Writings

[1204]
Who knows what you have been saying on noticing I never write to you! I was so submerged in things to do that I have only written once to the Superior Fr Tomba since I left Europe. That is reason enough. I want to give you a little abrégé de mon voyage jusqu’ici à Shellal. After I left Vicenza where I truly enjoyed a most happy day in the lap of real friendship, I went to Verona where, on 26th October, Fr Lodovico appeared, accompanied by Giuseppe Habachy, who is already a friar, and a priest and two African tertiaries dressed as friars, with precise orders from Propaganda to join me and go to Africa to occupy Shellal and decide with me on the division of the Apostolic Vicariate of Central Africa. Without beating about the bush, Fr Lodovico proposed the following: “I don’t have a cent: you take care of getting this caravan to Vienna and Cairo, I’ll take care of the rest”. Thanks for the compliment, I said to myself; I made the sign of the Cross and answered: “Alright”. I had no money, only a few small debts.
[1205]
Tregnaghi and a few others refused to lend me anything. Marchese Ott. Canossa, without my speaking to him, and the old Vertua gave me an offering, and after receiving the blessings of the Superior and the Bishop (who approved my proposal to found within the Institute a Seminary for the African Missions to receive postulant priests from the whole Austrian Empire), I left on the 26th for Brixen. Mitterrutzner gave me the money to reach Vienna, the Bishop of Brixen and the Archbishop of Salzburg donated 100 florins; I visited Her Majesty the Empress Caroline, wife of the late Franz I, and we reached Vienna on the day of All Saints. The Committee denied Fr Lodovico any subsidy, so I was in deep trouble. So I searched around in Vienna to obtain, and did obtain, a free trip for all as far as Trieste. I sent a telegram to Cologne and wrote to Mitterutzner, and right away I was given 60 gold Napoleons. In Trieste I made a contract with Lloyd Austriaco. Its President, the Jew Morpurgo, gave me an ample donation, reducing the 660 florins required for us all and Michele the African to 220. On the 12th we left Trieste, where Fr Beltrame had come with the African and Baroness Hermann.
[1206]
I cannot express the horror of six days of continuous storm between Trieste and the extremity of the island of Candia. In the Greek archipelago we were caught in a terrible hurricane. It killed 48 big oxen, broke the left iron flank of the Aquila Imperiale, a very long steamer, and smashed the stern. Fr Lodovico was in cruel agony for 28 hours: we offered up our lives and a sacrifice to the Lord. For over 30 hours I was separated from Fr Lodovico, because to move from where I was would have meant losing my life. I commended my soul to God at least 100 times: Fr Lodovico and Habaschy gave each other absolution: the Captain confessed that there was no way out and suggested that I stay put on deck in the prow to reach the life-boat and escape with him. Even today I tremble all over at any thought of it and feel the horror of the tempest which has quite undermined me. Fiat. Fr Lodovico sees the rest of his life as an extraordinary gift of God and goes on repeating that he would willingly die rather than be under another storm of this kind. Finally, more dead than alive, we reached Alexandria where we joined the other four who had left Naples a month earlier.
[1207]
In Cairo I rented a boat for Aswan at the price of 4,000 piastres (32 gold Napoleons) and in 32 days of unpleasant navigation we went up the Nile, reached Aswan, and yesterday arrived in Shellal. Annoyed with the boat, Fr Lodovico and I decided to break the contract and return to Cairo on a steamer of the Turkish government. With this in mind I disembarked at Esneh, which governs Aswan, introduced myself to the Pasha, and entreated him to arrange a passage for Fr Lodovico, Fr Francesco, his nephew and myself on a government steamer. A miracle to be sure! The Pasha answered that in a few days three steamers were to reach Aswan and that he would order all three of us to be given a free passage: indeed he gave me a letter for the Governor of Aswan and ordered him to assign three separate places for the three Austrian fathers to return to Cairo whenever we wanted.
