Missionaries of Africa

Audience with the Pope – Word of thanks

Posted on 10/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Shortly after the Pope had entered the Hall, our superior general, Stan Lubungo, addressed the Holy Father with a word of thanks in the name of the two congregations. Here is the text :

Holy Father,

We, the Missionaries of Africa and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa feel very honoured to be with you today. This year we are commemorating one hundred and fifty years of our foundation by Cardinal Lavigerie in Algeria. We give thanks to God for all the graces received during these years. We are very grateful, Holy Father, that you spared some time to be with us despite your very busy agenda.

We praise God for our brothers and sisters who, over hundred and fifty years have brought the Catholic faith to many African countries. They helped establish the African clergy and formed many female African congregations in different countries. Today, we are together present in 41 countries, of which 22 are in Africa. We continue to collaborate with the local Church at whose service we are in parishes and in other ministries.

We inaugurated our Jubilee Year on the 8 th of December last year, on the Feast of Mary Immaculate Conception under whose protection our Founder placed our two Institutes. The inauguration took place in Tunisia where Cardinal Lavigerie was also prelate. The closing celebrations will be on 8 th December this year at Namugongo, the shrine of the Uganda Martyrs.

We give thanks to God. The inauguration of our Jubilee coincided with the beatification of the nineteen martyrs of Algeria, among which are four of our brothers who gave their lives to the service of our Muslim brothers and sisters in the country of our foundation.

Holy Father, on this significant Jubilee for our family, we ask for your paternal blessing on our two Institutes and its members where ever they are as we seek to keep alive the charism of our Founder.

We are happy to offer you a representation of the Manga hoe from Burkina Faso. This invention of one of our confreres in the 50s was designed for weeding and ploughing in shallow soil. It represents so well your task to plough and weed the shallow soils of our hearts sowing in them God’s Word.

Thank you.

Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa
Missionaries of Africa

Audience with the Pope – address of the Pope

Posted on 09/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Most of us were very excited on Friday the 8th of February, as we were being invited by the successor of Peter at a private audience in the Vatican. The two General Councils, brothers and sisters from the two congregations, a few provincials already in the house for the forthcoming provincials’ encounter with the GC, some 80 persons all together were well in time to meet the Pope at 11am. The number of steps we had to climb was, to the least, very impressive, but finally there we were in the Clementine Hall, waiting for our Brother and Pastor Francis. A very official encounter, very comforting and meaningful to each one of us.

Here is the text of his address to us. The original was in Italian, we had a French translation. This English version is a translation from the French by your servant, with the help of the very good software deepl.com

Dear brothers and sisters,,

It is with great joy that I welcome you to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Society of Missionaries of Africa and the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. In thanking your Superiors General for the words they have addressed to me, I wish to express my cordial greetings and spiritual closeness, as well as through you, to all the members of your Institutes, present in Africa and in other parts of the world. Thank you for the service of the mission of the Church, lived with passion and generosity, in fidelity to the evangelical insights of your common founder, Cardinal Lavigerie.

Over the past three years, you have been preparing to celebrate this jubilee. As members of the great “Lavigerie family”, you have returned to your roots, you have looked back on your history with gratitude, to give you the means to live your present commitment with a renewed passion for the Gospel, and to be sowers of hope. With you, I give thanks to God, not only for the gifts he has given to his Church through your Institutes, but also and above all, for the fidelity of his love that you celebrate with this Jubilee. May this Jubilee Year strengthen in you the assurance that “God is faithful, he who has called you to live in communion with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor 1:9). May your consecration, your ministry thus be able to manifest concretely, in your fraternal life and in your various commitments, the fidelity of God’s love and its closeness, to sow hope in the hearts of those who are wounded, tested, discouraged, and who feel abandoned so often.

Dear friends, you know that when Bishop Lavigerie, then Archbishop of Algiers, was led by the Spirit to found the Society of Missionaries of Africa, then the Congregation of Missionary Sisters, he had in his heart the passion for the Gospel and the desire that it be proclaimed to all, making himself “everything to all” (cf. 1 Cor 9:22). For this reason, your roots are marked by Mission ad extra; it is in your DNA. Thus, following in the footsteps of your founder, your primary concern, your holy concern, “is that so many of our brothers and sisters live without the strength, light and consolation of the friendship of Jesus Christ, without a community of faith that welcomes them, without a horizon of meaning and life” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, n. 49). But, in the light of the journey made since your foundation, you know that the proclamation of the Gospel is not synonymous with proselytism; it is this dynamic that leads us to be close to others, to share with them the gift received, the encounter of love that has changed your life and that has led you to choose to consecrate your life to the Lord Jesus, Gospel for the life and salvation of the world. It is always with him, through him and in him that the mission is lived. So I encourage you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, so that you never forget that the true missionary is first and foremost a disciple. Have at heart to cultivate this particular bond that unites you to the Lord, by listening to his Word, celebrating the Sacraments and serving the brother, so that your words and actions may manifest his presence, his merciful love, his compassion to those to whom the Spirit sends you and leads you. May the celebration of your jubilee thus help you to become “nomads for the Gospel”, men and women who are not afraid to go into the deserts of this world and seek together the means to lead their fellow human beings to this oasis that is the Lord, so that the living water of his love may quench all their thirst.

