News archive

A year of celebration for Livinhac’s death anniversary

A year of celebration for Livinhac's death anniversary

The Catholic Church in Uganda regards Bishop Livinhac as her Founding Father. The centenary anniversary of his death will occur next year on the 11th November. To honour her founder, the Ugandan Church launched a one year Jubilee at Mapeera-Nabulagala Parish. Our Superior General, Father Stan Lubungo took part in the celebration. Here is the booklet of the liturgical celebration. 

Stanislas de Jamblinne, R.I.P.

Society of the Missionaries of Africa

Father Yvo Wellens, Provincial Delegate of the sector of Belgium,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father

Stanislas de Jamblinne

on Friday 12th November 2021 in Evere (Brussels, Belgium)
at the age of 99 years, of which 74 years of missionary life
in Rwanda, Burundi and Belgium.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.

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Opening of Lavigerie House in Gyedna

Opening of Lavigerie House in Gyedna

The official opening of the Lavigerie House in the catholic diocese of Minna (Nigeria) was done yesterday 7th November 2021. This was indeed a colorful celebration. Everything began with the Holy Mass at exactly 10:00Am in our community. This Mass was celebrated by his lordship most Rev. Dr. Martin Igwe UZOUKWU, Catholic Bishop of Minna diocese. We were blessed to have in our midst Fr. Martin Grenier (our assistant general) and Fr. John Aserbire, Provincial Superior of Ghana/Nigeria province. Among our guests, we recognize also the presence of confreres coming from Ibadan and Osogbo dioceses, who joined us and witnessed this memorable event. During the Eucharistic celebration, Bishop Martin expressed his happiness and his gratitude to have the Missionaries of Africa in his diocese. He then invited everyone present at the celebration to fully and actively participate in the work of evangelization through the activities of the Missionaries of Africa in Gyedna. Through his words of encouragement to the confreres, the bishop prayed also for more vocation in our Society. Our Eucharistic celebration ended with the blessing of our two buildings: the Lavigerie residence house and the vocation youth Centre.

Through the blessing of our residence house, Bishop Martin blessed also our community chapel and the tabernacle in the chapel. Then he proceeded with the blessing of the vocation youth Centre.

This ceremony marked the official opening of our community in Minna diocese in Nigeria. This was followed by the liturgy of stomach accompanied with dances. There was a very good and joyous atmosphere. A live band from the local community animated the after mass celebration and no one resisted to their music. It was awesome to have everyone dancing tirelessly.

Norbert Issa, M.Afr
Lavigerie House, Gyedna
Nigeria

An official communication on the current situation of the M.Afr. community in Kombolcha/Ethiopia (Intranet)

AEFJN celebrates her annual general meeting

Pro Minoribus N° 3

Mgr Paul PELLET Centre

Mgr Paul PELLET Centre

On 30 June 2021, the Centre Mgr Paul PELLET welcomed the participants of the ICOF programme. On July 1st 2021, we had the inauguration and the blessing of the new SMA house, named “Centre Mgr Paul PELLET”, by Mgr Boniface ZIRI, Bishop of Abengourou. FRANCIS Rosario, SMA General Councillor and SEKA Narcisse, SMA Provincial Superior of Côte d’Ivoire. As representative of the ICMA, we welcomed Brother KONANI Nicodème, OFM (Rector of the ICMA).

The centre is very well equipped to host a programme of this kind. In general, the house was appreciated by the participants. The rooms have bathrooms with hot water. The conference room is professionally equipped.

This year’s ICOF Abidjan programme had 14 participants, ten women and four men, from 6 different religious congregations and 9 nationalities; among the men there was a diocesan priest from Mali. All 14 participants came from outside the Ivory Coast.

We had a wide variety of modules that helped the participants to renew themselves. Some of these were: Mission and Witchcraft in West Africa, Holy Scripture and Mission, Leadership, Forgiveness, Dreams, Interculturality, Living in Community and Working in Teams, Appreciative Discernment, Transitions in Life, Resilience and Trauma, Consecrated Celibacy and Emotional Maturity, Addiction. The programme included a seven-day retreat.

The theme that accompanied the participants was: “With Jesus at the centre of our lives, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, let us each take flight to live fraternity without borders for an ever-renewed community”.

Participants were invited to take advantage of the accompanying services provided by the programme. There were seven evenings where participants were invited to share in small groups. The aim of these sharing sessions was to provide a forum on active listening and confidentiality where each participant could express how things were going for them. The activity was well integrated and appreciated. We also have community meetings where the group could express ongoing concerns about activities, our life together, arrangements for timetables, accommodation, food, etc. The meetings were useful for adjustments, clarifications and information.

We had organised liturgical and sharing groups who committed themselves to prepare the liturgy of each week. The variety of local and international congregations brought creativity to our liturgy.

In connection with some of the modules, we had the opportunity on some evenings to watch different films and documentaries which added to the understanding, broadening the horizons. The two films shown illustrated the themes of interculturality and forgiveness, while the documentaries dealt with the sexual abuse of nuns in the Church, resilience and addiction. The activity was greatly appreciated.

The programme organised three outings. The first one took place on the very first Sunday of the programme and allowed for an insertion into the local culture/liturgy with the participation in a priestly and diaconal ordination at the cathedral of Yopougon. The second outing took place on 10 July. The participants went to discover different localities of Abidjan, the Abidjan Cathedral and even the Atlantic Ocean at the Grande-Bassam beach. For the third outing scheduled for 31 July, we went to Yamoussoukro (Basilica of Our Lady of Peace) and to the hospital located not far from there. Finally, on 16 August, several participants organised to visit and pray at the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. All these outings and visits were very much appreciated.

