Ethiopia: Comboni family organises newcomers’ course

The course should have taken place more than a couple of years ago. However, the Covid-19 pandemic did not allow it to be organised. Finally, this year, the Comboni Family, through its formation secretariats, in concert with the two provincial superiors, managed to hold it, as both circumscriptions have been blessed with some new members arriving in the last two years.

The course was opened to other Institutes, through the Conference of major religious superiors (CMRS). Eleven people took part in the course: five Comboni missionaries, two Comboni sisters, three sisters from the Congregation of Saint Joseph of the Apparition, and one sister from the Contemplative Missionaries of Charles de Foucauld.

The workshop started on Tuesday with a prayer by Fr González Núñez Juan Antonio, mccj, the Apostolic Vicar of Hawassa, who was among the facilitators. Fr Asfaha Yohannes, provincial superior of Ethiopia, said a word of welcome. He underlined that, unless someone learned about the history of Ethiopia, it would be difficult to understand the customs of its people, who are very religious and very much attached to their traditions. Unless someone goes through the country’s very old Christian tradition, it would be very hard to understand the habits of the Ethiopians.
Fr André Mbala Topa, mccj