In this interview, Father Nicolas Dyemo, Missionary of Africa, and Sister Marie Chantal Nikiema, Sister of Jeanne Delanoue share the launch of the new network in Mali, and the main challenges in the fight against trafficking in persons in the country:
Father Christian Mulenga, Provincial of the Province of Southern Africa,
informs you of the return to the Lord of the stagiaire
on Monday 6 February 2023 in Chezi, Malawi
at the age of 25 years.On pastoral stage in Chezi, Malawi.
Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.
Download here the announcement of Stagiaire Jean Florent Toro’s death
Father Jesús Zubiría O., Provincial Delegate of the sector of Spain,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father
on Thursday, 2nd February 2023 in Pamplona (Spain)
at the age of 81 years, of which 55 years of missionary life
in Mali and Spain.
Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.
Download here the announcement of Father Fernando Sanzberro Arburua’s death
Four confreres, all four from Burkina Faso, have been ordained priests: Jean-Luc Compaoré, Ephrahim Konkobo, Aimé Ouédraogo, and André Sawadogo. All finished their theological studies in Merrivale, South Africa.
The Province of West Africa (PAO) chose to assemble the four ordinations in the same place, given the socio-political situation in Burkina Faso. Two of the ordinands come from “red zones” where it is difficult, for the moment, to travel and organise such gatherings. The parish of Saint John XXIII in Ouagadougou, for which we are responsible, welcomed and well-organised the celebration.
Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, Archbishop of Ouagadougou, presided over the celebration, accompanied by Cardinal Laurent Dabiré, President of the Burkina/Niger Bishops’ Conference and Bishop of Dori, and Monsignor Giorgio Bernardi, Italian Bishop Emeritus who has worked in Dori for many years.
There were also around 70 priests, many religious men and women and a very large number of Christians from the parish of Saint John XXIII.
The Eucharist was very beautiful and prayerful. Considering the current situation in the country, trust, hope and fraternity have been present during the whole celebration.
Jean-Luc Compaoré, from the parish of Our Lady of the Apostles in Ouagadougou, is going on a mission to Burundi. Ephrahim Konkobo, from the parish of Wakara in the diocese of Dédougou, is going on a mission to Ghana. Aimé Ouédraogo, from the parish of Ziniaré, near Ouagadougou, is going on a mission to Mozambique. André Sawadogo, from the parish of Dori, is going on a mission to Congo DR.
We congratulate them and wish them a fruitful missionary apostolate wherever they are sent. May the spirit of Christ always be their support.
Alain Fontaine.
Father Hugh Seenant, Provincial Delegate of the sector of Great Britain,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father
on Sunday, 29th January 2023 in Southwark (Great-Britain)
at the age of 90 years, of which 61 years of missionary life
in Italy, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Great-Britain.
Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.
Download here the announcement of Father Alyward Shorter’s death
Father Emmanuel Lengaigne, Provincial Delegate of the sector of France,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father
on Thursday 22th December 2022 in Bry-sur-Marne (France)
at the age of 91 years, of which 66 years of missionary life
in D.R. Congo and France.
Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.
Download here the announcement of Father Jean-Claude Baratte’s death
The death of a confrere is often a source of sadness, but the one of Richard, Cardinal Richard, is felt as a tragedy because it is difficult for us to separate it from the succession of events since May. He was appointed Cardinal, then President of SECAM, he came to Rome for the consistory and for this we mobilised ourselves to give thanks and celebrate here at the Generalate, receiving delegations and friends from all over! All of a sudden, everything stopped!
Since his death, we have tried to make sense of it all. Only one feeling prevails: only God knows. It is only in faith, in the word of God, that we have found consolation, for faith and the word do indeed bring us back to what we deeply are, brothers and sisters of Christ, adopted sons and daughters destined for the fullness of life in God. Baptised with Christ into death, as we heard in the first reading, Richard entered and still lives in the new life. We believe that, as in his life he ate the “living bread that came down from heaven”, he will “live forever” and we hope that we too will live with him when the time comes.
Allow me to share a word about Cardinal Richard. Those who lived with him appreciated his total commitment to the good of the Society and of the confreres. Richard was a great worker but he was also a charming companion. As we know, his health was not good and several times he had to stop and had to be hospitalised. But when he was discharged, he was back at it again: trips, visits, meetings and conferences. Richard had become a true representative of our Society and an icon for many of us. His last appointments show how much his intelligence, his clear-sightedness and his commitment were recognised at the level of the Church in Africa and of the Universal Church.
During the Mass of thanksgiving for his nomination as Cardinal that I presided over here, I mentioned how happy we were to welcome different delegations in the house where he lived for 16 years! That’s longer than he lived anywhere else in the same place! It is beautiful in a way that it is in this house that he spent his last days on earth.
We will miss him for a long time. We pray that he may rest in peace and be reunited in joy with the One he served so well.
Father Stanley Lubungo,
Superior General
Farewell Mass – 19/12/2022
Before the body of the late Cardinal, His Eminence Richard Kuuia Baawobr, M.Afr., leaves Rome for the funeral in Ghana, which will take place on January 11 and 12, 2023, a Eucharistic celebration will take place on Saturday, December 17, 2022, in the chapel of the Pontifical Urbaniana University, at 10.30 a.m. It will be presided over by His Eminence Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. Concelebrants are asked to bring alb and purple stole.
Rome, December 9, 2022
Andre-L. Simonart, M.Afr.,
Secretary General
Father Ivo Wellens, Provincial Delegate of the sector of Belgium,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father
on Tuesday 06 December 2022 in Bruges (Belgium)
at the age of 76 years, of which 51 years of missionary life
in Rwanda and Belgium.
Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.
Download here the announcement of Father Marc François’s death
