marian Society in Vienna, I must inform Your Most Reverend Eminence that I have read the books and the writings in different languages of all the most famous travellers who in the last century and in this one have visited one part or other of the central regions included in the Vicariate, penetrating them either from the north or the north-east, or even from the south. Many of these, some of whom I have known well personally, feature in the history of Central Africa, such as:

Poncet, who penetrated the territory in....................1698
Pater Krumps.......................................................1701
Browne................................................................1793–96
Hornemann..........................................................1798
Sheikh Mohammed Ibn-Omar-el-Tansi....................1803
Burckhardt...........................................................1816
Cailland...............................................................1817
Drovetti...............................................................1818
Edmond Stane......................................................1819
Lyon...................................................................1819–20
Minutoli...............................................................1820
Sultan Taima.......................................................1821
Major Denham.....................................................1822
Clapperton..........................................................1822
Oudney...............................................................1822
Mohammed Bey...................................................1823
Rüppel................................................................1824
Pacho.................................................................1826
Belzoni
Brocchi
Limant de Bellefond.............................................1827–32
Prudhoe..............................................................1829
Moseki...............................................................1832
Hotroyd..............................................................1837
Russeger............................................................1838
Thibaut..............................................................1838–60
Kotscky..............................................................1839
D’Arnaud............................................................1840–41
Werne...............................................................1840–41
Pallme...............................................................1840–41
Figari.................................................................1844
Hudson..............................................................1844
Brun Rollet.........................................................1844–59
Lepsius..............................................................1845
Dr Penay............................................................1846–60
Richardson.........................................................1846–51
John Petherik.....................................................1847–59
Brehm...............................................................1848
B(…)ore di Muller.................................................1848
F. Fresnet..........................................................1848
Dr Over..............................................................1849
Bayard Taylor......................................................1851
Lafargue.............................................................1851–70
Barth, the most respectable of all..........................1852–64
Em. Dandol.........................................................1853
De Schlieffen.......................................................1853
Latif Effendio De Bono...........................................1853–66
Vogel..................................................................1854
Malzac................................................................1854–61
Vayssière............................................................1854–63
The Poncet brothers..............................................1854–64
D’Escayrac de Lauture............................................1855
Rossi..................................................................1856
Th.de Heugling....................................................1856–60
Hansal................................................................1857
Hartemann..........................................................1860
Loian..................................................................1860
Karnier...............................................................1861
Speke................................................................1862–63
Grant.................................................................1862–63
Baker.................................................................1864–72

[2917]
For many years I have seriously examined and minutely pondered the content of what these intrepid travellers in Central Africa wrote, with particular attention to the routes they chose, the temperament of the tribes they visited, the traditions and the history, true or false, of these peoples. I have perhaps studied all that has been written and all, I would almost say, that is to be known in Europe regarding these vast and little known regions that spread within the confines of the Vicariate.
Now, having considered all things well and after mature reflection, I am profoundly convinced that the best and surest way to achieve the magnanimous objective of the Holy See with the forces presently available and that will be made available by the Institutes in Verona and Egypt, is the one I briefly describe as follows.


PLAN OF APOSTOLIC ACTION

[2918]
I will say first of all that I think it most appropriate for the Sacred Congregation not to make any changes for the time being to the confines of the Vicariate and to retain the ones defined by the Apostolic Decree of 3rd April 1846, with the exception of the Sahara Desert Delegation, entrusted to the Archbishop of Algiers in 1868. This would leave the new missionaries with a more varied and larger field of action in which to find reasonably healthy areas and establish themselves among the tribes and peoples who are most simple and ready to receive the Christian faith and civilisation.
[2919]
Given the present state of the countries and populations of Central Africa, it seems to me that we should not lose sight, but rather give greater attention to the eastern part of the Vicariate, while at the same time concentrating the focus of our activity on the central part of the same, and especially in the south and south-western regions of Kordofan and in Darfur.
[2920]
The operational base for the eastern part of the Vicariate is Khartoum. The operational base for the central part is El-Obeid, the capital of Kordofan. It is therefore my humble opinion that some missionaries should be sent to Khartoum, and that a new Station should be created at the same time in El-Obeid so that, little by little, after the most careful research, the core of the forces prepared in the Institutes for Africans in Egypt might be concentrated there. A large house and garden, with land on which to build a church is at my disposal in the capital of Kordofan as soon as Your Eminence will deign to grant your respected approval for the foundation of this Station.
[2921]
The reasons for retaining Khartoum are the following:
1. From Khartoum one can supervise the interests of the people of the White Nile and keep an eye on the results of the present expedition, captained by Baker, so as to pick the right time and opportunity to send missionaries into some of the tribes of the White Nile and rehabilitate the old residence in Gondokoro so as to be able to extend our activities to the sources of the Nile.
2. Khartoum is the furthest outpost with an Austrian Consul in residence, through whom the Mission’s interests in the vast Egyptian territories in Central Africa may be duly protected.
3. In Khartoum there are a number of Catholics to be cared for and many Africans to be won for Christ.
4. In Khartoum, apart from the house, there is the garden produce to be watched over and improved for the benefit of the Mission.

