Familia Comboniana 840 - May 2025

GENERAL ADMINISTRATION

Ordinations

Holy Redeemer Guild

May                 01 – 15 ET           16 – 31 I

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

Prayer intentions

May

Let us pray to the Lord for the prophets of our day who, scattered throughout the world, render visible his Kingdom of Justice and Peace: may their testimony question our way of living and renew our missionary commitment. Lord, hear us.

June

Let us pray that, following the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd of the Pierced Heart, we may be able to fashion relationships of mercy and welcoming in the reality of our daily lives. Lord, hear us.

Comboni liturgical calendar

MAY

JUNE

Meaningful anniversaries

MAY

GIUGNO

Publications

Filippo Lovison (editor), Missionary Teachings – Writings in honour of Fr. Fidel González Fernández, mccj, on the occasion of his 80^th birthday. Editorial Mundo Negro, Rome 2025, pp. 675. Commissioned by his confreres, students, colleagues and friends, the volume collects the contributions of thirty-four authors from various university, ecclesiastical, religious and cultural institutions scattered throughout the world. The first section reports those multifaceted Missionary teachings that emerge in different realities of the five continents from the origins of the Church to the present day. The second section collects seven “Memories and testimonies” of Father Fidel by confreres and friends, while the third offers a brief biography and an extensive review of his many publications of a historical nature.

BRAZIL

25^th anniversary of the educative project ‘Mãos dadas’

The idea was born in the head and heart of Father Armindo da Silva Dinis, a Portuguese Comboni missionary, who, feeling challenged by widespread poverty, high unemployment, too many children without education, massive drug consumption and numerous violations of human rights in the suburbs of Timon, decided to launch the ‘Mãos Dadas’ (‘united hands’) project, with the help of the local Christian community and the support of Portuguese and Italian sponsors.

Cherished for some time by Father Armindo, the dream of offering children from the poorest families the opportunity to study and build a better future became a reality on 15^th March 2000, the day of the birth of St. Daniel Comboni – chosen as the patron saint of the project – with the inauguration of the ‘Mãos Dadas’ School.

The pedagogical aim of the project is not limited to formal education, but tends to offer a set of initiatives and activities that aim to restore citizenship to children and adolescents in situations of social dangers, developing their talents and imparting to them a professional training for adult life.

Inspired by Comboni’s motto – “Save Africa with Africa” – the school has adopted as its slogan “Study and work to promote our own people”. With more than 800 students enrolled full-time and from more than 500 low-income families, the school contributes significantly to reversing the region’s dismal socioeconomic indicators. On 15^th March, the school celebrated its 25^th anniversary.

Congratulations to the ‘Mãos Dadas’ Educational Project for its 25 years of mission through quality education for underprivileged children. And congratulations to the many people who have worked, ‘hand in hand’, to make this great dream a reality.

The Community Movement for Mental Health presents an award to Father Bonvini

Father Ottorino Bonvini, an Italian Comboni missionary, was awarded the Medalha Iracema, the highest honour of the city of Fortaleza, for his commitment to promoting free and complete community assistance and therapies through the Community Movement of Mental Health. His work, carried out together with several collaborating therapists, has already had a positive impact on thousands of people.

The Community Mental Health Movement was founded by Father Ottorino Bonvini and a group of local leaders in 1996, on the outskirts of Fortaleza. The Movement has grown and today contributes to improving the quality of life, self-esteem and emancipation of the most needy population through the application of integrative and complementary practices (holistic biopsychosocial-spiritual approach).

The recognition of the validity of the project reaffirms the importance of community work. The Community Mental Health Movement is in fact made up of many hands. Some of the collaborators were present at the ceremony, which took place on 11^th April 2025 and was attended by local and national authorities. Father Bonvini is now coordinator of the Health and Quality of Life Commission of the Comboni Province of Brazil.

EGYPT-SUDAN

Presentation of diplomas at the Helwan Holy Family School for Boys

In an atmosphere full of pride and joy, the graduation ceremony was celebrated on 12^th April for students who finished their courses at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. This was the 43rd edition of this ceremony in the rich and inspiring history of the Holy Family School for Boys in Helwan.
We were honoured by the presence of Father Diego Dalle Carbonare, Provincial Superior, His Grace Michael, Orthodox Bishop of Helwan-Maasara and the surrounding areas, Professor Dr. Abdel Aziz Fahmy, administrative director of the school, a large group of Comboni Sisters and Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Egyptians), and numerous priests of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. This rich representation gave a special touch to the celebration, reaffirming the appreciation and continued support enjoyed by our educational and moral mission.

