Maurice Van Genechten, R.I.P.

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo
Society of the Missionaries of Africa

Father Luc Putzeys, Provincial Delegate of the sector of Belgium,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father

Maurice Van Genechten

on Thursday the 17th October 2019 at Avondrust – Varsenare (Belgium)
at the age of 81 years, of which 56 years of missionary life in
in DR Congo (Zaïre), Mali, Burkina Faso (Upper-Volta) and in Belgium.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.

Download here the announcement of Father Maurice Van Genechten’s death

(more…)

Joseph (Jos) Leys, R.I.P.

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo
Society of the Missionaries of Africa

Father Luc Putzeys, Provincial Delegate of the sector of Belgium,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father

Joseph (Jos) Leys

on Tuesday 15h October 2019 at Zelzate (Belgium)
at the age of 85 years, of which 61 years of missionary life in
Congo and Belgium.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.

Download here the announcement of Father Joseph Leys’s death

(more…)

The believer’s destiny

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Le destin du croyant

“The mountain of Zion is solid not because it is stable, but because it is sacred and dear to God. I believe that this is the destiny of every believer. We are dear to God and he does not abandon his own.” (Stan L. meditating on Ps. 125)

Christian blogger, Guillaume Nocq interviewed (in French) our Superior General, Stan Lubungo, inviting him to comment on the psalm that speaks the most to him. In this jubilee year blessed by God, Stan took the opportunity to return to the roots of our Missionary Society.

Roger Merceron, R.I.P.

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo
Society of the Missionaries of Africa

Father Patrick Bataille, Provincial Delegate of the sector of France,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father

Roger Merceron

on Friday the 11th of October 2019 at Pau-Billère (France)
at the age of 89 years, of which 64 years of missionary life in
DR Congo, Burundi, Switzerland, Jerusalem and France.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.

Download here the announcement of Father Roger Merceron’s death

(more…)

Pierre Mauriaucourt, R.I.P.

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo
Society of the Missionaries of Africa

Father Patrick Bataille, Provincial Delegate of the sector of France,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father

Pierre Mauriaucourt

on Friday 11th October 2019 at Bry-sur-Marne (France)
at the age of 92 years, of which 66 years of missionary life in
Algeria and France.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.

Download here the announcement of Father Pierre Mauriaucourt’s death

(more…)

ICOF Sabbatical Renewal Programme

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Sabbatical Renewal Program

Arusha 13 January - 19 June 2020

This Inter-Congregational On-going Formation (ICOF) program is offered to Catholic Priest and Religious in Africa.

Qualifications for applicants:

    • Being Catholic priest or religious.
    • Having been in ministry for at least 7 years.
    • Those in transition from one ministry to another
    • will find it beneficial.
    • Being recommended by one‘s superior/ bishop.
    • Having a reasonable mastery of English.
    • Willing to be open to share oneself with others
    • for mutual enrichment and growth.
    • Application deadline: November 30‘“, 2019
    • Application form can be downloaded from

www.icofgrogram.org/application/sabbatical

Or directlty from the following links :

Brochure for the 6 month Sabbatical Program

Application Form

Newsletter from Pisai

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Newsletter from PISAI

We have received from Diego Sarrió, “Preside” at PISAI (Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies) the newsletter of 7th October 2019 and translated the editorial, originally in Italian. We refer you to the Website of Pisai for further information.

http://en.pisai.it/home

Dearest Friends,

Pope Francis offered us a wonderful surprise on Sunday 1 September when, after the Angelus prayer, he announced the names of the 13 new cardinals elected, including Mgr Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and Mgr Michael L. Fitzgerald, M.Afr., former President of the same Pontifical Council. This announcement filled us with joy not only because it highlights once again how dear inter-religious dialogue is to the Holy Father, but at the same time because the two future cardinals have long ties with our Institute. To both the sincere congratulations of the entire academic community of the PISAI.

The new academic year was also an opportunity to rethink the format of the newsletter we send to the Alumni. As you may recall, in recent years the PAA has sent subscribers a PDF newsletter with news and other information on the life of the Institute. Whenever possible, we have tried hard to translate all the news into Italian, English and French. Starting with this newsletter, we are trying out a new, simpler format: a single newsletter for alumni and other visitors interested in our activities. For now we will limit ourselves to Italian, which is the language shared by all of us. We count on your reactions and advice to help us improve the newsletter. We would be happy to have your contribution of news about your experiences to enrich each other and stay in touch. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Manuela Galaverni, alumna of PISAI, who has been in charge of the implementation of the PAA project since the beginning.

I wish you all a good start to the academic year.

Father Diego

Grace upon grace…

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Grace upon grace...

The beginning of the month of October was very intense in Rome. Launching of the extraordinary missionary month on the 1st of October , commemorating and reviving the very strong missionary appeal made by Benedict XV in his Apostolic Letter “Maximum Illud” a hundred years ago. 

“Baptised and sent: the Church of Christ on mission in the world.” To speak today of the ones baptised and sent means that each baptised person, at his or her level, can be a missionary, can be the instrument of the proposal that God wants to make to Man, through his or her personal witness, prayer and offering.

Three days later, on the feast of St. Francis, the Pope took part, in the Vatican gardens, in a cultural event to celebrate the end of the Season of Creation 2019 and to consecrate the forthcoming Synod on Amazonia. 