[1208]
The day we reached Aswan the Pasha himself arrived and he renewed his order to the Governor, came to see us and was kind as can be. I will therefore be returning in a few days to Cairo, where I shall stay for a month or more. We are more protected by the Turks than by the Italian government, by the Vacche or by any Victor Emmanuel. Which European government gives so much help to Catholic Missionaries? Please, kindly give my respects to the Bishop of Vicenza, Mgr Dalla Vecchia, the Prefect of the Ginnasio, and all the good people I met; give my greetings to the holy man Fr Tilino and the good Clerics of our Institute, Gnoato, Ravignani and Angelina. From Cairo I shall go to Naples, Rome and Verona. Write to me in Cairo: good-bye: believe in the eternal friendship of Your most affectionate

Fr Daniel Comboni

[1209]
I just have an opportunity to send mail to Italy and I seize it to write you a couple of lines which together with my most affectionate greetings will also bring you news of our missions. I am delighted to be able to tell you that it has been possible to do something about implementing the Plan published in the Museum last year, in other words to attempt the regeneration of Africa through Africa itself. In accordance with the wishes of His Eminence the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda, I accompanied Fr Ludovico da Casoria, the most worthy founder of the Institute which can be admired in the Palma Convent in Naples, where hundreds of African boys and girls are brought up in the Christian civilisation and religion.
[1210]
The purpose of our journey was to agree on a division of Central Africa, that is the largest Vicariate in the world, at least equal in size to twice our cultured and civilised Europe, and to assign one part to the most worthy sons of the Franciscan family, to which the aforementioned Fr Ludovico belongs, and the other to the Mazza Institute, to which I belong. The proposal I made to this effect was in accordance with the wishes expressed by our late Superior and founder.
[1211]
We left Cairo on the 2nd of last December and in 32 days of navigation reached the first cataracts of the Nile and after crossing a small desert, we reached Shellal, from where I write to you now. Fr Lodovico stayed no more than a day and a half with me, leaving again on a Turkish steamer and returning to Cairo, and hoping to see Naples in a month’s time. My haste does not allow me to go into details, but I will not be long in sending you an account of our journey which was most interesting. It provided matter for many observations, time to discuss many things with the praiseworthy Father who appears not to breathe for or think of anything but his beloved African family.
[1212]
In a short time I too hope to return to Cairo and, after opening some Institutes in line with the plan presented to Propaganda, to see Italy again, God willing, I will make a trip to Rome to report on the work. In the meantime I am pleased to be able to tell you that in Shellal a house and an Institute have been opened to give a Christian education to these African children who in turn will bring the same benefit to their brothers living inland.
[1213]
The President of the Institute is a Franciscan father from the province of Naples, then there is a priest from Khartoum, who spent six years being educated in Verona and five in Naples, and then became a Franciscan. They have been joined by two lay brothers and two young craftsmen. I hope to open two other Institutes modelled on this one along the itinerary we have covered on this journey. In Khartoum a Prussian Protestant mission is making a stir, but it will never be able to compete with the Catholic one. The Pasha of Egypt has established three provinces on the White Nile. This provincial organisation will prove advantageous for the spreading of the Gospel, because contacts will multiply.
[1214]
I have had all the missionaries I met in Egypt read the paper you presented to the Senate in their support, and they all joined me in thanking the Lord who has deigned to reward our vows and dissipated the movement which threatened to remove the dispensation from military service for young priests and thus to deal a mortal blow to the missions. Everywhere there are prayers, and good converts are made to pray that the religious families providing such prolific contingents to the missions may not be dispersed.
[1215]
I would like to have a hundred tongues and a hundred hearts to speak for poor Africa which is the least known and most abandoned part of the world and so the most difficult to evangelise. But the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are enough for all, and I expect miracles through their mediation. Many sacrifices will be necessary, but the sacrifice needed to make Africa Christian is worth them all. The lives of many of my companions who died during the explorations we carried out ten years ago as far as 2 degrees North, were accepted by God and will be, I hope, the seed of new apostles and of many Christians. Give my respects to the dear souls Don Bosco and Canon Anglesio and tell them to make haste and educate able young people, accustomed to all aspects of the hard life, mortification and sacrifice: that is what an Apostle for Africa, who needs to place himself entirely in the hands of Providence, must be. In the hope of seeing you on my return to Italy, I ask for the charity of your prayers and again commend myself to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Your most affectionate Fr Daniel Comboni
Apostolic Missionary of Central Africa

[1216]
Your Eminence will know that we arrived in Shellal on the day of Epiphany and that Fr Lodovico took possession of that Missionary Station. On my return, for the fourth time I visited the Catholic Stations in Upper Egypt to see whether this Prefecture is functioning efficiently in training members for the conversion of the Africans. To this end and to serve the Egyptian Mission, Fr Venanzio gladly accepted a small and workable project which the oldest missionaries in Upper Egypt had already approved for me.
