Africa – Page 59 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Colors of Timket

8 February, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

Imagine a colorful procession. Crowds of people clothed in different kind of cultural dresses and uniforms are dancing and clapping, singing and making the characteristic African noise “lililili”. They are different ages, young and old, babies and the elders. In the center of the crowd, there are carried big colorful tents, and under them a few men are moving slowly with something on their heads. All the people are coming closer to see them well, at least for a moment. All of them are so happy, because they are celebrating one of the most important feasts in Ethiopia, the Timket.

It is related to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church tradition. Timket means “baptism”, so it is the Lord’s Baptism Feast. This year we participated in the tradition in Awassa.

The day before the feast priests took the replicas of the Ark of Covenant from the church. According to many Ethiopian people, the real Ark of Covenant is placed in Axum (historical place in Ethiopia). However, in all the Orthodox churches there are replicas of the Ark of Covenant and it’s a sign of the presence of God. During the Timket the priests put the arks on their heads and bring them to the nearest water in memory of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. They are tided in colorful clothes so we nobody can see them. In case of Awassa all the Arks of Covenant were brought to the lake side. The feast is the only occasion during the year while they leave the churches. The processions were started in different places (in different churches), but they met on the way creating really huge crowd of people. In the destination, some of the people stayed for the whole night, but we went home. In the morning of the following day after the Mass the processions brought the Arks of Covenant back to the churches, but the people still were celebrating whole day. It is good occasion to visit families or friends, to make nice coffee ceremony, prepare ‘dorowot’ (chicken), or drink ‘tela’ (local beer).

And when you experience it, you may fall in love with Ethiopia…

Magda Fiec, CLM Ethiopia

News from the Central African Republic

31 January, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

All the members of our apostolic community are doing well, thanks be to God. It has been a while since I got in touch with you because, the roads being so bad, I avoid traveling to Bangui. The trip today, with all the stops, lasted eight hours. It becomes exhausting…

Today a new CLM arrived, Cristina who is from Gueifães, Portugal. She will study French a little more and then Sango, the local language. I pray to the Lord that she will adapt well and that she will learn Sango quickly in order to come to serve our people, especially the most neglected who are the Pygmies.

We brought with us a 17 year old girl who, beginning in 2016, started having a growth on her right breast. She had come earlier for tests, but they did not do anything to her and now it is as big as a football. On Sunday she started having pains on the other side and, since they came to ask for help, we took her along. They will begin with a total mastectomy and I hope it will only be a fibroma and not cancerous, that all may go well for her.

The episcopal ordination of Fr. Jesús went well. Eighty people came from Mongoumba and his two brothers, the sister-in-law, two nephews and four friends came from Spain. Out of his closest family, only his parents were missing because they are already 86, but they will celebrate their 63^rd wedding anniversary in February and their son will be celebrating the Mass of thanksgiving. It was an unforgettable feast! A week later it was repeated in Mongoumba. The church was packed and many people stood outside.

For the coming of Jesús we celebrated the novena of the Nativity with a good participation of the faithful.

At the beginning of January we had some very cold nights with temperatures reaching 10C, which is very cold for people who do not have proper houses or coats to protect themselves. I had never felt such low temperatures over here…

Always united in prayer.

A large friendly hug to all from CLM Maria Augusta

Report of the pacific march held by Christians in Kinshasa 21-01-2018

30 January, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

In Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the peaceful march of the Christians was organized on January 19^th by the coordinating committee of the catholic laity, for Sunday, January 21st, 2018. By this march, we demanded the government the unfailing application of the agreement of New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2016 as well as the respect of the constitution, pledge stability and national cohesion.

On Sunday, January 21, 2018, when we arrived in our parishes, we saw the strong presence of the Rapid Intervention Police (PIR) encircling our parishes. They were numerous and heavily armed.

At the end of Mass around 09:30 or 10, we started our peaceful march, they tried to disperse us from the first steps made in front of the door of our churches using tear gas and a real bullets… There were some wounded, one of the mates died on the floor after receiving two bullets on the breasts. We were on the ground holding Rosaries, Bibles, crucifixes and twigs. 15 minutes later we were standing up to take the wounded to the emergency room. In this huge crowd, facing our executioners, who was able to stand up, dusted our clothes and then continue walking.

There were police roadblocks everywhere at each roadblock, the violence and brutality were stronger, after 45 minutes of walking the police made a barrier in front of us pushing us to turn back, we sang hymns and the priest who was heading the crowd asked the faithful to kneel and pray the Magnificat. In this precise moment, when we all knee on the ground the police began to shoot and throw tear gas in these torrents of smoking they went against the priests, the acolytes and the young people who interfered to this arrest.

And during this time, in our parishes the priests had advised against the participation in walking to people who were very old or weak by illness or other reason as well as children. They were supposed to pray a little while for those who were going to walk and get back home. However, the police imprisoned all these people in the parish; they forcibly closed from the outside all the doors of the parish obliging Christians to stayed in until 13:00. All these weak people have remained more than 6 hours in the enclosure of the parish without water or food.