But even nearer to our heart and identity was certainly the creation of 13 new Cardinals taken for a great part from missionary institutes, among whom our confrere Michael Fitzgerald. A lot has been written about the event. The General House was full of guests, between the 25 family members and friends of Michael Fitzgerald and a few of the Congolese Bishops who had come to celebrate the creation of Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa. 

The Pope had called a Constistory for Saturday the 5th of October at 16 hours to elevate the 13 new Cardinals. For that occasion, all the Cardinals of Rome were present to welcome their new brothers. A few minutes before 3 in the afternoon, “Cardinal Fitzgerald to be” appeared in his scarlet cassock but without the scarlet zuchetta and biretta, both of which he would receive from the hands of the Pope himself during the ceremony. You will recognize on the left side of the photo our confreres, Bishop Willy Ngumbi, and Martin Wullobayi, professor at the Pisai, chose by the new Cardinal as his personal secretary for the ceremony.

The following video is the part of the consistory when the Pope is inviting the “Cardinals to be” to profess their faith, when he wears them with the scarlet zuchetta and biretta and when the new Cardinals are welcomed and congratulated by the College of Cardinals present. This extract of the ceremony just lasts 24 minutes. If you want to see the full video (1h15), follow this link.

After the ceremony, each of the new Cardinals were given a space where they could be met and congratulated by their family members and friends. Back to the house around supper time, Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald still founds the energy to come and share a bit of the evening time with the confrères of the Services and a few others. This shows how simple and fraternal Michael is with his “family”. 

On Sunday, the new Cardinals were concelebrating with the Pope the morning mass on St. Peter’s Square for the big celebration inaugurating the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region.

At one o’clock in the afternoon, all the ceremonies and liturgies were finished. It was then time for celebration. In his congratulating speech, Father Stan Lubungo, superior general, commented on the “Coincidence” of this honour given to Michael but also to all of us and remembering the beatification of our 4 confreres martyred in Algeria and the proclamation of an extraordinary missionary month this October, all occurring within our Jubilee Year, he preferred speaking of a “wink” of God… as we are harvesting “Grace Upon Grace”!

ICMA-IC Formation on protection

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Session sur la protection des mineurs et des personnes vulnérables

From 17-24 September 2019, our confrère Stéphane Joulain gave at the Catholic Missionary Institute of Abidjan (ICMA) a final training session on the protection of minors and the prevention of sexual abuse. This session had 34 participants, students from the last years of formation of ICMA’s partner or founding institutes, but also nuns and other lay people. Also participating, members of the new Centre for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons (CPM-PV) of ICMA. This Centre was inaugurated this year and will offer training and awareness in the parishes and dioceses of Ivory Coast. The director of this new centre, Sr. Solange Sia, co-hosted the session with our confrere. Members of this new centre also include two other Missionaries from Africa, Father François-Xavier Bigeziki as psychotherapist and trainer, and Father Bonaventure Mashata as a resource person. Starting next academic year, the session will be offered by the CPM-PV team and ICMA trainers. Good luck to them all. Here are some pictures of the presentation of the certificates that are jointly offered by ICMA and the Centre for the Protection of Children (CCP) of the Gregorian University of Rome.

Seniors’ session 2019

Posted on by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Seniors Session 2019

Due to a scarcity of candidates, only one session was held this year, namely the Seniors’ Session, which took place at the Generalate in September. Below the group photo, you can read the message written by the sessionists at the end of the session. And, at the very bottom of the page, you will find the link to the beautiful homily delivered by our Assistant General Didier Sawadogo.

Please note that in 2020, there will only be a Session for Seniors. It will take place in Rome from 9th to 26th September 2020 in English. So the Transition Session will not take place in 2020.

Getting together after years, decades, for many of us was an attractive aspect of the session. It aroused surprise, wonder, questioning, joy and humour. Brothers found brothers, sisters found sisters, sisters found brothers and vice versa. Our memories were very excited and we had enough to place beacons on the roads of our lives.

Bernard and Helga had prepared the session with know-how, with meticulousness to facilitate and enrich the journey they proposed, taking into account the limits of our ages.

To go on pilgrimage is to seek a goal. What are we targeting at our ages but the ultimate transition from life to Life? But this passage is of the order of mystery… we must only strive to achieve it by walking – together – and each one at his own pace.

A pilgrimage involves a step-by-step movement. Our steps were to discover, to rediscover the face of Jesus, which He has shown us throughout our lives and still today. 

Marvelling at the progress of this revelation: Jesus, Son of the Father, elder brother, who gives us his Spirit to teach us to love, to let us be loved by God, by ourselves and by others… A stage of wonder also for the Missionary Family in which we have long been engaged. A journey nourished by prayer, sustained throughout the days and facilitated by artistic contributions, careful preparation and enriching sharing, guided by the theme of each stage of the pilgrimage. Benefit of common prayer, of the Eucharist lived peacefully, and therefore more deeply, and undoubtedly of times of personal contemplation.

We experienced all this all the more intensely because we were supported by a very valuable family life environment: guaranteed interculturality, an important presence of Africa, an atmosphere of youth alongside the different ages…. But also comfort, cleanliness and order of the house, quality gastronomy, organisation of the many services… and above all the availability, friendliness, openness and humour that each offered to each other. We leave as rejuvenated, “refreshed” and always carrying the Good News.

Thank you to our two Institutes who have thus obtained for us the grace of rejuvenation in Christ and a renewed openness to the life of our missionary family.

Wish of conclusion: “May the old apple trees we have become still produce good apples!

The sessionists

Homily (in French) of the Session closing mass – Père Didier Sawadogo – 26 september 2019