Missionaries of Africa

South Sudan: a journey under study for the Pope, under the ecumenical sign

Posted on 27/02/2017 by philippe

A pontifical journey to South Sudan, of ecumenical significance, is currently under study. Pope Francis himself spoke about this project, which would also include the leader of the Anglican Communion, during his visit to the Anglican Church of All Saints Church in Rome on the afternoon of February 26, 2017.

Lent 2017 – A Lent of Union

Posted on 25/02/201728/02/2017 by philippe

Herman Bastijns, MAfr

When we were small, our parents and catechists invited us to ‘do’ something for Lent, to make an effort or sacrifice such as not eating sweets or to eat less. Later, the accent was put more on sharing than on sacrifice and I think that passage from a Lent of deprivation to a Lent of sharing was progress. Even today, my first reflex at the beginning of Lent is to ask myself, what am I going to ‘do’ for Lent?

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Henri Valette, R.I.P.

Posted on 22/02/201722/02/2017 by philippe

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

Henri Valette

on Wednesday the 22nd of February 2017 at Bry-sur-Marne (France)
at the age of 88, of which 63 years of missionary life
in Ouganda and in France.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.
Continue reading “Henri Valette, R.I.P.”

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Integrity of Creation in Kasamba (Zambia)

Posted on 21/02/201721/02/2017 by philippe

Like elsewhere the phenomenon of deforestation raises a lot of concerns in Zambia. People cut down trees for various reasons. Due to the current electricity problems in cities people use charcoal as their source of energy more than ever before. Hence burning charcoal has become the main source of income for people in rural areas. Thousands of bags of charcoal are taken to Lusaka and Copperbelt day and night. Luapula province which used to be a land of vegetation is gradually losing its identity.

As Missionaries of Africa working in Kasamba, we felt that we had to do something about this phenomenon. In view of raising awareness about the care of our environment, last year we undertook a tree planting project in our Parish. So far we have planted about 3,500 pine trees. We wish to extend this project to at least 10,000 trees in the coming years.

What is more encouraging is that the people of Kasamba are now becoming aware of the importance of planting trees. At the end of last year Caritas Mansa gave to each parish 200 seedlings of pine trees to give to their members. Personally I was amazed to see how people literally fought over those seedlings. Because of this increasing interest in planting trees we are planning together with the Justice and Peace group of Kasamba to have a seminar about how to make nurseries in order to produce more seedlings. In this way we hope that our mission of caring for our environment will extend to the entire Parish and hopefully to the entire Diocese.

Benjamin Itungabose, M.Afr.
(taken from SAP Blog)

Meeting MAfr MSOLA on Human Trafficking

Posted on 20/02/201722/03/2018 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

This meeting reaffirmed our common conviction that we must commit ourselves against human trafficking by supporting the activities of advocacy, protection, prevention and networking. Here is the statement at the end of the meeting :

Wednesday, the 15th February 2017, was a historic day in the history of the Lavigerie Family. It brought together the General Councils of the Missionaries of Africa (M.Afr.) and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA), the Provincial and Section Superiors of the M.Afr. and leaders of the five MSOLA Entities.

One major topic was on the Agenda: Human trafficking and related issues. This topic has great importance to both institutes because it is closely linked to the Anti-Slavery campaign of our common Founder, Cardinal Lavigerie. It has also been selected as a prime concern for both Institutes: The M.Afr. Chapter of 2016 chose migrants and human trafficking as a main area of concern. The MSOLA, in their enlarged Council, also selected this topic as one of their four priorities.

The day started with a conference given by Sr. Gabriella Bottani (SCM), coordinator of “Talitha Kum.” She first gave the historical background of the “Talitha Kum” group, which is an international network of people in Consecrated Life working against trafficking in persons (www.talithakum.info).
Most trafficking of people takes place within the country itself or in neighbouring countries. Trafficking of people on at transnational or intercontinental level is very small in comparison.

The speaker identified various forms of trafficking and slavery: domestic servitude; forced labour; organ removal (sometimes for reasons of witchcraft); criminal acts (e.g. child soldiers & drugs smuggling); begging; forced marriage and sexual exploitation (e.g. prostitution and cyber-sex).