[1217]
Should it please Your Eminence, we are convinced we should start with a small female Institute in Negadeh, the nearest Station to Nubia, only about 50 leagues away, which has a population of approximately 4,000, of whom 170 are Catholic and 3,000 heretical Copts. Their leader, who is highly influential and candidly confessed to me the truth about the two natures in Christ, is not far from bending his neck beneath the sweet yoke of our faith. Wherever the powerful action of Catholic women, unknown in those parts, is introduced, we shall see great advantages in just a few years. The house for the said Institute will be ready after a few modifications. It will start operating immediately with three sisters. I shall give them 500 francs a year each out of my bequest from the Cologne Association, until we succeed in obtaining the equivalent for these sisters from the Propagation of the Faith in Lyons, when the work will have taken root. As well as the three sisters of Negadeh, I shall send two or three African girls from Verona, who have already been thoroughly grounded in Arabic and in the feminine crafts.
[1218]
With regard to the Institute of sisters, we are awaiting your Most Reverend Eminence’s decision. I have written to the Superior General of the Nuns of St Joseph. But since Mgr Pasquale tells me that at present Mère Emilie has no one available, if this should be true, I shall dare to suggest the Good Shepherd Sisters to Your Eminence. Here in Cairo this Institute has 22 sisters and the Superior is ready to help the Work, should it please Your Eminence; and Mgr Delegate is quite right to protect these pious and courageous sisters. If Your Eminence would deign to make a pronouncement on the subject, it will not take long to arrange everything.
[1219]
In your wisdom you will clearly understand the immense benefits for the Prefecture in Upper Egypt that will derive from establishing small male and female Institutes in its various Stations which will likewise provide good individuals of both sexes of the black race for the Missions that will then be set up in Central Africa. Although the creation of these Missions will have to take place later, it would be good to start now preparing these necessary helping hands without which the Missionary’s work would be sterile.
[1220]
Fr Olivieri’s involvement in the work would prove most useful for the purpose of enriching these Institutes with African girls. Each African girl costs 100 scudi and although Africans also die in Egypt, they nevertheless survive here more than twice as long as they do in Europe. Each African girl taken to Europe costs 200 scudi. Although the Olivieri Work is holy, it is incomplete and enjoys no sympathy at all from the Bishops and the faithful; therefore sooner or later it is doomed to fail.
[1221]
If only by keeping intact its programme of redeeming Africans to save their souls by taking them into religious Institutes, this Work could provide Africans of both sexes to the religious Institutes which have been established along the African coasts, this would give a spurt of growth to its development, it would be beneficial to the regeneration of Africa and the work itself would be perpetuated. The operation involving Fr Olivieri’s Work as mentioned, can only be effectively dealt with by Your Eminence yourself, gradually persuading His Eminence the Cardinal Vicar who can do much as protector of the Work of Redemption. Here, there are 21 African girls staying with the Italian nuns, and I have begun to endeavour to recruit some of them.
[1222]
I submit the following facts to Your Eminence. They have started to build a railway from Cairo to Aswan which in ten years’ time will be extended as far as Khartoum. Another railway between Suakim and Berber will link the Red Sea with the Nile. The Turks have invaded the White Nile and are organising three vast provinces. In Assiut, the capital of Upper Egypt, a large Anglican school has been established, and in Khartoum a Prussian Lutheran school is flourishing. According to what I have been able to find out, in the heterodox Societies the idea of propaganda throughout the Nile region has caught on.
[1223]
With regard to operations in Upper Egypt, Mgr Vuicic deems it prudent to retain neutrality: he is therefore awaiting your Eminence’s instructions. I beg you to remember me to Mgr your Secretary as I kiss the Sacred Purple
Your humble and most devoted

Fr Daniel Comboni

[1224]
You cannot imagine how grieved I am not to have news of you and the family. I wrote a while ago to Mamma and Papa; but I haven’t had a sign of life from anyone. The proverb says that the phrase out of sight, out of mind is true. I will never believe it, neither of you nor of anyone in the family. I understand that so much goes with my condition as a vagabond that I cannot give a precise address: but you who have travelled in the east know marvellously well how to keep up with me. After leaving Rome, I had no further news from you and no one gave me any.
