Missionaries of Africa

Closing the Jubilee Year in Cebu

Posted on 05/02/202005/02/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Closing celebration of the 150th anniversary in Cebu

On December 8, 2019 we joyfully celebrated in our Community House the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the closure of 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Missionaries of Africa.

Very early in the morning, a group of the friends of the Missionaries of Africa generously came to decorate the place where the Holy Mass was to take place. They also brought us some gifts and a gigantic cake prepared specifically for the occasion.

The choir was composed of Missionaries of Africa candidates and a group of the Friends of the Missionaries of Africa in the Philippines (FROMAP). Our talented candidates (Richard, Roberto, Mark, Vincent and Christian) did a tremendous work in preparing for the occasion.

The main celebrant was our confrere Fr. Mike (Michel) Agoh, who currently serves in the Parish of Malalag-Diocese of Digos. The co-celebrants were Frs. Bonaventure Gubazire, Boris Yabre, Luisito Poe, and an SDV Filipino priest, Fr. Gilberto, who served for a long time in Chad. Our stagiaire, Andy Deala, was also present.

During his homily Fr. Mike called upon the faithful to take Mother Mary as their model in matters of faith. Mary trusted in God and humbled herself to allow God to use her as an instrument of love for humanity. Those present were heartily touched to see a black man fluently speaking their local language – Cebuano.

The attendance was higher than expected. Among them were the parents of our confrere from Cebu, Clayb Caputolan, who is currently serving in Ethiopia.

Since our chapel is too small, we used our dining and sitting rooms for the occasion. The alleys of the house were also filled with well-wishers. Could the presence of a good number of friends suggest that our missionary presence and charism are well appreciated in this region? Many people say they feel at home in our communities both here in Cebu and in Malalag.

Could perhaps the fact of living in intercultural communities in itself be an apostolate?

After the celebration of the Eucharist, a catering group had already skilfully set tables, well decorated in white and blue to represent Marian colours. As it is a custom here, several lechon (whole roasted pigs) were served. The meat lovers among us rejoiced to the maximum.

The delicious meal was followed by entertainment. The lay Collaborators of the Missionaries of Africa and former Scholars of the Missionaries of Africa presented beautiful and artistic sketches. In the end, we all joined in the dance.

It was, indeed, a day marked by a joyful and blissful celebration. We give thanks to God who inspired our founder, Charles Cardinal Lavigerie, to dream of such a wonderful family of the Missionaries of Africa, a family elected to bear fruit and become a witness to God’s love and compassion in Africa and beyond.

May Mother Mary, Our Lady of Africa, continue to intercede for us!

From the SOA Newsletter – January 2020

Our confrere Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Portico in Campitelli

Posted on 04/02/202004/02/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Cardinal-Deacon Michael Fitzgerald

On Saturday, February 1, 2020 at 6:30 p.m., in the Church of Santa Maria in Portico in Campitelli, took place the solemn entry ceremony of Cardinal Fitzgerald into the Church which was assigned to him as Cardinal Deacon during the consistory of October 5, 2019.

On Sunday, February 2 at 10:00 a.m., surrounded by his parishioners, the parish priest, his fellow Missionaries of Africa confreres, including the Superior General Stan Lubungo, and seminarians, the new cardinal celebrated the Eucharist of the presentation of our Lord in the temple.

As a reminder, Michael Louis Cardinal Fitzgerald, served the Church as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Nuncio to Egypt before retiring. Today he is a member of the community of Missionaries of Africa serving in St Vincent’s Parish in Liverpool, Great Britain.

Freddy Kyombo, M.Afr.

Après l'entrée solennelle dans son église, le cardinal Fitzgerald prie devant l'autel entouré du curé et d'un diacre.

Le cardinal Fitzgerald prêche dans son église en la fête de la présentation de notre Seigneur au temple.

Présentation de la clé de l'église au cardinal diacre Michael Fitzgerald.

Précédé du Supérieur Général, Stan Lubungo, le Cardinal Fitzgerald sort de l'église après les vêpres.

See also Cardinal commissioning of Candlemas: “We follow the light” on the website of the VM Portico Church. SWITCH TO ENGLISH on TOP RIGHT

See also Fitzgerald: “I come among you in a spirit of service” on the website of the VM PorticoChurch.
SWITCH TO ENGLISH on TOP RIGHT

Closing the Jubilee Year in Bangalore

Posted on 04/02/202004/02/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

SOLA STUDY HOUSE - BANGALORE: CLOSURE OF JUBILEE ANNIVERSARY

On 7th of December, along with about 250 people from various religious communities and our friends, the two communities in India celebrated the closing of the 150th anniversary of our Society’s foundation at SOLA Study House in Bangalore.

