Togo: Six Comboni missionaries definitively commit to the service of the mission

The newly perpetually professed are Sch. Andrew Twesigwe (Uganda), Sch. Kpogo Komi Jules (Togo), Sch. Amado Komlan Prosper (Togo), Sch. Aguiar Vignon Michel (Benin), Sch. Davon Kossigan Sylvestre (Togo), and Sch. Dzikunu Winfred Etse (Ghana).

The Eucharistic celebration, which began at 9:00 a.m., gathered some thirty confreres from almost all the communities of the Province, the families of the newly professed, numerous faithful, and several friends of the mission. It was presided over by Father Katsan Fodagni Kokouvi (Fidèle), Provincial Superior, who received the perpetual vows on behalf of the Superior General, Fr. Luigi Codianni.

The liturgical animation, led by the Federation of Choirs of the Cacaveli Christian Community, gave this celebration a profound spiritual depth and an infectious joy, expressing the thanksgiving of the entire Institute for the gift of six new lives entirely offered to God and to the mission.

In his homily, Fr. Fidèle expounded on the profound meaning of religious profession in the light of the Word of God, the Rule of Life of the Comboni Missionaries, and the spirituality of St. Daniel Comboni.

Commenting on the day’s liturgical texts, he recalled that the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience are not primarily renunciations, but a way of fully participating in the life of Christ. He highlighted the prophetic value of religious vows for the Kingdom of God. The Rule of Life teaches that religious profession is a consecration that configures us more intimately to Christ, missionary of the Father, and totally engages us in his mission. Through the evangelical counsels, the Combonian becomes a living sign of the Kingdom of God and makes himself available to be sent wherever the Church and the Institute need him. This perpetual profession constitutes a new chapter in the realization of the missionary dream of St. Daniel Comboni, who dedicated his entire life to the evangelization of the most abandoned peoples.

Following in the footsteps of Christ and in the footsteps of the Founder, who made the mission the very reason for his existence and for whom the mission consists in “making common cause with the peoples entrusted to us” (Writings 3159), these six confreres choose to share the destiny of the peoples to whom they will be sent, particularly the poorest, the most forgotten, and those who have not yet received the proclamation of the Gospel.

One of the most moving moments of the celebration came at the end of the Eucharist. Indeed, in a gesture imbued with simplicity, gratitude, and deep communion, the Provincial Superior and Fr. Sandro Cadei, probus vir, went to personally greet the parents of the newly perpetually professed. With a fraternal embrace, they expressed to them the gratitude of the entire Institute for the generous gift of their sons to the mission.

This highly symbolic gesture recalled that families are the first soil where a vocation is born and grows. By welcoming, accompanying, and supporting the call of their children, they themselves become true collaborators in the universal mission of the Church.

The celebration, which concluded at around midday, continued in a fraternal and festive atmosphere where confreres, families, friends, and the faithful shared the joy of this definitive commitment, manifesting the vitality of the TGB Province and the hope aroused by these new consecrations.

One week later the six scholastics were ordained deacons.

Fr. Jean-Michel Adom, MCCJ