Comboni Missionaries hold retreat to celebrate 80 years of presence in Mozambique

Some forty missionaries began their annual retreat on Monday, 17 August. The week-long spiritual journey of silence and prayer takes on added importance for the Mozambican circumscription, which this year marks the 80^th anniversary of the Combonian presence in the country.

The gathering, which is taking place at the Anchilo Catechetical Centre in the Archdiocese of Nampula, about 20 kilometres from Nampula, is led by the Superior General of the Institute, Father Luigi Codianni.

The spiritual exercises bring together 37 missionaries working in the Northern, Central, and Southern regions of the country.

The call to renew the mission

The event opened with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Fr Codianni and concelebrated by fathers José Joaquim Luís Pedro and Massimo Robol, Provincial Superior and Vice-Provincial, respectively.

In the opening homily, the Superior General justified the choice of theme by the need to boost the missionary dimension, which, in his view, has weakened within the Institute.

Emphasising the importance of continuous renewal, he started from the rich young man’s question in the Gospel: “What do I still lack?” (Matthew 19:20b).

“It is not enough to observe external things without creating within ourselves the awareness that God is with us,” warned Fr Codianni.

The head of the Institute also insisted on fundamental points such as the gaze of Christ—a gaze that demands an examination of conscience regarding the human person—the surrender of the heart to God, and the spiritual memory of the simple.

The retreat concludes with the celebration of the perpetual vows of the Mozambican Combonian Felizardo Azevedo on Saturday, 22 August.

He will be ordained a deacon by Bishop António Constantino of Caia, in a special celebration at Carapira mission, in the Diocese of Nacala, on Sunday, 23 August, which concludes the 80^th anniversary of the Combonian presence in the country.

Fr Sérgio Mário Vilanculo, MCCJ