[2922]
The reasons for founding a new Station in El-Obeid are the following:
1. Nearly all the African students and the women teachers in our Houses in Egypt come from Kordofan and the neighbouring tribes which are at the heart of the Vicariate.
2. No non-Catholic sects or Masonic lodges have so far penetrated the Kordofan to spoil its populations.
3. Islamism is very weak among the Muslims of Kordofan and the Arab nomadic tribes that roam in the vicinity.
4. A large part of the inhabitants are pagan and opposed to Islamism.
5. El-Obeid is far from the Egyptian government’s centre of action which is concentrated on the eastern side of the Vicariate. It therefore remains distant from the unhealthy influence of the freemasons and the unbelieving and amoral Europeans, whom the Egyptian rulers generally bring in their wake.
6. El-Obeid is in direct communication with many tribes of the centre of the Vicariate.
7. Each year, many rulers or Chiefs of the tribes of the interior come to El Obeid to pay tribute to the Egyptian governor of Kordofan: thus the Mission is able to establish relations with these leaders and gradually introduce itself into the heart of their regions.
8. Our missionaries, being the first to establish themselves permanently in Kordofan, can more easily make the Catholic principles prevail in the spirit of these peoples and thus frustrate the action of Protestant sects should they establish themselves there later.
9. Living in Kordofan is cheap and the water there is quite healthy.

[2923]
10. Our missionary explorers who are in Kordofan at the moment are confirming all these details I had gathered some time ago. They were very well received by the Governor, thanks to the recommendations that His Majesty the Emperor Franz Josef I had sent last summer to the Imperial Agent and Consul General of Austria in Egypt. They were invited by the numerous Turks, pagans and the few heretical Copts living in El-Obeid to set up a Catholic school there for the education of the young.
[2924]
For all these reasons therefore, it seems to me necessary to occupy Khartoum as soon as possible, to create a new Station at El-Obeid and to use the one in Shellal as a most convenient stage-post, and then to judge on the spot whether it is appropriate or not to establish permanently in this Station an Institute for the education of Africans.
[2925]
As for the ordinary residence of the Head of the whole Mission, it seems to me that for now this should be in Khartoum. This is the Station which possesses hic et nunc the prime necessities for the situation, relations with the White Nile and Kordofan and postal and telegraphic communications with the civilised world. Should our action in Kordofan later become fruitful with good results, then it will be more appropriate to establish the residence of the aforesaid Superior in El-Obeid.
[2926]
Khartoum is normally a two month journey from Cairo, thirty-five days from Shellal, fifteen days from El-Obeid and about two months from Gondokoro.
El-Obeid is forty days from Shellal and two months’ travelling from Cairo via Dongola, which is just above the 18th degree Latitude North between the 28th and 29th degrees Longitude East of Paris. It would later be appropriate to found a Station in this town, as a relay between Shellal and El-Obeid.

