General Council of the Combonis is in solidarity with Mozambique and Malawi

MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY TO THE CONFRERES OF MOZAMBIQUE AND MALAWI

The General Council of the Comboni Missionaries, which is meeting for the Consulta in Rome, is following with sorrow the tragedy caused by the violent cyclone Idai, which struck Mozambique and Malawi on the 14^th of March. Particularly shocking are the news and images coming from the Mozambican city of Beira, and its surroundings, in the centre of the country, which reveal the pain, sadness and grief that these people are going through. There are hundreds of people dead, others wounded and disappeared, including relatives of our confreres, damaged harvests, infrastructure completely destroyed or damaged and out of service, such as houses, schools, churches, bridges and roads.

Among the messages we received from some confreres in Mozambique and Malawi, we highlight those of the provincial superior of the Comboni missionaries in Mozambique, Fr. Constantino Bogaio, and of His Excellency the Most Reverend Bishop Claudio Dalla Zuanna, Archbishop of Beira. Their words are a clear appeal for solidarity with the Mozambican people affected by this devastating cyclone.

The General Council, confronted with so much suffering and human despair, wants to respond to these calls for help as much as possible, expressing its concrete solidarity with the people of Mozambique and Malawi, through material aid to the most affected people and through prayer for all the victims of the cyclone.

We want to ensure our communion and fraternal presence to the 63 Comboni missionaries working in Mozambique and Malawi, and especially to those in the areas most affected by the cyclone, to the communities of Beira and Muxungué, in Mozambique, and the communities of Balaka, and Lirangwe, in Malawi.

We are sure that other Comboni circumscriptions will also collaborate generously in the reconstruction of the lives of these populations.

We will continue to pray through the intercession of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of Mozambique, that this suffering may be overcome and transformed into a source of Life for these peoples.
On behalf of the General Council of the Comboni Missionaries
P. Tesfaye Tadesse