[1225]
Here in Cairo, I often find myself in the room where I had the great pleasure of seeing you for the first time, and where the first flame was kindled of that affection which would bind us in eternal friendship. The Rossetti house is now occupied by the Austrian Consul General, an excellent person; and we were often in that very room for Saibbuk, and I secretly sent an affectionate toast to you: I have become fond of that room because of you, my Guido. Cairo is no longer talking about the Rossetti family, which produced one of the princes who gave an impetus to the enrichment of Mohammed Ali which is why his dynasty now reigns in glory on the throne of Egypt. He disappeared from this earth like clouds before the sun.
[1226]
I was in Lower Nubia, and for the fourth time I traversed the whole length of Egypt. Oh! How delightful are those banks of the majestic Nile which fertilises the Egyptian soil and makes this classical land one of the most beautiful in the world! I saw once again the gigantic mounds of Karnak and Luxor, the famous temples of Dendera, Edfu and File, and I trod that sacred ground, sanctified by so many hermits and now alas, profaned by the sacrilegious sons of the Arab prophet who trample over the ancient ruins. I returned on a steamship here, to Cairo, where I have organised an Institute on the basis of my Plan for the Regeneration of Africa.
[1227]
I know that their Excellencies the Prince and Princess Giovanelli are in Rome at the moment. I beg you to do me the favour of visiting them on my behalf and of greeting and giving my respects to Prince Giuseppe, who is the darling of the Venetians, of the charitable Institutes, and the brightest ornament of Venetian nobility: tell him that I often remember him, and bear him in my heart. Then give the Princess my compliments, and please convey my esteem and the veneration I feel for her. What will you say to Maman, to Papa and to little Maria? You can imagine: the hope of seeing them in the coming month consoles me; and I hope to see Maria already grown and full of sense. Give me news of Pippo, to whom I send affectionate greetings. Write to me here in Cairo at the Convent of the Holy Land, care of the Austrian Consul of Cairo. Please give my best wishes to Manucci and all his family. But you, what are you up to? Have you already taken steps for your future?… There must be something positive by now. Remember the four B…Give my greetings to the butler of the house and brother, and to all the family friends; and remember that I love you very much and remember you always

Your faithful and affectionate friend,

Fr Daniel

[1228]
I have a world of things to write to you: I do not know where to begin. It has been more than three weeks since I returned to Cairo; a secret reluctance flooded my soul, so that I could never bring myself to put my hand to a pen. And the cause of my reluctance to write to you is the opinion I have of Fr Lodovico and his Institution, which I am not brave enough to explain to you. Nevertheless I am resolved at last. You are my true friend, my master, the closest collaborator in the apostolate for the Africans. You know the depths of my heart: I would like to see 100 institutes sharing Central Africa to bring it all to Catholicism. If I let you know my view of Fr Lodovico, it is because I am convinced of it. I would be very glad to retract and to know that I was mistaken. I am speaking to you, who do not let anyone lead you by the nose and will sooner or later discover the truth of the matter on your own. God forbid that I should delude myself! But God is truth, I do not want to delude anyone. I must tell you what I feel in the depths of my soul.
[1229]
Fr Lodovico is a man of great charity, a true son of St Francis in observing the rule of his Order and the model of religious observance. But his head is not equal to his heart, and he is not clear and upright in his dealings. Fr Samuel of Negadeh, an old Missionary in Upper Egypt, a reformed Franciscan who accompanied us to Shellal, described Fr Lodovico as a combination of ignorance, charity, piety, hypocrisy, falseness and virtue. When I speak to you, a world of proof and facts; I now limit myself to telling you only this. The President of Shellal, Fr Bonaventura da Casanova, and Giuseppe Habaschy himself and all the Neapolitan Franciscan missionaries I saw in Egypt say that Fr Lodovico is a saint in his own way. The President of Shellal and our Habaschy gave me a clear picture of the real substance of his Institution; I compared it with Fr Lodovico’s explanations, and with a letter he wrote to the Grey Friars which I translated for him into Latin because he had ordered it to be read once a week to the whole community; and all this, together with what I observed in Fr Lodovico, leads me to form this opinion: “Fr Lodovico’s Institution will be unable to do a thing in Africa unless it is directed and governed by the First Franciscan Order”. Probatur.