[2927]
Mail travels quite fast, carried without interruption day and night by means of special couriers, so that it covers the whole distance between El-Obeid and Cairo in only thirty-eight days. The transport of provisions, which was assured once a year by a special envoy of the late Pro-Vicar Knoblecher, on the occasion of a trip to Egypt to receive the Holy Oils from the Apostolic Delegate, normally took seventy days from Cairo to Khartoum and four months from Cairo to Gondokoro.
[2928]
As regards the means of maintenance for the Vicariate, in addition to the active support of the Associations of Cologne and Vienna and the other smaller ones in Germany, it would be necessary for the Pious Association for the Propagation of the Faith of Lyons and Paris to provide substantial support for this purpose. It is most zealous and well-disposed towards Central Africa, as it has often assured me, and it has made great promises: but a recommendation from Your Eminence would achieve the purpose, since considerable expenses are needed for this vast and difficult Vicariate.
[2929]
Furthermore, since the faith has so far never been successfully planted in Central Africa and since the serious difficulties encountered have led to discouragement, not only of the Institutions capable of sending missionaries to these parts, but also of the Marian Society and throughout the Austrian Empire, in attempting to resume the holy Work it is necessary to proceed step by step and advance with the utmost prudence and slowness, which are the essential conditions for the success of the holy enterprise. The primary objective to be sought in resuming the responsibilities of this arduous Vicariate is to prove as a fact that the establishment of a regular mission in Central Africa is possible and feasible with the indigenous elements who are being prepared. It is therefore necessary that the field in which our activities are to be deployed should be vast, so that we may choose the locations in which it is least difficult to settle and at the same time focus all our concerns on the African tribes and peoples who will appear the most suited to receiving the Gospel.
[2930]
Once it has been proved as a fact that with the candidates supplied by our Institutes in Verona and Egypt it is possible to have a well-regulated Mission in different points of Central Africa, and that it can gradually become stable and sustainable, the zeal of the Association for the Propagation of the Faith and other illustrious benefactors will be renewed and it will renew the courage of those Church and religious Institutions capable of participating in the evangelisation of Africa, some of which, especially some of the newer ones of good spirit, are not opposed to collaborating quite soon. The Institute of Verona, with God’s blessing, will help them in every way, both housing their candidates temporarily in its Houses in Egypt for them to adapt and prepare themselves for the apostolate in Central Africa, and welcoming them in its Stations in Central Africa and helping them in every way possible so that, strengthened by practical experience in the African ministry, they may themselves take missions in the African interior which the Holy See may then erect as Prefectures or Vicariates Apostolic.
[2931]
To end this report, I allow myself to point out to Your Eminence the supreme and essential importance of the Institutes for Africans in Egypt in which the candidates perfect their vocations, acclimatise themselves and train for the apostolic ministry; where all the other elements for the apostolate are formed with the indigenous clergy, and the materials needed to lay siege to the formidable fortress Africa are prepared as needed.
[2932]
I also add a warm entreaty to Your Eminence that you may deign to help us with your wisdom in all things related to the holy enterprise, for we absolutely need to be guided and ruled by the incomparable prudence and wisdom of the Sacred Congregation, having resolved not take a single step along this difficult and dangerous path without first hearing the venerable orders and wise dispositions of Propaganda, which reigns as the absolute sovereign of our sentiments, our actions and our lives.

Kissing the sacred purple, I have the honour of remaining with every respect
Your Most Reverend Eminence’s

most humble, devoted and obedient son

Fr Daniel Comboni

[2933]
In sending you, Gentlemen, the Report on the new expedition to Kordofan, implemented as soon as you had, in the session of 4th September last year, made the pledge, so rich in consequences, to grant me immediately 20,000 francs, it is my duty to explain to you briefly the reasons that convinced me to carry out this expedition, which has borne magnificent fruits in so short a time. Gentlemen, this matter was discussed by you on 4th September 1871, and your words were borne out by facts. You opted for “Kordofan” and only 210 days later, on 1st April 1872, the expedition to Kordofan had been accomplished and the report on it is already in your hands! The Church and Christian civilisation owe you their thanks for this.
[2934]
Having obtained very good results in my Institutes for Africans in Egypt, I felt the time had come to advance into the African interior, so that on the basis of what could be found out, we could have the most convincing proof that the evangelisation of this immense part of the world, which after so many centuries has obstinately resisted the most heroic attempts of the Church and civilisation, is possible and feasible. This, in truth, is possible only by means of the elements I have formed for this purpose in the Institutes in Cairo, that is, the Christian regeneration of Africa must be accomplished by means of the Africans themselves.
[2935]
I also took part in the laborious enterprises of the late Pro-Vicar Knoblecher and his missionaries, who had gone to the eastern part of the great vicariate of Central Africa which is the largest and most populated one in the world. Following the course of the Nile, we went beyond the Tropics as far as the Equator and carried out our missionary activities there. I have been among the people of the White Nile, have studied much and suffered much in that place. I have had personal dealings with the great travellers Linant Bey, Mr d’Arnaud, Speke, Grant and Baker and had many conversations with the Jallabas and the Arab merchants who were constantly crossing the country and know it better than the European travellers. In addition, I have well digested all the literature published on this subject and have studied the works of the explorers on the matter from 1698 to the present day.
[2936]
In this way I have come to the conviction that in the founding of a mission it is absolutely necessary to establish it far away from the banks of the great White Nile, that is, in the interior. Experience has taught us that the areas in the river basin, especially after the season of equatorial rains, are fatal to the health of Europeans. I had always been assured that to the south and the east of Kordofan there are mountains, rivers, lakes and enchanting forests. Today we see these assertions fully confirmed by the information just now received and by the explorations which preceded them.
[2937]
As it turns out, Kordofan lends itself admirably to the foundation of a mission destined to become the centre of apostolic action, to begin again preaching the Gospel and bringing civilisation to these numerous African tribes of the equatorial regions, still living in the darkness of paganism.
The choice of Kordofan seems to me all the more fortunate in as far as the majority of the students at our Institutes in Egypt, coming from the tribes of the central regions, have passed through Kordofan.

