Philippines – Four young men begin their novitiate in Manila

In the presence of the formative community of the ‘St. Daniel Comboni’ Seminary in Quezon City and the community of the Comboni Mission Centre in Sucat Paranaque, John Baptist Lã Văn Đường, Paul Bảo Diệp (Vietnamese), Nelson Finiasse and Júlio Manuel dos Santos (Mozambicans) were welcomed into the novitiate with a Eucharistic celebration presided by Fr. Victor Cunanan Paruñgao, representing the delegate superior, Fr. Víctor Manuel Aguilar Sánchez.

In communion with the whole Institute, we give thanks for the generosity of the families of our candidates and for the trust that the Institute places in each one of us for their formation.

During the celebration the recently renovated rooms for the new novices were also blessed. This event represents an important milestone for the delegation, which for the first time in its history welcomes candidates from Africa, the continent so beloved by St. Daniel Comboni.

With the admission of the four new novices, the novitiate community – together with the three second-year novices who are living their pastoral experience in St. Daniel Comboni Parish in Bataan, under the guidance of the novice master, Fr. Pierpaolo Monella – hopes that the novices will always renew their missionary enthusiasm and strengthen their sense of belonging to the Church and to the Institute. The occasion created an atmosphere of hope for the future and was shared with a fraternal meal and the joy of the confreres who have responded and continue to respond to the call of the mission in the charism of our founder, St. Daniel Comboni.
Fr. Victor Cunanan Paruñgao, mccj