Newsletter South Africa no 43 – September 2014

 

The Ordination of “Twins”: Africano Mucunguzi and Vincent Kyererezi

On Saturday 19^th July 2014 Rev. Africano Mucunguzi and his “twin” brother Rev. Vincent Kyererezi of the Society of Missionaries of Africa were ordained to priesthood. The celebration was presided over by His Grace the Archbishop Paul K. Bakyenga of Mbarara Archdiocese at Nyamitanga Cathedral. It was a double celebration for relatives and friends of Africano and Vincent, who referred to themselves as ‘twins’ not only due to their identical vocational history in the Society of Missionaries of Africa, but mainly because of their long distinct and outstanding friendship. The ordination was attended by Bishop John Baptist Kakubi the Bishop Emeritus of Mbarara diocese, Fr. Charles Obanya the Provincial Superior of the East African province of Missionaries of Africa and his assistant Fr. John Asebire, numerous priests, religious men and women, and many other guests  some from all over East and Central Africa.

The Archbishop reminded the ordinands of their task as priests to proclaim by word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to fashion their lives in accordance with its precepts.
The “twins” Africano and Vincent celebrated their thanksgiving Masses on July 20^th and 21^st respectively. The main preachers at the thanksgiving Masses of Africano and Vincent were Fr. Godwin Muhangi and Fr. Savernus Ndugwa respectively.

Africano is appointed to Malawi and Vincent to Algeria for mission. We wish them both many blessed happy and healthy priestly years.

By Nuwagaba Justus (Student of Theology in Nairobi)

Source: Flashes, Magazine of EAP Province, Missionaries of Africa, Volume 12, September 2014

Link: Oath and diaconate in South B Formation House

Tragic death of the younger brother of Audace Niyonsaba, stagiaire in Zambia

Sadly, we heard this morning about the death of Richard Niyomwungere, age 23, younger brother of our stagiaire Audace Niyonsaba who is currently learning Chibemba at FENZA. We know little apart that his brother died in a car accident in Kigali, Rwanda. Originally from Burundi, the family is still trying to find out how to attend the funerals which will take place in Rwanda.

Let us pray for Audace and his entire family in this painful moment. May the soul of Richard rests in peace.

The beginning of the academic year 2014-2015 at Fraternité Lavigerie of Abidjan

This academic year at Fraternité Lavigerie announces itself with a blessing of thirteen new community members. Among the thirteen, two of our brothers are originally from our province (SAP). These are: Michael Mpindo (Malawi) and Moses Simukonde (Zambia). We are very happy of their being part of our community. For this reason, we wish them a warm welcome at Fraternité Lavigerie. Akwaba to you our brothers! Our community consists of 37 members, 33 candidates and 4 formators.

The official opening of the academic year 2014-2015 for our community took place on Friday 19^th of September 2014. In order to mark our Eucharistic celebration with the event of the day, it was presided by Fr Jean Bipendo who was celebrating his birthday. In addition, we were equally happy to witness to the declaration of intent of nine second year brothers. For this reason, we address our congratulations to Martin Kasongo (Zambia), Fredrick Mulenga (Zambia) and Peter Nyirenda (Malawi). We wish them all the best of luck and may the good Lord continue nourishing their intelligence in their Theological studies so that they become his true servants tomorrow.

This year’s uniqueness presented itself in the way our community project was formulated.  With the help of the image of a tree, we formulated it. In fact, as compared to previous years, this approach was new and was equally appreciated by a good number of community members. In this case, we officially inaugurated our theme for the year. Here it is: “Vivons Notre Arbre” which literally means “Let us live our tree”. To symbolize our theme in a special way, we planted a mango tree just after the Eucharistic celebration. This was done in our community compound. It was after this symbolic action that we continued with our celebration outside the dining hall. We wish our community of Fraternité Lavigerie a happy and successful academic year 2014-2015. We pray that the Lord helps us build a community worth of its name: Fraternité Lavigerie. 

Humphrey Mukuka

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Mafrwestafrica – lettre du 21 septembre 2014

Aujourd’hui, les Missionnaires d’Afrique de l’Ouest vous proposent de visiter de nouvelles pages sur leur site www.mafrwestafrica.net :

Dans la rubrique « Témoignages» :

« Une nuit sur le lac de Jean » : le Père Marcel Boivin, canadien, demande « Qu’on nous permette d’aspirer le vent de l’Esprit d’où qu’il provienne, que sa source soit sulpicienne ou anglicane, ou encore africaine, sud-américaine ou indienne. ».(lire la suite) 

« Secrétaire de la S.A.P.» : c’est à dire de la ‘Southern African Province’, un texte du Père Serge St-Arneault, canadien, qui partage les joies et soucis d’un secrétaire provincial, tâche qu’il assume depuis deux ans. (lire la suite) 

« S’en remettre à Dieu » : Le Père Patrick Bataille a été nommé Délégué du Secteur France de la Province d’Europe, alors qu’il était formateur à Bobo-Dioulasso, à l’année spirituelle. Son texte témoigne de la disponibilité demandée par la mission. (lire la suite) 

« Vers une vie plus contemplative », telle est l’expérience du Père Herman Bastijns, qui vécut longtemps au Burkina, et qui, après de nombreuses années dans la formation de ses frères aînés, est maintenant à Anvers comme responsable de la communauté.de pères plus âgés. (lire la suite)

Dans la rubrique « Vu au sud, vu du sud » :

De la Province d’Afrique de l’Ouest, Amorain Wayikpo, qui étudie la théologie à Merrivale – Afrique du Sud (lire la suite) 

« Zone rouge au Niger ? », la reproduction de la lettre d’une française établie dans ce pays, lettre destinée au député de la région Afrique Nord et Ouest. (lire la suite)

Dans la rubrique « Dialogue interreligieux » :

« Annoncer l’évangile de personne à personne » une approche réaliste et vivante de l’évangélisation, selon le père Geoffrey Ridddle, en mission en Tanzanie. (lire la suite)

« Dialogue au bord de la piscine » Il n’est pas de lieu particulier pour rencontrer l’autre, cela peut se faire dans tous les contextes, comme l’exprime le Père Mwishabongo Mukwanga Norbert. (lire la suite) 

« Le dialogue interreligieux à l’épreuve », trois articles parus sur le site de l’ARCRE (Action pour la Rencontre des Cultures et des Religions en Europe) suite aux événements au Moyen Orient (lire la suite)