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Life is beautiful. Yes, it is really beautiful… because God is the lover who is madly in love with the poor, the weak and with our frail humanity.
Father Fabio Gilli, 75, is a visually-impaired Italian Comboni missionary. He became blind when he was in his mid-30’s. Blindness made him find a new light and opened the eyes of his heart to the reality of the blind of Togo. He returned to the country where he had previously worked and dedicated his life to this newly-found mission. Two centers and two clinics are the visible signs of his care for the neglected blind.
Here in Kenya, around this time, you also see the odd Santa Claus and plastic Christmas trees, mostly in the big shopping malls of the larger cities. But they look totally out of place in the heat of the Equator. I am looking forward, with some longing, to the day when Africa will develop its own Christmas traditions and proudly show them to the world. But that will probably take centuries. Our own Christmas ‘staples,’ after all, do not date from the first century of Christianization of our countries either.
Bishop Giuseppe Franzelli of Lira (Uganda), a Comboni Missionary, admits that it is hard to know where to start when working with children who have been forcibly turned into soldiers and assassins. The priority is helping child soldiers but also refugees sent to terribly crowded camps to restart their lives, and rebuilding people “from within.” He adds: “In the camps, there is a high rate of suicide not only among the elderly, who were desperate that they could no longer go back to their ancestral home, but also among the young.”
Comboni Fr. Giovanni Vantini died on May 3, 2010. He was 87 years old, 58 of which he lived
in the Sudan. His life was spent on books and digging the sands of the desert, searching for the remains of the ancient Christian kingdoms. But he was keen in stating: “I am not an archaeologist: I am a missionary.” With, however, one passionate peculiarity: the study of the ancient Christian Nubia. So much so that he became an authority on the subject.
The Comboni Missionary Sisters have been in Dubai, the world’s fastest growing city, for 33 years. What are they doing in a land that is considered a global city and a business hub? They run a school and help in the parish – both caring especially for migrant workers of over 40 nationalities.
There is in us a deep need for the sacred, for the experience of the divine among us and grounded in our hearts, a hunger that cannot be satisfied by theological statements or doctrinal proclamations. Seeking actual inner experience of the divine at work in our midst is the job description of the mystic.
The hospital and midwifery school of Kalongo, in Uganda, celebrated their 50th anniversary this year. It is impossible to speak about these extraordinary projects, that “miraculously” survived the ravages of a tragic war, without mentioning their founder, Comboni Fr. Dr. Joseph Ambrosoli, who, for the love of the sick and the poor, gave his life to build and defend the projects. The process of canonization of this Comboni missionary is now underway.
For years, an American journalist and author has been following the work of the Salesian Sisters
in Bangalore Province, India. He got so impressed by their relentless efforts to serve the poorest
of the poor, that he created a charitable foundation to help them. He states: “Their orphanages are places of safety and laughter for street and slum girls who have finally found a refuge. The girls’ parents have died of AIDS, some were abandoned and arrived, not even knowing their names; too many were sexually exploited, but now their future is bright.” In a recent report, he explains the reasons for his deep admiration for and commitment to the Salesian Sisters.
The Comboni Missionary Sisters have been in Dubai, one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), since 1977. In the last two decades, however, the city became a symbol of grandiosity and extravaganza with its colossal and fanciful buildings. The discovery of oil in 1966, led to a massive influx of foreign workers, quickly expanding the city by 300% and bringing in international oil interests. Although Dubai’s economy was built on the oil industry, today its main revenues are from tourism, real estate, and financial services. Visitors are mostly impressed by its construction boom. The city’s skyline is dominated by skyscrapers and cranes. About 30,000, or 24% of the world’s 125,000 construction cranes, are currently operating in Dubai. Some areas of the thriving city seem to be a building yard. The expatriate workforce outnumbers the Emiratis. They are the ones sweating to put up the fanciful towers. But, Dubai’s ostentatious investments have so high a price. At the end of last year, the city’s property market experienced a major hiccup as a result of the worldwide economic downturn and it had to be helped by neighboring Abu Dhabi with $10 billion to pay off its debts. Cultural and linguistic Babel The Sisters’ primary activity is in the sole city’s parish, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, served by Capuchin Fathers mainly from the Philippines, India and Lebanon. It caters to the spiritual needs of the many expatriates, especially from Asia. It is a sample of cultural and linguistic diversity. There are Masses and confessions in English, French, Arabic, Konkani, Malayalam, Malankara, Singhalese, Tamil, Tagalog and Urdu. The liturgical needs of all these national communities are sung by 28 choirs. Sister Luciana Zonta, 68, is the superior of the versatile Comboni community. She arrived in Dubai in October 2007, after having served in Ethiopia and Eritrea for 13 years. Together with Sr. Josephine Martin, she is in charge of the Christian adult formation, particularly, for those who wish to become Catholics or to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Sister Josephine Peroni and Sister Claudia coordinate the catechism office which supervises all the catechesis and the formation of catechists. Every Friday – the weekly holiday in the Emirate and in all other Muslim countries – there are more than 4,000 children coming for catechism classes. More than 200 volunteer catechists are involved in such a daunting job of imparting Catholic instruction to the youth. As many as half a thousand children receive the First Communion and as many youth are confirmed yearly. Around 30 adults are also baptized Catholic every year. They are mainly from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, China, Malaysia… and even from African countries who hail from religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism or Sikhism. All of them are foreign migrant workers. The law forbids the instruction and baptism of Muslims. Islam is the official state religion of the UAE. Therefore, Christian pastoral can only be conducted inside the parish compound which is surrounded by high walls. And discreetly!