After this introduction, the participants were divided into various groups, each of which was given one of the following topics to discuss: Advocacy; Protection; Prevention and Networking. The groups were invited to answer the following questions, what are the challenges? what are the calls? The different groups reported back and this led to an enriching discussion among the participants and with Sr. Gabriella.

The next round of group sharing was organized by geographical regions. Each regional group, and the group of the two General Councils, discussed and proposed a Common Action Plan, which was shared in a full plenary session.
It emerged that there is a strong conviction and a common commitment to become more involved in advocacy, protection, prevention and networking activities against human trafficking. M.AFR and MSOLA can do a lot together, especially during the preparation of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Lavigerie Family.

André Schaminée,
Secretary General, M.Afr.

Leo Missinne, R.I.P.

Posted on 20/02/201721/02/2017 by philippe

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

Leo Missinne

on Saturday the 18th of February 2017 at Kortrijk (Belgium)
at the age of 89, of which 64 years of missionary life
in Congo, in the United States and in Belgium.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.
Continue reading “Leo Missinne, R.I.P.”

To nobody’s children …

Posted on 20/02/201720/02/2017 by philippe

All he would have to do
Would be to call me
To call me
Where does my life come from
Certainly not from the sky

Telling him about my childhood
His absence
Every day
How can I break this silence
Surrounding him?

As true as I talk to him from afar
I am learning to cut my teeth on my own
As true as I can’t stop thinking of it
If only he could be missing me
Will he get in touch with me
Lack of love is no crime
I have but one request to him
If only he could be missing me

I’d just tell you
That apart from that Everything’s fine
Apart from a father, I don’t need anything
I live in another world
Every day I am holding on
I’ll break this silence that surrounds me

As true as I talk to him from afar
I am learning to cut my teeth on my own
As true as I can’t stop thinking of it
If only he could be missing me
Will he get in touch with me
Lacking a father is no crime
I have but one request to him
If only he could be missing me

Will he get in touch with me
Lacking a father is no crime
I have but one request to him
If only he could be missing me

Leadership for the Africa we want

Posted on 19/02/201719/02/2017 by philippe

The World Economic Forum (WEF) report for 2014 identifies two critical leadership problems globally – the first is that there is a leadership deficit, and the second is that there is a lack of trust in policies and programs pursued by leaders. Good leadership will be crucial for enabling Africa to exploit the window of opportunity that has opened up in the past decade, notably its natural resource boom. However, …

Read here about the program

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Concert at Our Lady of Africa in Algiers

Posted on 19/02/201704/04/2018 by philippe

Our confreres of Our Lady of Africa in Algiers invite us, once again, to taste the beauties they enjoy every now and then in their splendid Basilica. This time, it is a concert of Lyric Songs by the Musical Ensemble IRINI, which interprets “Songs of the Marial Cult of Mediterranea”, this songs are really popular and know by everyone, many people even sing it using professional karaoke systems that can be purchased online.

The remaining explanations are in French.

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God’s Plan for aging

Posted on 19/02/201719/02/2017 by philippe

Most seniors never get enough exercise. In His Wisdom God decreed that seniors become forgetful so they would have to search for their glasses, keys and other things thus doing more walking. And God looked down and saw that it was good.

Then God saw there was another need. In His Wisdom he made seniors lose coordination so they would drop things requiring them to bend, reach & stretch. And God looked down and saw that it was good.

Then God considered the function of bladders and decided seniors would have additional calls of nature requiring more trips to the bathroom, thus providing more exercise. God looked down and saw that it was good.

So if you find as you age, you are getting up and down more, remember it’s God’s will. It is all in your best interest even though you mutter under your breath.

Nine Important Facts To Remember As We Grow Older :

#9 Death is the number 1 killer in the world.
#8 Life is sexually transmitted.
#7 Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
#6 Men have 2 motivations: hunger and hanky panky, and they can’t tell them apart. If you see a gleam in his eyes, make him a sandwich.
#5 Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeks, months, maybe years.

#4 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospital, dying of nothing.
#3 All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
#2 In the 60’s, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now the world is weird, and people take Prozac to make it normal.
#1 Life is like a jar of jalapeno peppers. What you do today may be a burning issue tomorrow.

Please share this wisdom with others while I go to the bathroom.