Familia Comboniana 719 - May 2014

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Perpetual Professions

Priestly ordinations

Holy Redeemer Guild

May                 01 – 15 ET           16 – 31 I

June                01 – 07 ER           08 – 15 LP              16 – 30 P

Prayer intentions

May – That Mary, the welcoming woman, may obtain for us from the Father the gifts of allowing God to dwell in us ever more deeply and of remaining faithful to our missionary vocation, happy to serve the peoples so that they may have life in abundance. Lord hear us.

June – That, following the example of St. Daniel Comboni, we may keep our eyes fixed on the Crucified One, in order to assimilate the sentiments of his Heart and become witnesses of them through communion among ourselves, with the local Churches and with the poorest. Lord hear us.

Publications

Fr. Neno Contran – Fr. Eliseo Tacchella, Tu les connais? Des mots plus ou moins importants, Afriquespoir 2014, Kinshasa. This a veritable dictionary which presents, in alphabetical order, the approximately three thousand existing words that have the suffix “ism”, that are to be found in the speeches of politicians, economists, the wise and the communicators even in Africa. The content deals with various topics concerning “very ancient questions, often already postmodern. It aims at opening windows and showing pathways which – Fr Neno and Fr Eliseo hope – will encourage the search for answers.”

CURIA

Conclusion of the CYOF 2014

The conclusion of the 16th edition of the Comboni Year of Ongoing Formation (CYOF) was marked on 4 April with a Mass concelebrated with the other members of the Rome Generalate. For the twenty participants, it was a solemn moment of thanksgiving and praise to God. One section of the group will be concluded at the end of April with a week of spiritual exercises while the rest will conclude their course at the end of May, after doing the Ignatian Month.

Fr. Siro Stocchetti, one of those in charge of the Course, in his homily stressed that “the CYOF gives missionaries the opportunity to pause and engage in a more conscious and profound encounter with themselves, St. Daniel Comboni and their confreres but, most of all, it is a time clarifying and deepening one’s relationship with the Lord, who is the foundation of the mission, in order to have attitudes that are freer, more authentic and more generous, the fruit of greater personal integration and of a more profound encounter with God”.

ESPAÑA

150^th Anniversary of the Plan celebrated as a Comboni Family

On 5 - 6 April, 2014, at the headquarters of Mundo Negro in Madrid, men and women missionaries and Lay Comboni Missionaries – around seventy in all – gathered to study and actualise Comboni’s Plan for the Regeneration of Africa.

With the incalculable assistance of Fr. Joaquim Valente, there emerged some essential aspects of the Plan, not always lived with that passion and clarity with which they were felt by St. Daniel Comboni. It was said that, to be faithful to the received charism, the Comboni presence in Spain must not have just an individual dimension but it is called to share and discern as a Comboni Family the manner by which God wishes to communicate life through his missionaries and to identify – together – places and ways where we can respond to the cry of the needy, with the diversity of vocations as the starting point.

It has been, perhaps, the first time the confreres of the province met to discuss such aspects of their work. It was an encounter that filled everyone with joy and which, since it was extremely useful, will be followed by other meetings.

ETHIOPIA

Provincial assembly and perpetual vows

On 12 March, during the annual provincial Assembly in Hawassa, the scholastic Endrias Shamena Keriba made his solemn profession. The ceremony was also attended by his family members, the confreres of the province, a representation from the Comboni Sisters and the Comboni Lay Missionaries who have grown deep roots in Ethiopia after more than four years since their arrival.

The Assembly, characterized by an atmosphere of serene sharing, dealt with the presentation of the history of the Province since the arrival of the Comboni Missionaries in Hawassa, 50 years ago. Thus to mark this 50^th anniversary, which, of course, coincides with the 50^th anniversary of the expulsion of the Comboni Missionaries from Sudan, the Provincial Council decided to set up a commission to organize relevant events in collaboration with the rest of the Comboni Family in Ethiopia.

ITALIA

Limone: Symposium on communications and mission

The European Group for Theological Reflection (GERT), organised a Symposium in Limone sul Garda, at the native home of St. Daniel Comboni from 22 to 25 April. It was the eighth such Symposium and had as its theme “What mission do we communicate? From the Annals of the Good Shepherd to the Internet streaming of today”. About thirty Combonis took part between confreres, Comboni Sisters, Seculars and Lay Comboni Missionaries.

A Round Table discussion was held among the representatives of the Comboni missionary publications in Europe – Nigrizia, Combonifem, Mundo Negro, Audácia and Azione Missionaria – to underline the resources and particular characteristics of each magazine in presenting the mission, today, in Europe and in the world.