[1230]
The Grey Friars are a motley bunch of laymen of every kind and trade who show an inclination for piety, that Fr Lodovico clothed as Franciscans in order to direct and instruct young people in crafts. As long as they prove pious, recite rosaries and genuflect, he gives them a habit and involves them in the Works. Then with equal facility he deprives them of their habits and throws them out on the street. He receives and clothes six laymen and seven leave and become seculars. The Father Provincial of Naples and all the friars are up in arms against Fr Lodovico who makes such a mess of politics and of the community that he publicly jeopardises the Franciscan Order as a whole. Fr Lodovico’s Institution can have tertiary Priests; but for the moment he has not yet formed a single one. He therefore needs 1st Order Franciscans, without whom his Institute cannot function. One after another, none has been able to come to terms with the ideas of Fr Lodovico who wants his Institution to be the only Franciscan one to administer the Works.
[1231]
The fact is that he now has 42 craftsmen in both Europe and Africa and he wants to run the Works in Naples and Africa independently of the 1st Order. I am not telling you anything about their instruction, which is unknown at La Palma. Fr Bonaventura of Khartoum who is the best trained member of Fr Lodovico’s Institution, confessed to me that he knew little more than what he learned in Verona. He knows nothing of dogmatic, or moral [theology]. So the good man, after small tests, exposes the members to the Works and to the Missions and puts them in a position where they risk damnation. We now come to Africa. In the past, he sent 12 individuals to Africa. Two have died, one… as you know… is a gas-lighter in the public streets of Naples; and all the others have deserted his flag. Two of them who are here in Cairo, assure the friars that they will never go back to Fr Lodovico. Let us come to our expedition. In Shellal we left:
Fr Bonaventura da Casanova, President
Fr Bonaventura of Khartoum Fra Pietro, carpenter and Procurator
Fra Innocenzo, infirmarian
Fra Giovanni, a young African and
Fra Lodovico, craftsmen whom we dressed as lay brothers in Trieste.

[1232]
The President, who belongs to the First Order and has nothing to do with Fr Lodovico’s Institution, is a good friar; but he is not convinced of either Fr Lodovico’s brains or Work: this will do Fr Lodovico good.
[1233]
Fra Pietro was a soldier for seven years and fought against Garibaldi in 1860; then as a carpenter, he was the Director of the Capodimonte factory in Fr Lodovico’s Institute, one of the greatest members of La Palma.
Fra Innocenzo is really good, he is the best one in Shellal. He is well able to care for the sick, and is intent on healing and administering medicine. You saw the others in Brixen.

[1234]
Now in Shellal he ordered that they should keep the same life-style as at La Palma. Choir, silence, solitude, etc. (there are only two priests). He forbade the President from communicating either with Propaganda or with the General or with the Provincial on pain of being abandoned and not sending him provisions. Well! Listen to this… On the 15th of this month, to my enormous surprise, I see Fra Pietro, Procurator in Shellal appear before me. I am astonished. The fact is, he has sworn never to set eyes on Shellal again. He had a vocation for just 28 days; and then it left him. In a word, there is a terrible split between the two friars who are Priests. The President does not know one iota of Arabic. Giuseppe Habaschy must deal with business although he is his inferior. Now according to what Fra Pietro said to the friars, it seems that our Habaschy, puffed up by the welcome and friendship which those in Shellal have shown him, is seeking to get himself support to oust the President and make himself superior of Shellal. He has never been in Choir; he rented land without speaking to the Superior, and wrote to me for money; he opens the Superior’s letters, he has money which he has borrowed, despite the prohibition of Fr Lodovico who forbade him to touch money; all in all, there is total chaos in Shellal.