The death of Pope Francis and Interreligious Dialogue

With the death of Pope Francis, the voices of many politicians from around the world have been heard to express solidarity with the Catholic Church. In our province, messages of condolence and solidarity have multiplied from our Muslim friends, teachers in our schools and acquaintances. From everyone we hear words of appreciation for the life and message of Pope Francis. His attention to the least and his appeals in defence of the victims of injustice, especially in the great wars that are shaking the world, especially the Middle East, have reached the hearts of many people, belonging to every faith.

For Francis, the option for the poor can truly become the linchpin of interreligious dialogue. “Today we cannot fail to recognise that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach, which must integrate justice in debates on the environment, to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (Laudato si’, 49).

This dream of fraternity concerns all of humanity, but is entrusted in a particular way to believers of different religions, invited to be “the voice of the least fortunate... to stand on the side of the poor and to keep watch as sentinels of fraternity in the night of conflict” (Pope Francis, Address on the occasion of the signing of the Document on ‘Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together’, Abu Dhabi, 4^th February 2019).

ITALIA

Pilgrims to the native home of Saint Daniel Comboni

The house where Saint Daniel Comboni was born, in Limone sul Garda, lit up     by the sun, the intense green of the olive trees, the dark blue of the lake, the steep overhanging rocks that surround it, and Mount Baldo with its peak covered in snow, have aroused wonder and joy in all the pilgrims for the beauty and spirituality of the place. This is the experience lived by two groups of pilgrims on 5^th and 6^th April 2025. The first group came from the parish of Fontaniva, in the diocese of Vicenza but in the province of Padua, to remember the Comboni bishop, Msgr. Camillo Ballin, their beloved fellow countryman, on the fifth anniversary of his death (in Rome, on 12^th April 2020, at the age of 75). The second group was made up of people from the diocese of Padua, accompanied by Comboni missionary animators, eager to experience a day of spirituality in memory of Father Ezechiele Ramin, on the 40th anniversary of his killing.

Mons. Camillo Ballin was first a missionary in the Arab-Muslim lands (Egypt and Sudan), the dream of his youth, then Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia). He was intellectually very gifted, capable of beautiful and fraternal relationships with everyone, a profound connoisseur of the Arabic language, the culture and history of the Arab-Muslim world. He organised schools of higher education. He was a bishop appreciated for his humanity and ability to welcome. His was a difficult mission, lived with great patience, respecting diversity.

Father Ezechiele Ramin, in Brazil from 1983 to 1985, made the preferential choice of the poor: that is, to live and work mainly for them in the name of Jesus. Arriving in Cacoal (Rondônia), he soon realised the abuses to which the peasants and indigenous people were subjected while being dispossessed of their lands, and began to make common cause with them. On 24^th July 1985, returning from a peace-making mission among farmers and landowners, he fell into an ambush and died riddled with gunshots, forgiving his attackers. He was 32 years old.

The ‘pilgrims’ recognised in these two missionaries the sanctity and beauty of the vocation and mission according to the charism of Saint Daniel Comboni, often called ‘the Prophet of Africa’, ‘the friend of Africa and Africans’, the shepherd according to the pierced heart of Christ crucified. (Father Gaetano Montresor, mccj).

MÉXICO

Jubilee of Hope Missionary Camp 2025 at Metlatónoc

Five Comboni Lay Missionaries (LMC) – 4 Mexicans and a Costa Rican – participated in the Holy Week missionary camp, accompanied by Father Miguel Navarrete Arceo, mccj, parish priest of San Miguel Arcángel, a parish in the diocese of Tlapa, entrusted to the Comboni Missionaries on 19^th October 2001, in the state of Guerrero, located in the southwestern part of Mexico. Beatriz Sánchez writes: «It was an experience of hope for us. The people of the different areas of the parish where we worked welcomed us very well, perhaps because it was the first time they met the LCM. At the beginning, everything seemed complicated to us. Soon, however, things changed and the experience was fruitful and of great learning value for everyone. We shared our faith starting from our experience, even with the difficulty and limitation of not knowing the local language and customs. The Christians opened their hearts to us, paying attention to us and participating actively. They also expressed their gratitude to each of us at different times».