May this Jubilee Year also contribute to the development of fraternal bonds between you, because the proclamation of the Gospel can only be lived at the price of true missionary communion. With the strength of the Holy Spirit, be witnesses to this hope which does not disappoint (Cf. Rm 5:5), despite the difficulties. In fidelity to your roots, do not be afraid to venture out on the paths of mission, to witness that “God is always a newness, which urges us to leave without respite and move beyond what is known, towards the peripheries and borders” (Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, n. 135). May the Holy Spirit make you build bridges between people. Where the Lord has sent you, contribute to the growth of a culture of encounter; continue to be the servants of a dialogue that, while respecting differences, knows how to be enriched by the difference of others. And I thank you in particular for the work you have already done in the service of dialogue with Islam, with our Muslim sisters and brothers. Through the style and simplicity of your lifestyle, you also demonstrate the need to take care of our common home, the land. Finally, in the wake of Cardinal Lavigerie, be sowers of hope, fighting against all current forms of slavery. Always seek to be close to the small and the poor, to those who expect, at the periphery of our societies, to be recognized in their dignity, to be welcomed, protected, raised, accompanied, promoted and integrated.

With this hope, by entrusting you to the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Africa, I give you and all the members of your communities the Apostolic Blessing and I call upon God’s blessings on those whose lives you share, where the Lord has sent you. And, please, don’t forget to pray for me. Thank you.

Pope Francis,
February 8th, 2019

St Bakhita patron saint of all exploited people

Posted on 08/02/201908/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Stéphane Joulain at the French Senate

Posted on 08/02/201908/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

On Wednesday, February 6, 2019, a French Senate committee heard a panel of experts on the issue of sexual offences against minors. Here is the video:

The Pope challenged for Lent

Posted on 07/02/201907/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

A major international campaign unveiled on Wednesday, February 6, challenges the Pope to become vegan during the forty days of Lent, which begins in a month. If he accepts, the campaign launched by Million Dollar Vegan will contribute $1 million to the charities chosen by the Pope.

You can read the full story, very complete, instructive and challenging in the French Catholic Newspaper La Croix.

If you have no access, you can download here the PDF of the article (IN FRENCH)..

International Day of Prayer and Awareness against human trafficking: 8 February 2019

Posted on 06/02/201906/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

On February 8, 2019 let’s turn on a light against trafficking of persons, to celebrate the 5th edition of the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against human trafficking whose theme this year is:

“Together against human trafficking.”

The first edition of the IDPT was celebrated on February 8, 2015, by the will of Pope Francis, who in 2014 entrusted the International Union of Superiors and Superiors General (UISG / USG) with promoting this day. In these years, gathering in prayer has facilitated collaborating and overcoming the boundaries within which we operate, dedicated to our projects that, although very important, could lead us to cut ourselves off from the others. The great tragedy of trafficking urges us to overcome every barrier to join forces and collaborate for the common good.

This requires us to coordinate our actions and unite our strengths.

“Together against human trafficking” is the invitation addressed to everyone, each according to their own possibilities.

Download here the text of the prayer vigil

Download the prayer card

Visit also the website of the prayer against human trafficking

Workshop with the Magazine “Africa Rivista”

Posted on 06/02/201906/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

The famous magazine of the Italian sector still belongs to the Missionaries of Africa, even if it is mainly professionals in the information sector who do most of the work. Evidently faithful to Africa, the Magazine organized a workshop in Milan on November 24 and 25 on : “Dialogue on Africa – to understand, know and discuss”. This short video will involve you from afar at a few selected moments of this workshop. If you have an Italian confrere or an Italian-speaking confrere on hand, he will certainly be happy to translate for you. After all, it only last 2:29 minutes.

Josephine Bakhita, the African Saint

Posted on 06/02/201906/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947), a former Sudanese slave who became a saint, is still little known in the West, unlike in Africa. Telling her life is captivating, as her earthly journey is so unusual, almost romantic. Her youth is rich with uncommon events, but it is the period when she is religious that is the most important. Her rather long journey of 78 years testifies that this humble Daughter of Charity was a true witness of God’s love.

Read the whole story on the website of “Notre histoire avec Marie” (only in French).

Stéphane Joulain, on a mission for the victims (La Croix 6/2/2019)

Posted on 06/02/201906/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

This post is published in restricted mode to M.Afr. and SMNDA because of copyright.

This priest and psychotherapist will be heard on Wednesday, February 6 in the Senate as part of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sexual Offences Committed Against Minors.

Father Joulain is one of the few priests and psychotherapists in the world who specialize in the treatment of sexual assaults on minors.