In preparation for the event, the students worked hard at preparing paintings, artwork, banners and posters focussing on Africa and our Society and placed these around our compound. This presented a festive atmosphere in which the celebration took place.

The programme started with a Mass of thanksgiving, with Fr. Praween D’Souza, OFM, as the main celebrant, who was joined by the confreres of both houses. In the name of our two communities, Fr. Paul Johnston, rector of SOLA Study House, welcomed our guests before inviting Fr. Praween to lead us in prayer. In his homily, Fr. Praween emphasized the great missionary zeal of our founder Cardinal Charles Lavigerie and how his words encouraged the early missionaries to speak of Christ and to live like Christ, in the midst of life-threatening conditions.

During the offertory, several symbolic items were presented, including a unique picture of Cardinal Lavigerie painted by Lithin Varghese, one of our third-year students, who used only coffee powder. It was well appreciated by everyone. Music for the Mass was provided by our own SOLA Study House students and the African community in Bangalore when they arrived.

Following the Mass, the festive meal took place during which everyone was delighted and contented by a spicy-Indian buffet. When all were satisfied, our cultural soirée started with presentations from the African community of Bangalore and an Indian component, including presentations from both our communities. While some adjustments needed to be made, not even the light drizzle dampened the spirit of the evening.

The celebration was an important moment where, in the presence of our friends, we gave thanks to God for his abundant blessings and his constant protection on our Society for the past 150 years.

It was a remarkable and wonderful way to bring to a close our 150th Anniversary.

Albin Joseph – Third Year Student – Bangalore

(From SOA Newsletter – January 2020)

Life in CEBU Formation Community

Posted on 04/02/202004/02/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

LIFE IN CEBU FORMATION COMMUNITY

The Cebu Formation House is located at 4 Kalaw Street, Santo Nino Village, Banilad, Cebu City. The Community for the academic year 2019-2020 is composed of three priests (Frs. John Gould, Bonaventure Gubazire and Boris Yabre) and ﬁve Filipino candidates (Richard, Roberto, Mark, Vincent and Christian). Our candidates come from different islands of the Philippines and have come here to follow God’s call and are aspiring to be part of Missionaries of Africa community.

Our academic year started in August 2019 with a three-week immersion experience at the “Fazenda de Esperança”, a rehabilitation centre for people with addictions, which is located on Masbate Island, about 300km from Cebu City. On our return to the community, together with the formators, we held meeting to decide on how we would like to live together as a community. We came up with a document entitled “Community Orientation Plan” in which we outlined our expectations, means to achieve them, and the obstacles that we might encounter on our discernment journey. During our monthly recollection, we committed ourselves to our Community Orientation Plan under the theme: “Called by Jesus, we commit ourselves to grow in love through openness with one another as we discern our call.”

From a spiritual perspective, our daily life is centred upon Morning and Evening Prayer, coupled with meditation and the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Every third weekend of month we go for a recollection at Betania Retreat Centre – Lahug with the recollection animated either by one of the formators or someone from outside the community. These moments of recollection help us to be in touch with ourselves as well as to reflect upon our struggles and hopes and how we are being called to deepen our call to become disciples of Jesus in the Society of Missionaries of Africa. At the same time, they provide us with a moment of rest from our academic life.

From an academic perspective, we follow the Philosophy Program (B.A.) at the University of San Carlos, Talamban Campus, located at about 3 km from our Formation House. There we are challenged to reflect deeply. Apart from academic studies, in our community, we are also privileged to follow sessions and programmes, like human formation, English classes and initiation into the Missionaries of Africa Charism. All of these things put together provide us with a well-rounded formation.

We have candidates’ meetings and other platforms where we are free to share our life experiences as well as our challenges. Once a week, during our daily mass, we are invited to share our reflections during Mass. During these moments, we learn to listen to how God is speaking to us through Holy Scriptures and the events of our lives. Birthdays are celebrated on the last Friday of each month.

Every second Sunday of the month, we have an open mass for the Friends of the Missionaries of Africa (FROMAP).