«There were many obstacles encountered, among which the difficulty in communicating as we would have liked and the lack of knowledge of the customs and culture stood out. Some of us even got sick. Fortunately, there was something that united us: faith in Jesus Christ lived and celebrated during the Holy Week of this Jubilee Year 2025, including processions, moments of prayer and Eucharistic celebrations».

«We learned that we must know how to listen, know people without judging, learn from the people who welcome us, respect the values in which they believe, grasp and appreciate the great richness that is in them, be available to accept the “new”, show due respect to local leaders, live the mission according to the Comboni charism, that is, evangelising the poorest and most abandoned, accepting the crosses we encounter without being discouraged, and always remembering that we are here for Christ, whom we love, serve and to whom we want to give Glory». [Beatriz Sánchez, with Tadeo, Felisa y Mariana (Mexican) and Carol (Costa Rican)]

SOUTH AFRICA

Provincial Assembly 2025

All the confreres of the province took part in the provincial assembly, which took place in the Maria Trost Pastoral Centre, in Lydenburg, from 21^st to 25^th April, in a friendly and serene atmosphere.

The work began with the intervention of the South African Stigmatine Father Nduduzo Jali, who addressed the theme of the responsible use of social media, highlighting both the positive and negative aspects, such as dependence on these communication tools and the risk of estrangement from community life.

Each of the eight communities of the province then presented its own report, following a shared scheme with which the signs of life, the challenges and the objectives to be pursued were made explicit.

The assembly officially approved the new Directory of the Province 2025, completing a process of reviewing and updating the previous document dated 2014.

The beginning of the discussion on the election of the new provincial superior was preceded by an analysis prepared by a select committee, which wanted to present various types of leadership and made explicit the most important needs of the province that the new superior and his council are called to address. After an exchange of views and opinions, the brothers voted with an opinion poll their preference for the next provincial superior.

During the Eucharist of thanksgiving on the last evening, the “jubilee” of some brothers was celebrated: Father Aldo Sierra, for 25 years of priestly ordination; Father Rafael Armada, 25 years of perpetual vows; Father Edgardo Alfonso Vizcarra and Father Raul Tabaranza, 25 years of first religious profession. For Father Raul it was also a farewell and sending to the new mission in the Province of Malawi/Zambia to which he was assigned. (Father Efrem Tresoldi, mccj)

Renewal of Vows at Pietermaritzburg

On Saturday 26^th April, 14 scholastics renewed their vows in Pietermaritzburg, before the Provincial Superior, Father John Baptist Opargiw. They are: Tomety Yawo Emile and Kpekpe Kossi Pascal (Togo), Musiime Joseph Mukasa, Bakalu Frank and Rutaremwa Cleophas (Uganda), Duku Lumago Thomas Eugenio and Oliha Emmanuel Felix (South Sudan), Mwachande Jacob Msanjama and Gerald Paul Hieronimo (Malawi), Phiri Steven (Zambia), Ts’ooana Karabo April (Lesotho), Ramos Alberto (Mozambique) and Tasson Rodríguez Luis Omar (Peru).

Father John Baptist presided over the Eucharist, concelebrated by the two formators, Father Joseph Maku and Father Aldo Sierra, the pastor of the host parish of Saint Joan of Arc, Father Endrias Shamena, and two Dominican friars, Father Neil and Father Michael. Also present at the ceremony were about 20 friends and other seminarians.

In his homily, Father John Baptist emphasised the importance of putting into practice what each voter has declared in the renewal formula, formulated as a prayer. The liturgical celebration, animated by joyful African songs, was followed by a fraternal agape in the hall.

May the Lord continue to guide these young confreres in their passion for the mission, as true disciples of Christ, with a special love for the poorest and most abandoned. May Saint Daniel Comboni intercede for all of us. (Father Aldo Serra, mccj.)

LET US PRAY FOR OUR BELOVED DEAD

THE BROTHERS: Jose Luis, of Father Franco Lorenzo Conrado (Pe); Ermanno, of Brother Giancarlo Bianchi (I); Giorgio, of Father Fernando Madaschi (I); Edoardo, of Father González Galarza Fernando (C).

THE COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS: Sister Baldassarre Carmelina(I); Sister Tironi Piertarcisia (I); Sister Benetello Gemma (I); Sister Pessima Carla Giuseppina (I); Sister Indrias Ghide Elisabetta M. (ER); Sister M. Loriana Rossato (I); Sister Garascia M. Bianca (I).

THE SECULAR COMBONI MISSIONARY: Ana Gomes de Amorim (Porto/P).