[1235]
From what I saw, I thought it would take the two friars six months to split up. Fr Samuel gave them only two months: instead, they did not remain peacefully together for even a fortnight. I immediately wrote to the President, advising him to stay firmly where he was in accordance with Fr Lodovico’s orders, and I wrote a tremendous letter to Bonaventura of Khartoum in which I spoke to him as a true father. I hope it will have a good effect. Then in sending the President’s letter to Naples, I wrote a letter to Fr Lodovico as a true friend, and repeated the advice I had given him on the Nile, not to be too hasty in ordaining Africans priests, and not to expose his Institution to large enterprises without testing each individual’s vocation over a long period. In a little while, Fra Pietro said, the two Africans will also leave. It is useless. Without the 1st Order, Fr Lodovico’s Institution will get nowhere. The Father Provincial in Naples, very familiar with the situation, said to Fr Lodovico: “If you want Missionaries to direct the Station of Shellal I will give you the best and ablest members of the Province”.
[1236]
Fr Lodovico refused. And do you know why? He said it himself: because he wants to present one or two positive facts to the Holy Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, so that they will approve his Institute, and the King of Naples is its Protector. But neither the Holy Congregation nor the General Administration of the Franciscans want anything to do with it. Now I say with many: this man is not seeking Africa’s good: he is seeking glory for his Institute. In Africa we could have many excellent Franciscan Missionaries; and Fr Lodovico is preventing it. His Institution, which does not yet have a single Priest, is lagging behind: it is a miracle if it can keep Shellal on its feet, because it has no members, only craftsmen who have no vocation. But enough of that; something else which will astound you.
[1237]
The chief enemy of my Plan is Fr Lodovico; and what is most annoying, he is extremely hostile and opposed to Propaganda granting the Institute a piece of Africa. I am fully informed, and G. Habaschy actually heard it, that Fr Lodovico did all he could in Rome to hinder the division; he even begged Cardinal Barnabò to stop me following him to Africa, but the Cardinal replied: No, I want Comboni to go with you, I order it, and I desire the division. In Naples he had said to me: “I and La Palma would like to be your servants and to co-operate with your Plan”. He came to Verona and expressed Propaganda’s wishes to Fr Tomba, he said he wanted to help the Institute, etc. You will know it precisely from Verona: he came to Brixen, and there you know how he talked to you.
[1238]
We went to Vienna. While I was absent for two days in Prague with His Excellency Archbishop Schwartzenber, he presented your most beautiful project for the division to Fr Matzek and begged him to influence the Committee to oppose the division. This is what he said: “If we can do good in Cairo and Khartoum, why should we give the tribes on the White Nile to others? It would be better for the moment to refuse the Mazza Institute a part of Africa”. This in fact is what he decided. This was told me ad litteram by Giuseppe of Khartoum, who heard it personally. I did not believe it, but from subsequent events I am certain that this is how it went.
[1239]
Having boarded the steamer in Trieste, as soon as we set sail this is what Fr Lodovico said tome: “My son, I would think it would be prudent not to discuss the division in Egypt with the Bishop, nor with the friars, nor with anyone, for they will all make fun of us: let us go to Shellal, and then on our return we will discuss it with the Bishop”. Then I added, “How will you justify my having accompanied you to the Franciscans? Do the Franciscans need priests to found their Missions?” Then he answered me: “I will say that you came with me as a friend who is acquainted with the works in La Palma, and also to give me your assistance since you know Africa well”. I acquiesced to his wishes, on condition that on our return from Shellal we should stay for a while to confer with the Bishop in accordance with Propaganda’s orders.
[1240]
I say nothing of his habit of adding a few words to denigrate my Plan by saying, “Comboni’s Plan is lovely in theory; in practice, impossible” and he would say this to the most distinguished persons. I do not mention that armed with recommendations to consuls, personalities, etc., here in Egypt he never introduced me as a friend to anyone, although I asked him for an introduction to one of them; whereas in Verona, Vienna and Trieste, I introduced him to all the benefactors of the Mission and all my acquaintances. I say nothing of countless other slights in his behaviour to me, which I am ashamed to relate. Perhaps I will tell you a few of them in person, at least for a laugh. I say nothing of his way of talking about past Missionaries in Central Africa: the greatest praise he could give Knoblecher was: “Oh! he was an affluent man… missions must be built with humiliation and not with money, etc.” Let’s come to Shellal.
