United States of America and Canada – Comboni Lay Missionaries

One Heart, One Mission, One Family: CLM NAP Celebrates the Feast of St. Daniel Comboni

13 October, 2026 by Alberto de la Portilla

On October 10, the Comboni Lay Missionaries of the North American Province (CLM NAP) came together to celebrate the feast of our beloved missionary father and inspiration, St. Daniel Comboni. It was a beautiful day of prayer, fellowship, and renewed missionary spirit as we celebrated not only the life of St. Daniel Comboni but also the gift of our shared vocation.

United in Prayer, Even Across the Miles

Our celebration began with a morning Zoom prayer gathering, bringing CLMs together from different places to pray and give thanks for the gift of our Comboni charism. We began by praying the final day of our novena to St. Daniel Comboni, entrusting our community, our missionary vocations, and the people we serve to his intercession.

Knowing that not everyone could join us online, we also made space for the voices of our absent members. Through their personal reflections and messages, they were able to share what they are grateful for about being CLMs and what St. Daniel Comboni means to them. Although we could not all be physically present or connected at the same time, we were reminded that we remain one missionary family, united in prayer and in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Our gathering was also a meaningful opportunity to look toward the future as we begin a new chapter of ongoing formation. Inspired by Comboni’s example, we renewed our desire to grow in faith, deepen our missionary spirituality, and continue supporting one another in our vocation.

Celebrating Together in Faith and Community

Following our morning prayer, we continued the celebration with Holy Mass alongside the local community in California, giving thanks to God for the life and missionary witness of St. Daniel Comboni.

We concluded the morning with a joyful, in-person gathering at the Comboni Mission Center in Covina, California, alongside the young adult ministry, Missionary Souls. We shared fellowship, celebrated our missionary family, and, of course, enjoyed some cake! It was a simple but beautiful way to bring our celebration to a close, sharing the joy of our faith and the spirit of Comboni with the next generation.

Rekindling the Fire of Mission

As the CLM NAP community continues its journey of renewal, this feast day was a reminder that the Comboni charism is alive in each of us. St. Daniel Comboni allowed the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to transform his life and send him out in service to others. His example continues to inspire us to respond generously to God’s call, recognizing the dignity of every person and serving with hearts full of love.

Though we may be separated by distance, we remain connected through our shared vocation and commitment to mission. We are grateful for everyone who participated, sent a message, prayed with us, or joined us in spirit.

May St. Daniel Comboni continue to intercede for our CLM community as we grow together in faith, strengthen our bonds of fraternity, and renew our commitment to serve wherever the Lord calls us.

St. Daniel Comboni, pray for us!

Sacred Heart of Jesus, make our hearts like Yours!

Rossie Patlan from NAP CLM

Starting over through Prayer

25 June, 2026 by Alberto de la Portilla

After a period of prayerful discernment and a temporary pause in our journey as Comboni Lay Missionaries of the North American Province (NAP), we are filled with gratitude to announce the renewal of our community. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are once again gathering with renewed zeal, inspired by the missionary charism of St. Daniel Comboni and his dream of bringing the love of Christ to the most abandoned and forgotten.

As Comboni Lay Missionaries spread throughout the United States and Canada, we have begun meeting monthly through Zoom, allowing us to remain united despite the great distances that separate us. On the first Tuesday of every month, we come together for a Prayer Night; a sacred time to strengthen our communion, nurture our missionary identity, and rekindle the fire of our vocation.

These gatherings provide an opportunity to share how the Lord is working in our lives, to reflect on our experiences serving in international missions, and to encourage one another as missionary disciples. Above all, we gather before the Lord in prayer, entrusting to His Sacred Heart our personal intentions, the needs of the Church, and the cries of our world.

In the spirit of St. Daniel Comboni, whose heart burned with love for the mission, we pray fervently for peace throughout the world, for all missionaries serving near and far, for those who suffer on the margins of society, and for an increase in missionary vocations. We also remember all those who support us through their prayers and friendship.