[2938]
In order to ascertain the precision of these reports and observations, I thought it most prudent and necessary first of all to send into Kordofan four explorers under the leadership of the most zealous Fr Carcereri, to survey the territory and see if it would be possible to found a mission in some part of Kordofan with the help of indigenous assistants, with a view to creating a centre for apostolic action in the African interior.
[2939]
I indicated to them the route through the Atmur desert and via Khartoum and I ordered them to make thorough researches on the present conditions in the regions of the White Nile, as well as asking them to gather information on the results of His Highness the Khedive’s latest expedition to Gondokoro and the sources of the Nile, under the leadership of Samuel Baker, and at the same time to inform themselves on the safest and easiest way to penetrate Kordofan. The results of these enquiries have far exceeded my hopes.
In 82 days, our four travellers safely reached the capital of Kordofan, El Obeid which, according to Fr Carcereri, is a city with 100 thousand inhabitants, of which two thirds are black pagan slaves. This great city is located on a hill and its climate may be defined as good. From this point it is easy to gain access little by little to the tribes of the south and the west, so that in future, with our indigenous students of the Institutes in Egypt, we shall be able to resolve the great problem of making Christians and civilised human beings of the inhabitants of Central Africa, for which until now all the work done over 18 centuries has been in vain.

[2940]
Gentlemen, it is with the innermost heartfelt entreaty that I now turn to you to urge you make an energetic appeal to all German Catholics, to all the Catholic associations and above all to the Bishops, who are so zealous and charitable, not only to increase the means of support with respect to the Cologne Association, which is the author of this great work of the Christian regeneration of Africa, but also to ask all the members of this Pious Association for the redemption and education of African children to offer each day their fervent prayers to almighty God so that in his infinite mercy he may bless our steps and our efforts on behalf of the African peoples whom we now seek in their own lands. It is on the foundation of this mission in Kordofan that the salvation of the 100 million poor sons of Ham living in the African interior may depend.
[2941]
As for me and my companions in the mission, you know that it is with great joy that we consecrate our lives for the good of this part of the world, which is still unknown and is so miserable, to win it over to Jesus Christ. Our only programme which, with God’s help and with all the means of prudence and human caution we wish to carry out, is the following: “AFRICA OR DEATH”, “AUT NIGRITIA AUT MORS”.
Please accept, Gentlemen, the assurance of my greatest thanks for your warm help in our work and to all the excellent members for their generous charity.

With honour and affection I remain
Your most obedient

Fr Daniel Comboni

Director of the Institutes for Africans in Egypt


Translated from German.

[2942]
In sending you the Official Report of the recent exploration of Kordofan made by an able missionary, Carcereri, I must inform you that, in view of certain good results at our Institutes for Africans in Egypt, I consider the time has come to proceed towards Central Africa to find out in fact whether the evangelisation of this immense part of the world, which for so many centuries has resisted the generous efforts of the Catholic Church and Christian civilisation, is possible and feasible through the indigenous elements I have formed for this purpose in the Institutes in Cairo, that is, whether, in accordance with my Plan, the Regeneration of Africa is possible by means of Africa itself.
The laborious tasks undertaken by the late Pro-Vicar Knoblecher and his Missionaries, of whom I was one, focused on the eastern part of the great vicariate of Central Africa, following the course of the Nile from the Tropic of Cancer as far as the Equator.