[1241]
We inaugurated Shellal on the day of Epiphany. Since Prince Antonio Hohenzollern Sigmaringen turned up there, on the evening of the 8th I obtained a free passage on the steamer as far as Cairo. It was to sail on the morning of the 9th. In the evening I summoned Fr Samuele of Negadeh who accompanied us to Shellal and with Fr Francesco, Fr Lodovico’s nephew, we entered Fr Lodovico’s room and this is what I said: “The purpose for which Propaganda wished me to come with you to Shellal and to Egypt was to come to an agreement together about the division of the Vicariate Apostolic of Central Africa, and to deal with Monsignor the Apostolic Delegate in Egypt. You are leaving tomorrow. When you arrive in Cairo you leave for Europe on the first ship; we can no longer discuss this most important matter of the division together”. “What matter?”, he replied, “I know nothing about it”. I retorted: “But what did Cardinal Barnabò tell both of us? What did he say to you when you passed through Rome on your way to Verona? Didn’t he order both of us to go to Africa, etc.?” “I know nothing”, was his answer; “what do you want, since we are dust, we have our Superiors, should we decide on a matter of such importance? Let our Superiors do it; I know nothing. Where are your letters etc. which say that we are authorised to make this division that you are talking about? I know nothing about it”… In short, my dear friend, he denied everything; he covered me with a barrage of hypocritical gossip, praising Fr Mazza’s Missionaries, but saying that there was no money, etc.
[1242]
Then when I showed him your letter in which you wisely suggested the division into southern and northern, etc., he said: “Well, if Propaganda asks me, I will present this project”. He promised that he would wait for me in Cairo to discuss it with the Bishop so that, should we fail to speak to the Apostolic Delegate, Propaganda would not oblige us to return to Egypt for the same purpose. But the fact is that when he arrived in Cairo he did not mention it at all to the Bishop and departed for Naples. He said that in Central Africa what was needed was St Francis’ humility and poverty. His theories are lovely and good: but in practice they are different. He is the first ecclesiastical egotist that I have ever seen in my life; the one that will give me more trouble than everybody else when it comes to introducing other Institutes into Africa. He, who has not one actual candidate (with the exception of a few craftsmen, who were already craftsmen when they joined his institute), intends nothing less than for no one go to Africa; fair enough if he obstructed only the Mazza Institute; but he has agreed with the General that no other Franciscan can enter (Africa), if he is not from La Palma. My dear, this is just a 10th part of all that I have seen and have to tell you about Fr Lodovico. I would only like to add the false programme published in the Catholic papers A new direction etc. Good heavens! Either I was the being made fun of by Cardinal Barnabò and the Pope and the General, all three of whom promised me a Mission for the Institute and sent me to Africa for this purpose, or Fr Lodovico is an impostor. Think about this new direction given to the African Missions; and form your opinion.
[1243]
In spite of all these deep disappointments, I spent the most peaceful days with Fr Lodovico from 26th October to 8th January, without ever the shadow of a doubt, just as a loving son would spend with his father. Despite Fr Lodovico’s proceedings regarding me and anyone working for Africa, I will always do what good I can for him. Except, for the good of Africa, I would like to have a long talk with the Father General of the Franciscans. I am telling you how I feel about it, because you must not be fooled as I was fooled all the times I went to Naples. But now I have dealt with the man, I have seen what is positive in him, I have heard what good Neapolitan friars had to say to me; and only now, with supreme sorrow, have I opened my eyes. I would be glad to be mistaken, because Africa would find powerful assistance in Fr Lodovico. But I fear instead that Africa will benefit from him little: I have come to know the man thoroughly, and enough. Let us come to Khartoum.
[1244]
I have spoken to nine or ten traders in Khartoum and with one voice they all speak ill of the moral conduct of Fr Fabiano. He has 22 slave girls who have escaped from the Muslims. Some masters are protesting that he obtained their slaves through the Austrian consul; but he does not react. He has no doings with outsiders, he gets drunk on eau de vie from morning to night, etc. and lives like a Muslim with his slave girls. These are the rumours which the rascally traders are spreading about Fr Fabiano. I do not believe any of them; and I consider Fr Fabiano innocent. But what is positive in all this is that the Consul Hansal has sent a tremendous report to the Consul General of Egypt, who showed it all to me, even the Father’s feeble defence of himself. Now the Consul General is sending a report to the Minister in Vienna, charging the Missionary: the Consul tells me that at the Mission, which is in the small house in the garden where the slave girls live, three mulatto babies were born, and all Khartoum believes… Fr Fabiano writes to the Consul General that a few slave girls are necessary to the Mission to make bread. The fact is that he is a priest alone and exposed to these calumnies, without having been able to confess for a long time, etc. I write this to you, as Father of the Mission, so that should you be able to remedy the matter and verify it, and do something positive for Fr Fabiano, you may do so. I have begged the consul not to write to Vienna, but instead to get in touch with the Bishop of Egypt.