Verona 25 April 2014: Arena of Peace and Disarmament

This was an incredible day with the Verona Arena crowded by about 13,000 people gathered to celebrate the Arena of Peace and Disarmament. Eleven years on from the previous meeting of this kind in 2003, nobody expected such numbers. At the beginning of the demonstration, Fr. Venanzio Milani, President of the Association “Arena of Peace and Disarmament” and the architect of the organisation, recalled its members: 30 lay and Catholic networks, both national and international; more than 50 organs involved in solidarity, volunteering, peace, ecology, the economics of justice, ten cultural foundations, forty magazines both printed and on-line (including Nigrizia and Combonifem); 8 centres of study for peace and disarmament, hundreds of local groups throughout Italy, and many more. It was interesting to see how many young participants were present.

Among the speakers were well-known personalities from the religious, economic and political spheres: Don Ciotti, Fr. Zanotelli, Lidia Menapace, Maurizio Landini, Gad Lerner, Mgr. Luigi Bettazzi, Alice Mabota, president of the League of human rights in Mozambique, and others. Alongside these interventions there were those of artists and musicians such as Eugenio Finardi, Simone Cristicchi, Alberto Patrucco, David Riondino and others.

There were important messages of support from the Speaker of the House, Laura Boldrini, from the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, from Cardinal Loris Capovilla and from Gino Strada.

The day ended with a commitment to create a mentality of peace and the resolution to institute a Department for Civil Defence, unarmed and non-violent.

PERU-CHILE

Safeguarding creation

In January and February, 2014, four meetings on the theme of land-grabbing took place chaired by Fr. Gian Paolo Pezzi, a member of the NAP and an expert in this field, as a journalist and member of VIVAT. He was assisted by Fr. Juan Goicochea who heads the JPIC Commission of the Province.

Among the participants were Comboni confreres and Sisters, postulants and scholastics, diocesan priests, religious men and women, professors, pastoral agents and even some ronderos (those responsible for security in the territory).

The theme is not well known in our environment but it is extremely important and urgent since 80% of Amazonia has already either been sold or conceded to multinationals and the same thing has happened in the desert areas along the coast. The multinationals are taking the natural resources of land and water without a thought for the ecology and so the population becomes dependent on these powers, with the danger of a new sort of slavery.

The four meetings were carried out in an area of social conflicts caused by large mining companies (such as in Bambamarca and Conga). Those who took part in the meetings took it upon themselves to make these issues known in their respective communities. In conclusion, a letter was written to Pope Francis to let him know our concerns regarding these issues.

In January, Fr. Juan Goicochea, with a team from our parish of Lima-Chorrillos, wrote and published two books for children and youths on the issues of JPIC. The books were well received in many dioceses, parishes and schools and a new edition is already being planned.

PORTUGAL

Comboni Family on Retreat

Seventy members of the Comboni Family in Portugal have done a week-long retreat together to mark the tenth anniversary of the canonisation of the Founder.

Eight Brothers, ten novices, sixteen Sisters, sixteen Seculars and twenty Fathers took part in the retreat held at the Casa de Retiros at Leiria, from March 30 to 5 April.

Comboni Missionary Fr. Fernando Domingues, Secretary General of the Work of St. Peter Apostle, developed the theme “Comboni holiness”, beginning with the Gospel of Matthew, the Writings of Comboni and Evangelii Gaudium by Pope Francis.

Mgr. António Marto, Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, made a brief visit and greeted the participants with the words “The Gospel comes through you and your work”.

SOUTH SUDAN

Easter celebrations at the camps

Holy week in South Sudan was marked by violence. Hundreds of people were killed, the majority being civilians, after rebel forces overran Bentiu town (Unity State), while in Bor town (Jonglei State) on Holy Thursday an armed youth group opened fire against unarmed IDPs civilians (Internally Displaced Persons) at a UN camp. The UN mission in South Sudan offers protection to more than 35,000 displaced people, mostly from the Nuer ethnic community, while the number of displaced people in the whole country is over a million.

Despite all of this, missionaries of different Institutes joined at the two IDPs camps in Juba town to celebrate Easter. The Easter Triduum was well attended and celebrated with joy. The missionaries visited, prayed and offered food relief and psychological support to the people in the camps. A true sign of the resurrection of Christ in the life of these people whose suffering seems to have no end.

Let us pray for our beloved dead

THE FATHERS: Josef, of Fr. Pius Daprè (DSP); Kintamo Kirba, of Fr. Kifle Kintamo Kirba (RSA).

THE MOTHERS: Delma, of Fr. Luigi Marcolongo (I); Catalina, of Fr. José Arellano Hernández (EGSD); Alicia, of Fr. Fernando Cortés Barbosa (M).

THE BROTHER: Beniamino, of Fr. Alfonso Zulianello (T).

THE SISTERS: Marília, of Fr. Abílio Augusto Sampaio de Faria Simães (P); Fernanda, of Fr. José Carlos Mendes da Costa (P).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTER: Sr. M. Antonia Zeni.