[2943]
Having spent several years among the Africans of the White Nile, having travelled extensively in the African interior and at the same time having seriously studied the observation of all the greatest travellers in Central Africa from 1698 to today, I am convinced of the need to try and establish a mission in the interior near the Little Mountains, far away from the great basin of the White Nile which, after the equatorial rainy season, is extremely harmful to the health of Europeans. Now, in accordance with the advice I had received, I have found that Kordofan lends itself admirably to the foundation of a Mission destined to become the centre of apostolic action so as to preach the Gospel to an immense number of tribes in equatorial Africa, still living in the darkness of paganism; all the more so because nearly all our African students at the Institutes in Egypt come from Kordofan and the neighbouring tribes.
[2944]
But in order better to verify my research and prompted by the encouragements of Fr Carcereri and all the other Missionaries in Egypt, I thought it prudent and necessary first of all to send four explorers to Kordofan under the leadership of the pious and zealous Fr Carcereri, to survey the territory and see if it would be possible to found a Mission at some point inside Kordofan and to create a centre of action that could work effectively for the apostolate of this great and laborious Vicariate. I ordered them to take the route through the Atmur desert and Khartoum so as to gather the most exact information on the present conditions in the regions of the White Nile, which I had visited in 1858 and 1859, inform me on the true results of His Highness the Viceroy of Egypt’s latest expedition to Gondokoro and the sources of the Nile, under the leadership of Samuel Baker, and at the same time to learn the safest and easiest way to penetrate Kordofan.
[2945]
The results of this exploration have far exceeded my hopes. In 82 days, the four explorers safely reached the capital of Kordofan, El Obeid which, according to Fr Carcereri, is a city with 100,000 inhabitants, of which two thirds are pagans and slaves. This great city is located on a hill where the climate is bearable and where one can gain access little by little to the tribes of the south and the west, so that with the indigenous students we educate at the Institutes in Egypt, we shall gradually be able to resolve the great problem of the evangelisation of Central Africa, which the events and the history of eighteen centuries have shown to be impossible until today.
[2946]
After the matters that I am dealing with at present with Propaganda have been resolved and Mgr Canossa, the Bishop of Verona, head of my Work, as well as Mgr Ciurcia, Vicar Apostolic in Egypt and the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda all grant me their authorisation, I shall go from Cairo to Khartoum and Kordofan with a great caravan of Missionaries, catechists, farmers, craftsmen, Sisters and African women teachers. There, for the first time, we shall hoist the standard of the Cross, in a place where the light of the Gospel has never shone.
[2947]
It is to you, Gentlemen, that I turn with tears in my eyes, with all the ardour that fills my soul to implore you insistently to come to our rescue, not only with considerable financial aid, but also by recommending to the pious members of the Association for the Propagation of the Faith to offer each day their fervent prayers to almighty God so that in his infinite mercy he may bless our steps and our strenuous efforts on behalf of the peoples of Central Africa. It is on the creation of this Mission in Kordofan, as well as on our Institutes for Africans in Egypt, that the salvation of the one hundred million poor sons of Ham, still lying in the shadow of death in this Vicariate, may depend.
[2948]
For our part, my companions in this great apostolate and I, who come from the Institute for the Missions of Africa in Verona, are only too glad to consecrate our lives and to die for the good of this part of the world, which is still almost unknown. Our eternal programme which, with the help of God’s grace we shall carry out with all the means of prudence and human wisdom will always be: “Africa or Death!”
In the meantime, Gentlemen, I send you the official Report on my Missionaries’ exploration which my dear confrere Carcereri has just sent me from the capital of Kordofan.
Please accept the assurance of my eternal respect and gratitude as I remain
Your most devoted servant

Fr Daniel Comboni

Superior of the Institutes for Africans in Egypt


Translated from French.

[2949]
It has been eight days since I received your most venerable letter and I did not answer immediately as I was waiting to fix the date of my departure.
I am on tenterhooks in Rome as to when I can go to Egypt. Our Most Eminent Cardinal Barnabò promised me right from the start that my Position would be dealt with at the first Congregation in April and the Summary was printed a good twenty days ago, running to 87 long pages. All that remained to be done was for the Precis to be drafted by the Minute-Writer, based on the Summary.