We had to divide ourselves into two different cultural evenings because of the large number of nationalities. The participants were well prepared and great creativity was displayed: audiovisuals, dances, games, poems, songs, gifts… it was an occasion for great joy.

During the programme, we had the opportunity to celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries of professions in the consecrated life, patronal feasts and even the day of the independence of the Ivory Coast. We also had a social evening every week or so. This helped us to strengthen our family spirit.

This year, some of the participants shared their various talents with us: entertainment evenings, decorating the chapel, cooking and baking… to name but a few. We were able to enjoy delicious cakes, pizzas and quiches.

In conclusion, we can say that it was a very enriching trip.

Yago Abeledo

(Translation : mafrome with the help of DeepL)

Call from South Sudan

Call from South Sudan

Add Your Heading Text HereThree young confreres in South Sudan to start a Missionaries of Africa community

Cletus Atindaana, Innocent Iranzi and Jean Dieudonné Mohamadi Nare landed in Juba on Tuesday, October 19, to begin a Missionary of Africa community in the Diocese of Malakal, South Sudan. They were thus formalizing their response to the call launched especially to the young confreres by the General Council on November 23, 2020 for the mission in the youngest country of Africa. In Juba they were welcomed by our confrere Jim Green, the only missionary of Africa in the country so far and who is serving ‘Solidarity with South Sudan.’

The idea of a return to South Sudan came about in the General Council during the 150-year jubilee commemorations. From the very beginning of the reflection on the jubilee, the General Council sought to commemorate the event also with gestures worthy of our founder by committing ourselves to our missionary vocation. When it was decided to celebrate the closing of the jubilee in Uganda, we, together with our Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, decided to go on a visit of solidarity to the Church that our elders in the mission had established in this country which today is facing the influx of hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees. From the visit was born our commitment to give a strong hand to the Diocese of Arua in its apostolate with the refugees. Three confreres have been appointed. One is already there with two sisters. The other two confreres have been there and will join the third one soon.

The call from South Sudan rang loudest when Father Stephen Nyodho Ador, then newly appointed bishop of the Diocese of Malakal, stopped by at the Generalate one day in July 2019 to ask for additional personnel for his diocese. Having recalled how our confreres had gone to his diocese in the 1980s but unfortunately without settling there, he reiterated the invitation to the Society for a missionary presence among populations hard hit by the conflict that erupted in South Sudan in 2013 and which was still a source of great suffering until the latest peace agreement signed in 2019 which saw the advent of a government of national unity.

In March of this year, Martin Grenier, Assistant General, Aloysius Ssekamatte, Provincial of EAP, and I left to bring a message of solidarity to the Church of the Diocese of Malakal on behalf of the General Council. On our return to Rome we shared what we had seen and in council we decided to launch an appeal to the young confreres. Officially erected in 1974, the Diocese of Malakal covers the Upper Nile region, including Upper Nile, Jonglei and Unity States. It is a vast territory of 238,000 km2 with more than 5 million inhabitants of which about one million are Catholics.

Cletus, Innocent and Jean Dieudonné will begin learning Arabic at Christ the King Parish in Renk. They will then go to Jonglei State to St. Paul Parish in Bor. We entrust them to the prayers of all so that the mission in South Sudan, which had been intended many decades ago will be successful this time and that other confreres will soon follow them.

Stanley Lubungo, M.Afr

Jean Dieudonné Mohamadi (Burkina Faso), Cletus Atindaana (Ghana), Innocent Iranzi (R.D. Congo)
The photo shows, from left to right, Bro. Christian Carlassare, Comboni missionary, then vicar general of the Diocese of Malakal and appointed bishop of the Diocese of Rumbek, Martin Grenier, Aloysius Ssekamatte (provincial of East Africa), Stanley Lubungo, Bishop Stephen Ador of Malakal and Sister Elena Balati, a Comboni sister, during a visit to the diocesan curia.

Alphonse Tuzya, R.I.P.

Society of the Missionaries of Africa

Father Emmanuel Ngona, Provincial of PAC,
informs you of the return to the Lord of Father

Alphonse Tuzya

on Sunday 31 October 2021  in Lubumbashi (D. R. Congo)
at the age of 58 years, of which 23  years of missionary life
in Burundi, Tanzania and D.R. Congo.

Let us pray for him and for his loved ones.

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Important communication from the General Council

On October 10 2021 Pope Francis celebrated the start of the preparations of the next Synod of Bishops. This Synod will be held in Rome in October 2023. Its theme is Synodality, For a Synodal Church: communion, participation and mission.

The General Council invites all confreres to participate in the steps that the local Churches will organize in the diocesan phase of preparation for the Synod and which has as its objective the consultation and participation of the people of God (See Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality).

Furthermore, he invites all confreres to an exchange and community sharing on this theme of the Synod, using the questions proposed in the Preparatory Document for Synod 2023 in nr 26 and nr 30. A short report of this sharing may be sent to the Provincial/Section Superior who will communicate it to the General Council during their meeting in Rome in February 2022.

The purpose of the Synod, and therefore of this consultation, is not to produce documents, but “to germinate dreams, to arouse prophecies and visions, to make hopes blossom, to stimulate confidence, to bandage wounds, to weave relationships, to resurrect a dawn of hope, to learn from one another, and to create a positive imagination that illuminates minds, warms hearts, and restores strength to hands” (nr 32).