Through these encounters, we are learning to relate with people of different ages and gender. We also do some vocation promotion through sharing our experiences with the young people who came to attend the Mass.

We are grateful to the Missionaries of Africa for granting us this opportunity to learn to become disciples of Jesus, also to discover and to develop our academic potential and to learn more about who I am as a person.

We congratulate our brother Kiran Joseph, from India, who received his ghandourah and rosary at a ceremony held in the Spiritual Formation Centre in Kasama. We keep Kiran and all our young brothers in our prayers.

(From SOA Newsletter – January 2020)

A 17-day immersion experience in the Farm of Hope

Posted on 04/02/202004/02/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

MASBATE PASTORAL EXPERIENCE IN FAZENDA DA ESPERANÇA

Masbate, an island in Bicol region, is at a crossroad of two Major Island in the Philippines – Luzon and Visayas. Its capital city is Masbate, but it is not in the city where we had our 17-day Immersion Experience.

It was in the place called Fazenda da Esperança, a name in Spanish meaning “Farm of Hope”, located in the town of Milagros, where we did our immersion experience.

Communication with those with whom we were living was difficult as there were people from different parts of the Philippines, but Tagalog was the common language used and became the middle ground for our communication.

Fazenda da Esperanca (Farm of Hope) is a place helping in the rehabilitation of people with various addictions like drugs, gambling, alcohol and even video games. Recovery is based upon three pillars:

- COMMUNITY: where love and unity are lived as a family;
- WORK: where each member of the community works for the food they eat daily as a way of making the project self-sustainable and
- SPIRITUALITY: which gives meaning and direction to their lives and helps them to discover that God is the one who journeys with them, who loves them and who provides them with the strength to make the journey toward recovery.

These three pillars are the foundation which we experienced during our Immersion Experience in Fazenda da Esperanca. We lived, worked and prayed as they do. Seeing these things and experiencing life in their community helped us to grow more in our formation and brought us closer to the reality of life.

By representative of student community – Cebu

(from the SOA Newsletter – January 2020)

News from the sector of France

Posted on 03/02/202004/02/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

News from the sector of France

Here are the latest news from the sector of France, only in French. In the next few days, if time permits, I’ll publish some of the more important articles in English.

Mini-lien nr 492

News from Section of Asia

Posted on 03/02/202003/02/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Newsletter from the Sector of Asia

SOA News January 2020

Some News from JPICED in Rome

Posted on 03/02/202003/02/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

JPIC Newsletter January 2020

Here is the newsletter of the JPIC commission of the Union of Superiors Major, celebrating the 5th anniversary of Laudato Sì, which remains a challenge for each one of us.

JPIC E news letter 2020 January

Meeting the Muslims: the contribution of the White Fathers

Posted on 29/01/202029/01/2020 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Meeting the Muslims: the contribution of the White Fathers

The Society of Missionaries of Africa has promoted a renewal of the Christian approach to Islam

Rémi Caucanas

Rémi Caucanas est chercheur associé à l’Institut de Recherches et d’Études sur le Monde Arabo-Musulman (IREMAM, Aix-en-Provence) et au Pontificio Istituto di Studi Arabi e d’Islamistica (PISAI, Rome). Il enseigne également au Tangaza University College (TUC, Nairobi). Ancien directeur de l’Institut Catholique de la Méditerranée (ICM, Marseille), Rémi Caucanas a un doctorat en Histoire.

The journeys of Pope Francis to Abu Dhabi (February 2019) and Rabat (March 2019) cannot but challenge us on the historical depth of the relationship between the Catholic Church and Islam. Now if the Argentinean pope inscribed his journey in the footsteps of Saint Francis, commemorating the 800th anniversary of his meeting with Sultan Ayyûbide in Damietta in 1219, another anniversary deserves our attention: the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Society of Missionaries of Africa, whose work and history have contributed to a complete renewal of the Christian approach to Islam and Muslims.

Founded one hundred and fifty years ago by the Archbishop of Algiers, Mgr Charles Lavigerie (1825-1892), created Cardinal in 1882 and “Primate of Africa” in 1884, the Society has been one of the great cogs of modern evangelisation of the African continent. If the destiny of this missionary work thus extends beyond the Maghreb alone, the relationship with Islam and the Muslims of North Africa has nevertheless remained one of its foundations since its creation in 1868-9 and remains the focal point of our subject, namely the relationship of the White Fathers to Islam (1).