[2950]
The fact is that although I am constantly on the good Minute-Writer Giacobini’s back, pressing and pushing him, so far, either because he has a lot of correspondence or for other reasons, he has not yet done it and in the meantime the Congregation was called for the 15th, and my position is not being dealt with. Cardinal Barnabò, Mgr Simeoni as well as the Minute-Writer assure me that it will be dealt with at the next one at the end of April or the beginning of May: and I am here waiting, so I hope to be able to leave by the middle of May. But I cannot assure it at all until these Roman sluggards hurry up. But to tell the truth, this Giacobini of ours is able and active: the problem is just the number of affairs he has to cope with, Propaganda, the Professorate, Catholic Associations, etc.
[2951]
His positis, quid faciendum? If this good young man can wait a month or a month and a half, I shall be happy to accompany him to Egypt. If he cannot wait, I think that since he came alone to Rome, he could just as well go to Trieste and take a passage on the Lloyd. There, I can give him a recommendation for Mgr Schneider, Provost of the Chapter; and then have a Missionary come from Cairo to meet him at Alexandria and take him to Cairo or have him accompanied to Suez, etc. You only have to say what you want, I am at your command.
If I leave Rome without finishing my affairs, they could go on forever. You know this as well as I do.

[2952]
In any case, just let me know. As soon as I know the date of my Ponenza I will write to you, because I will then be able to fix the precise timing for my departure. Give my respects to everyone. As regards the Bulletin, I gave it to my Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition in Piazza Margana and asked the mother Superior to propagate it among the Ladies of Rome who frequent her Institute to work for the Apostolic Association for the missions of which she is the President. Last week more than 200 chasubles, chalices and a large amount of church linen, etc. were distributed. I spoke on your behalf, but got there too late. Every year in January, you must make a petition for all your Missions and each year you will receive sacred vestments and items, etc.
The Superior immediately took out a subscription to the Bulletin, and she hopes to find new subscribers. This is her address:
Very Reverend Mother Superior of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition 18 Piazza Margana Rome
In the hope of being able to write to you soon, I commend myself to your prayers and remain in the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Your most humble and devoted son

Fr Daniel Comboni, Apostolic Missionary


[2953]
I congratulate the most devout Fr Scurati on his new appointment. But above all I applaud your generous thought. In the event that things should get tight it would be good for the young man to go to Trieste and introduce himself
to Mgr Schneider in my name. To Schneider, and then we shall have him prolong his journey.
His Holiness is in perfect health and full of hope.

[2954]
If I did not answer your very kind letter of 7th April, it was because I was ill and had a lot to do.
I thank you with all my heart for your goodness in giving me that beneficial advice, and I assure you I will make the most of it.
From the mass of factual proof with regard to my Mother Superior, I, the Bishop, Fr Squaranti and all who are acquainted with her find she is a great woman, and I believe that she is equal both to Oberbizer and to Nespoli who, in my opinion, are the soundest superiors in Verona. Let us hope she lasts.

[2955]
As for Angela Rossolani, I have in my hands a letter of hers written to me in Holy Week, in which she tells me she is happy to stay in my Institute, and begs me with tears to accept her on a permanent basis (because I had only accepted her temporarily). But since she was not only too old but not very fit, wanted to eat meat on Fridays and Saturdays and was extremely loquacious, and what is more, inept and incapable of becoming a religious, I ordered her to be sent home. She resisted for a month: but finally to settle the matter, the Superior decided to read her my letters and she left. If she was not able to stay in a convent in Brescia when she was young, how can she stay in one now that she is old and ailing?
[2956]
With regard to the others who presented themselves, they were all women servants of a bad sort who came to satisfy their hunger, which is why I gave orders that none should be accepted; so there are only the two novices whom I left there, who are doing fairly well and are happy. I shall see about introducing some suitable foreign postulants. Africa cannot be converted with servant-women from Verona. It is also necessary to me to establish the Mother house in Verona in the centre, so that the Superior can examine the candidates well. Montorio will become a daughter house.
[2957]
Yesterday I received a letter from Kordofan dated 6th March. Fr Carcereri and Fr Franceschini are very well, and cheerful. They have a large house in El Obeid (100,000 inhabitants) and we have the finest hope of making a great Mission. On
12th February I was sent the official report of the exploration that was printed at Propaganda’s private press. On my arrival in Verona I will let you know about everything. In the meantime they are perfectly well, and I hope to embrace them in October. Franceschini is as strong as a lion. But after the departure from Cairo they had no further news of us, except a telegram via Khartoum. Perhaps the packets got lost. Pray for me and for them. Today I saw the Holy Father who is in marvellous health. I saw Baccichetti and Guardi. Many greetings to your confreres, and I beg you to please forward the enclosed to Fr Carcereri. Pray for
your most affectionate and grateful

Fr Daniel Comboni