[1245]
The railway from Cairo to Aswan has already been begun, and in a few years the stretch from Aswan to Khartoum will be completed. Other railways between Suakim and Berber will connect the Nile with the Red Sea. It takes only a month now to go from Cairo to Khartoum via Suakim. Another 3,000 soldiers have left for Sudan, and three great Egyptian provinces will be formed on the White Nile. The Prussian Protestant school in Khartoum is flourishing, and is frequented much more by the European colony than the Catholic one. In Assiut there is another Anglican school. What will be the results of these events on the faith? I wrote a short report on them to Barnabò.
[1246]
I am convinced, and so are all the Missionaries of Egypt, that the application of the Plan for the Regeneration of Africa in Upper Egypt is one of the most suitable ways to be of use to Central Africa. Since the saga of the division is going to be somewhat drawn out (and of course it will be effected according to your idea, as the wisest and fairest), I therefore feel I am doing something useful by founding two small Institutes, a female one in Negadeh and a male one in Kenne; with the double objective of serving Egyptian Coptic youth and at the same time, preparing elements for the Africans.
[1247]
For this purpose I have diligently visited all the spots in Upper Egypt where there is a Catholic Station. On reaching Cairo, I presented a small project to the Prefect Apostolic of Upper Egypt, in which I suggested strengthening this Mission by applying my Plan for the Regeneration of Africa. The Prefect, urged by all his Missionaries, accepted my proposal and submitted it to Cardinal Barnabò. So I wrote a very nice letter to the Cardinal and among other things, requested him to authorise me to found a small Institute in Negadeh, where I would bring in whichever Sisters His Eminence preferred. I will also form another small group of African girls in Cairo, under the care of the Sisters who live there. But on this point I shall write to you in detail with the next steamship.
[1248]
Likewise, I will send you a short account of our journey to Shellal. The famous and interesting conversation I had with Lesseps, who gave me wise advice on how to apply the Plan, etc. Fr Lodovico arrived in Naples on 27th January. He will open a house teaching crafts in Old Cairo, which will be directed by his Priest nephew; something which vexes the friars here in Cairo. He acquired a house near the cemetery, under the obligation of celebrating just one Mass a week. The director of studies will be that African Morsal, whom I took to Naples in ’62. But a further explanation about this.
[1249]
The Father President of Shellal asked me to send him money. I left Fr Lodovico with 4 gold Napoleons. Fr Francesco sent him another 30 thalers from Cairo. One of the reasons why that President will stay firmly in his place is the hope that he will not lack what he needs. It is therefore of capital interest to the Mission to help him. If he is given assistance, he will stay put even on his own. Therefore, if you can, make sure you help him as soon as possible. But it would be better if you sent the money directly through the Consul and Fathalla, because there is a risk it would be intercepted in Naples as happened last Autumn. The President told me that several hundred of these New Directions were being disseminated in Naples and also proclaimed by Habaschy and himself in churches, and that 500 scudi were collected: these were then mixed in, as both the priests of Shellal told me, with Fr Lodovico’s craft work. Our Superior in Verona had the same little defect. Thus the President advised me: “If you can give me aid, let me have it directly, and I will account to you for everything”.
[1250]
I am staying in Cairo until the middle of Lent; I then go to Verona via Rome where I must discuss things with Propaganda. In Verona I fetch the African girls and take them back to Egypt. So please take care of our little African boy Lokwis, whom with Kachwal I should like to take with me to Egypt. But first I must empty all my thoughts into your heart and act on your advice.

[1251]
I do not want to waste time; I want to work and live for Africa alone, and for the conversion of the Africans. I hope that God will help me and grant me great graces, and that you will always be my father, counsellor, friend, master and everything. I fear nothing, I trust in God. A thousand respects to his Reverend Highness, and to his Secretary, to the master of the African, to the African, etc.

Tuissimus in corde et opere

Fr Daniel Comboni