On the return of the faithful at the parish to close the march, we have found the Christians close in their own parish. When we attempted to break the padlocks set by the police, not only to release those who were in but also to entered and make the final prayer, the policemen started to shoot and abused the youths, there was a great clash for nearly 30 minutes. Then people would run in all directions always under police fire, trying to follow up on those who were arrested, those who were taken home injured, others were wounded and taken to hospitals… The day was restless until 4 pm and after it was cold and anguished, around 7 pm they removed their barriers.

News from Kinshasa

10 January, 20184 January, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

We leave here an email from Congo about the current situation in the country.

Good evening Alberto,

I did not follow up on the document I requested and I did not call you back because here the weekend of the 31st it was complicated for the Catholics because of the march of the laity against the political situation of the country.

In our parish during the 6 o’clock mass at which I participated, the soldiers entered the church at 7 am just at the time of the homily. They threw tear gas and put themselves in front of the exits of the church then shot with real ammunition. We were trapped in the church for 30 minutes. Then the priests organize themselves to keep us safe in the sacristy.

Then an hour after the priest took over the mass. We ended around 11am then we started our walk, despite the situation.

At every barrier we passed, the police tried to intimidate us with brutality to try to disperse us. When they got close, we knelt or threw to the floor and sang songs to Maria. They were trying to take part of the people and beat the group. After 45 minutes of walking, two military buses arrived, began firing tear gas and the air became unbearable. The shock was terrible. The priest stood holding the crucifix in his hand. They were heavily armed and they did not flinch. Then we prayed the Magnificat, when we finished the priest turned around and we finished the march in the parish st Charle Lowanga at 13h.

There were several wounded and some dead. I myself am wounded in the legs and therefore in medical rest since Monday.

Thank you for praying for our country, we have hope in you.

Congo — Les manifestants devant la police le 31/12/2017 à Kinshasa lors de la marche initiée par le Comité laïc de coordination (CLC). Radio Okapi/Ph. John Bompengo

First Christmas in Mozambique

4 January, 20182 January, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

It was almost Christmas Eve when I realized how close it was, while I was about to start praying on my own and I was going through the liturgies of Advent. I know that, if I weren’t here, everything around me would remind me of Christmas. The proliferation of Christmas advertising would have pointed me in the direction of these celebrations practically starting from the year’s third quarter in an astute and gradual game.

Between the lighting, the external and internal decorations, suggestions for the menus always more exquisite and the dress code for the Holy Night and the Christmas dinner, the magic aura one feels in the city streets, the typical Christmas carols (…) between one dinner or another with friends and groups from here and there, nothing would distract us, not even the most absent minded, from “what is about to happen…”

Here there is absolutely nothing of the sort. In the city one may see some “imported” signs of Christmas. But not here. The senses are not overwhelmed by this avalanche of stimulations. There is no cold weather and fogged up windows showing flickering lights. One does not hear seasonal songs. One does not feel, or want to join, the frenetic glut of shopping and gifts – and even less the last minute shopping and needs. You do not watch things alone at home on TV. The heat is too intense to even think of changing from your slippers, skirts, shorts and light shirt into heavier clothing. There is no yearning for salted cod and extra-virgin oil. There is no king cake, French toast, walnut cookies or sweets of this or that kind. There are no dreams of toys or promises of instant and quickly passing paradises.

I must confess that, on Christmas week, I was a little apprehensive for being my first Christmas in mission, for missing my family, for everything being so different from what I was used to, and even for not having had electricity or water, making communications difficult and stunting my creativity…

But, this year the Baby Jesus has taught me this much: Christmas is not an ornament. It may look like Christmas all around us, but it will not be if it does not exist within our own self. Christmas is also movement, journeying. We must constantly be moving in order to find it. If we want to see the ‘great light,’ we must get up and go out; we must go meet the mangers where there is human suffering; we must return to the stable of simplicity; we must return to the manger where God’s hope and human hope meet – but always trusting that, between the silence and the word we are looking for, a star will always guide us.

Christmas, I believe, wakes us up to bring us back to our roots, up to the original dream that God has for each one of us. The childhood of God is also our childhood. That is why, after a long wait, we find peace when, finally, we rest in God.

An interesting fact…

After independence, Mozambique became a lay state. However, December 25 was preserved as a feast day, not because it was Christmas, but as the Day of the Family. Thus, on this day, independently of one’s religion, families get together to celebrate the gift of Family (naturally, for the Christian community, this day means much more, because it is the day of Jesus’ birth, when Salvation and true Peace descended on earth). This way, quite deservedly, they get together to celebrate and gain energy for the year that is about to come – but, after all, is not Christmas also this? On Christmas, each time we celebrate hope we end up saying in our hearts that “there is a future for Humankind.”

I will leave you with part of a poem by José Tolentino Mendonça (“We are the manger”) that has resonated with me over the last few weeks:

We are the manger

It is within us that Jesus is born

Within each age and status

Within each discovery and each loss

Within what grown and what falls apart

Within stone and flight

Within whatever in us puts us through water or fire

Within the journey and the path that seem without an escape Hoping you had a good Christmas,

Best wishes for a Happy New Year

Marisa Almeida, CLM in Mozambique.