As a good heir to the White Fathers, these missionaries of Africa who have been engaged in fracture zones since the 19th century, Stéphane Joulain has been exploring a real terra incognita for fifteen years. At 52, he is one of the few priests and psychotherapists in the world specializing in the treatment of sexual assaults on minors. “We cannot proclaim Jesus who goes to the poor and the most vulnerable without welcoming the victims”, professes this man of imposing stature.

A “vocation” arrived by surprise

Not that he became a missionary to treat pedophiles. This “vocation” was a surprise to himself. Barely ordained, he was sent to Jerusalem. The White Fathers have custody of the Sainte-Anne church, a “cathartic” place where many visitors ask to meet a priest. “When I was called for confession, they were always victims or abusers”, he says. The very young confessor asked his confreres if this often happened to them. The answer was negative. The Jesuit who accompanied him then encouraged him to “listen to what was being said through these events”.

His superiors are also “strangely receptive”. “They asked me to train. It was only later that I understood why.” Shortly afterwards, revelations of abuses committed by priests around the world would confirm to him the need to seriously consider the issue…

To be formed to “be rooted in one’s spirituality”

To be trained is first and foremost for him, “to be rooted in his spirituality”. For six months, he learned the basics of spiritual accompaniment at Le Châtelard in Lyon. Then studied psychotherapy at the Buttes-Chaumont centre in Paris, conducting a parallel psychoanalysis. To embark in 2011 on a PhD in victimology in Ottawa on the treatment of sex offenders. During these years, he accompanied nearly 200 of them… Before being called back to Rome where his congregation entrusted him with a rather unique and tailor-made position as “coordinator for the integrity of the ministry”.

In concrete terms, Father Joulain is responsible for advising his superiors and other communities on cases of sexual abuse, and for training future missionaries, particularly in prevention. This leads him to travel to Africa. “There is as much abuse on this continent as in the United States”, he says. But the victims are mostly 14-15 year old girls and the priests are all-powerful.” Having become an unavoidable person on the subject (1), this researcher hears, in fact, “unsavory gems“, and hardly bothers with any convolutions to name the sexual organs.

A non-standard ministry

How does he manage to last in this extraordinary ministry? “Learning empathy towards yourself allows you to have empathy for others,” he says. In addition to the supervisor who follows his professional practice, this warm-hearted man meets his spiritual advisor every month. It is undoubtedly partly to this work on oneself that he owes his freedom of speech and his ability to open himself up to the trials he has been through.

From a non-practicing family, he himself was touched by a neighbour at the age of 10. “I was scared to death of my life. But there were no more consequences because I was able to put words in right away. My father reacted quickly and we never saw the neighbour again. “

“Later, I will be a priest to heal Jesus”

At a very young age, Stéphane Joulain also nurtured an empathy in which his vocation is partly rooted. “When I was 5 years old, my mother took me to the village church”, says this Breton, the eldest of three boys. Before the Sulpician Christ, I began to cry: “Why do people hurt him? Later, I will be a priest to heal Jesus.”

As a student of the Christian Brothers’ Schools – “men who loved children in a chaste way” – he thought of vocation. After training as an accountant, he took over the family business of verandas in Loire-Atlantique and then, against the advice of his father, with whom relations were complicated, he entered the seminary at the age of 21, first as a diocesan priest, and finally as a White Father.

Faithful to his congregation, Father Joulain did not hesitate to call upon the Church, and the bishops in particular, who were still too timid in his eyes in the fight against sexual abuse. In the Senate, on Wednesday, February 6, he will have to explain “the reasons for the difficulties in taking into account the victims’ voices” and to discuss his recommendations.

———

Ongoing hearings in the Senate

In addition to Father Joulain, the Senate Fact-Finding Mission on Sexual Offences Against Minors will hear from Isabelle de Gaulmyn, Editor-in-Chief of La Croix, Catherine Bonnet, former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Véronique Margron, President of the Conference of Religious (Corref), and Father Pierre Vignon, of the Diocese of Valence on Wednesday 6 February. On Thursday 7, the presidents of the national commission in charge of advising the bishops on these subjects (Alain Christnacht) and the independent commission of inquiry on sexual abuse in the Church (Jean-Marc Sauvé), and the co-founders of La Parole libérée, will be heard.

(1) He is the author of Combattre l’abus sexuel des enfants, DDB, 300 p., 19 €.

Céline Hoyeau

https://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Catholicisme/France/Stephane-Joulain-mission-victimes-2019-02-06-1201000553

Bernard Fagnon, R.I.P.

Posted on 06/02/201906/02/2019 by Vitus Danaa Abobo

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

Bernard Fagnon

on Tuesday 5th January 2019 at Hospital Mondor of Creteil (Paris – France))
at the age of 88 years, of which 61 years of missionary life
in Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) and in France.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.

Download here the announcement of Father Bernard Fagnon’s death. Continue reading “Bernard Fagnon, R.I.P.”