Kategoria: News from Rome

But women had remained outside this movement. This is because [male] missionaries, because of the prejudices current in the country, cannot approach women directly. Only other women are able to approach pagan women freely, to heal their wounds, to touch their hearts in this way. But where to find religious sisters who agree to devote themselves to such a mission, to brave the fatigue of long months of travel through those deserts, where you cannot even think of using beasts of burden, because a fly will bite them and cause them to die!

Today, Most Holy Father, I therefore request Your Holiness, as I already had the honour of speaking to you about it, to please remove this obstacle by doing for the great desert what you did for Zanguebar (sic), in erecting it as a Vicariate Apostolic that would be provisionally entrusted to the Archdiocese of Algiers.

The Missions of Algiers have taken the name for their missions only from the name of the River Congo and not at all from the name of the kingdom of Congo. As the Sacred congregation for the Propaganda can easily see from the memorandum presented to it concerning their demarcation, these two missions have their centres, the first at the northern boundary of the River Congo.

This is only a plan, and nothing will be decided before the month of September, after the retreat, which I wish to direct myself. All the Sisters without exception, apart from those who are necessary for the functioning of the hospital of the Attafs, must attend.