Our Prayer Night is open to anyone who would like to join us, pray with us, and learn more about the vocation of the Comboni Lay Missionary. It has become a beautiful opportunity not only to deepen our faith but also to share the gift of this missionary calling with others who may be discerning how the Lord is inviting them to serve His Kingdom.

As St. Daniel Comboni taught, “Save Africa with Africa,” reminding us that evangelization is accomplished through participation, accompaniment, and trust in God’s providence. Today, we continue to live this missionary spirit as lay people committed to making Christ known and loved wherever He sends us.

We invite you to journey with us in prayer and mission. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide our renewed community, and may the Heart of Jesus, source of all missionary love, inspire new generations of Comboni Lay Missionaries to respond generously to God’s call.

“Either mission or death” was Comboni’s passionate cry. May we, too, live with hearts fully given to Christ and His mission.

Peace and blessings,

Comboni Lay Missionaries of the North American Province

Introducing Our New Acting Executive Director for CLM in North American Province

4 September, 2025 by Alberto de la Portilla

I am honored and excited to step into the role of Executive Director for the North American Province (NAP). My journey prior to this position includes serving as a Comboni Lay Missionary in the U.S, Mexico, and Arequipa, Peru, where I had the profound experience of proclaiming the good news and serving in various tasks.

The values I embraced during my missionary work—service, compassion, and outreach—are deeply aligned with the mission of the North American Province. I am committed to continuing the Province’s vital work and fostering greater community engagement and support throughout North America.

I look forward to collaborating with our talented team and partners to innovate, grow, and strengthen our collective impact. Thank you for welcoming me into this meaningful mission. Together, we will continue to serve and inspire.

Warm regards,

Rossie Patlan (Executive Director, North American Province)

CLM American Meeting

4 October, 2021 by Alberto de la Portilla

On September 25, 2021, the American CLM Committee: MCCJ Fr. Ottorino Poletto, Beatriz Maldonado and Mireya Soto, with the accompaniment of Alberto de la Portilla, were pleased to meet with the CLM of America and some of Europe, to have a formative conference, given by Father Dario Bossi, with the theme “the vocation of the laity in the socio-political and ecclesial context of America“.

Father Dario Bossi is a Comboni Missionary, currently provincial coordinator of the Comboni Missionaries in Brazil. The theme was developed in three important points: Colorful spots (to understand the situation where we are), Christian lights (lights that from the faith and the Church help us to understand the reality and provide ideas) and CLM Mission (some ideas that as missionaries, in our case Comboni Missionaries, we can develop).

He explained that America is a continent with cultural richness, natural resources, and in the face of the storm that humanity is going through, we CLM have the commitment to dialogue and act in favor of the poor and the needy, hence the hope and the lights that we have such as the Encyclicals of Pope Francis in which he speaks of the commitment to nature and the need for a Church to go out; The mission ad gentes and our relationship as Comboni family.

The conference has been recorded and you can listen to it and analyze it (here below in Spanish) for further enrichment of our groups.

Our meeting ended with the prayer that Christ taught us, giving thanks for having gathered and shared.

“Divine works are born and grow at the foot of the cross“. St. Daniel Comboni.

Mireya Soto, CLM American Committee

New CLM in formation in the NAP

3 October, 2018 by Alberto de la Portilla

We have a new CLM taking the formation course in the NAP, preparing himself to go to mission.

Darrel J. Vandeveld is a lawyer and retired Army officer who graduated from the University of California, San Diego, and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

He comes from Erie, Pennsylvania, where he raised his four children and served as the head of the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office in Erie, from which he recently retired.

After September, 2001, Darrel served in the US Army in Bosnia, Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He retired from the Army Reserve in 2015 as a Lieutenant Colonel. In his final assignment for the military, Darrel was assigned to a capital murder trial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State.

Darrel has served as an elected member of his local school board, and has served on the boards of non-profit organizations, including the Pennsylvania Artists’ Collective Alliance, an organization dedicated to providing local artists with performance spaces and other resources.

He is a member of the St Joseph Bread of Life Community in Erie.