Meeting of the Councils of the Comboni Family in Rome 2023

As every year, the General Councils of the Comboni Family have met to continue to grow as a family. This year we were welcomed by the Comboni Missionary Sisters in Rome, where we felt at home. Thank you for your attention and that of the whole community.

During this year there have been many changes in the teams because the Comboni religious have celebrated their chapters and elected a new general council. Therefore, the first part of the meeting was dedicated to a time of personal presentation.

The rest of the afternoon we had the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the homily of Comboni in Khartoum. Starting from how it resonates in our hearts and at the same time how it challenges us as a missionary family. A nice moment to recognize how the charism continues to unite and encourage us together.

After dinner and some conversation we retired to rest to regain strength after the morning’s journey.

The next day we spent catching up on where we are in each of the branches of the family. A calm presentation with time for questions that helps us to get to know each other better and to enter into the current affairs of each one of us. Without a doubt, it was an important moment, especially for the new teams, and it helped us all to get to know and understand the realities that we are living.

The secular missionaries began by sharing with us the illusion of their first vows in Africa, of the road they have traveled until reaching them and of the illusion that these new vocations mean for all of us, even knowing that they are in a first stage. They also shared the evolution of their commitments after their assembly two years ago and how they are working in the different countries where they are present. Special mention should be made of the reflection they are having on missionary animation, the rethinking of it according to the new times is something that challenges us all as Comboni Family and that challenged us a lot.

Then it was the turn of the Comboni Lay Missionaries. During this time we focused on what the continental meetings of America in Lima-Peru and Africa in Cotonou-Benin have meant, the work done during those weeks and the progress of the different groups and missionary communities in the continents. It has been a time of strengthening, after the hardest years of the pandemic, to be able to meet again. It was very important for the new groups, which allowed them to contrast their way with that of the others, but also for the older ones, who continued to be enriched by the experiences that we developed in other countries, trying to give some clues of work within our own continent.

There was also time to present the objectives of the future European assembly in October, which will be held in Poland and to share the priorities that we as Central Committee have for next year before turning to the preparation of the future international CLM assembly at the end of 2024.

In the afternoon we listened to the Comboni Missionaries who shared with us about their chapter. Starting from a new methodology that they have followed in it, which encourages them to dream about where is their place and priorities for 2028. Also to define several main lines of work and on them to work on operational plans that allow them to develop them. This is a work that will have to be developed at all levels, starting from each mccj, passing through each of the communities and reaching the provincial level. All of this will confirm the six-year plan that will allow them to carry out the dreams set forth in the chapter.

The religious vows of 50 new Comboni Missionaries this year was also an important moment that encourages the Institute in its missionary journey.

Lastly, the Comboni Missionary Sisters shared with us their past chapter and what these months of setting everything in motion have entailed. It is worth mentioning the courage in their restructuration that will make them go from 19 to 7 circumscriptions; as well as the reconfiguration of the general direction with the support of four coordinations that will help to develop the chapter proposals.

All these changes are a great challenge and a courageous bet on their part to adapt the organization to the reality of the Institute and the needs of the mission, which continues to change and needs new answers.

Already on Sunday we entered into the making of certain decisions and began to think about the future. On the one hand, Brother Alberto Lamana helped us to compile the path taken by the ministerial commission, the proposals for future work and so on, and on our part we corroborated what had been said in previous meetings. The importance of the work done in these years and the example of collaboration that this work of ministeriality as a Comboni family implies makes us very happy.

We also reflected on the work done as a team of Comboni Family Councils and reinforced the idea that this is not because those present are more aware of it but it is something that we bet on from the different branches, so we set ourselves the task of developing a small directory to help us work better in these meetings. And it is something we will be working on in the coming year.

We also had some time to reflect on the journey as a family that shares the charism, sharing the experience of the meetings that are being held in Rome by different families, where religious men and women, secular institutes and lay movements that share the charism are beginning to meet and exchange experiences. We believe that listening to these experiences and sharing our own can help us to continue to grow. We also share the idea of identifying the different groups of lay people who are close to the Comboni family or to one of its branches. The importance of accompanying these lay people who want to share the charism in different ways, helping them to grow in this vocation, helping that these vocation proposals do not overlap with each other, so that in the future we can continue to help so many people who see in Comboni an inspiration for their lives.

We ended our meeting with the celebration of the Eucharist with the whole community of sisters. Undoubtedly the moments of prayer and this final Eucharist have helped us a lot during this meeting. They were significant moments of witnessing of Comboni lives and of searching for what the Lord is asking of us as Comboni Family.

We will meet again next June in Verona, but in the meantime and throughout the year we will keep in touch and work on the challenges we have set ourselves.

Greetings to all of you

Alberto de la Portilla, CLM Central Committee Coordinator.