The February 2013 issue of XMN shares stories and concerns in global mission of the Catholic Church.
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“Make of the world one family” Newsletter Volume 61 - No. 1 | February 2013 www.xaviermissionaries.org • Mission Blog: www.global-catholic.org Protecting All God’s Children............... 2 The Magi in Bangladesh....................... 3 The Journey Continues....................... 4 International Conference ..................... 5 Carrying A Message of Hope ................. 6 St. Guido in the Year of Faith............... 8 Xaverian Mis sion
During the days of Advent and Christmas it was hard not to think of children, especially those who were tragically and senselessly killed in Newtown, Connecticut in a shooting rampage
at their school.
As hard as this tragedy is for all of us, we also understand that Christmas hope stands in defiance to this senseless violence and abuse that children all over the world face every day at the hands of adults. This scenario plays over and over again in our missions and in every corner of the earth.
The rebelliousness of Christ’s light and salvation within the gloom and darkness of violence and injustice of today’s
world against the innocent is at the core of the mission of Christ we proclaim worldwide.
That same spirit runs through our concern to protect the young through our institutional compliance to the norms of the Bishops and our own concerns for transparency and accountability in the wake of misconduct of church personnel. Our effort to prevent the abuse of the young is a responsibility that never ends.
On February 5-8, 2013 we will undergo the on-site evaluation of our province for re-accreditation with Praesidium which independently verifies that we achieve the highest standards in abuse prevention and
response. We hope to be re-accredited for an additional three year period. Please continue to pray for those who have been victimized and that this tragedy in our Church will be put to an end.
We wish all our readers a most blessed and grace-filled Lenten Season.
Fr. Carl Chudy, SX
Help the Xaverians Help Children Around the World.Contact:
Fr. Frank Grappoli, SX12 Helene CourtWayne, NJ 07470Tel: 973-942-2975
Or visit: www.xaviermissionaries.org for online donations
Cover: Fr. Carl Chudy SX with children in the PhilippinesPhotos this page from top: Bangladesh, Chad, Philippines Indonesia
Make double the difference in a child’s life. If your employer has a “Match-ing Gift” Program your contribution can be doubled.
Sometimes I presume to identify myself with characters in the Gospel. Lately I happened to identify myself with the Three Kings.
I was dozing on my front porch and a thought occurred to me: “If I were a wise man, commandeered by a strange star here in Bangladesh ... Where would Jesus
be found? And what gift could I give? “
What flowed in my mind were the many Nativity scenes in my life: The crèches of my childhood with all the figurines: the farmer who brings firewood to Jesus, the tailor who brings a parcel of clothes, the woman who carries the eggs ... Then as a missionary student I saw the stable scenes on cards with bright skies and sunsets in every country in the world. Then I thought of the mangers of Bangladesh. In the villages still lacking electricity there are no shops that sell figurines. The children fill the stable of Bethlehem with all the sacred imag-es that are in the house, so that every manger has dozens of figures of the Baby Jesus, images of the Madonna and others like St. Anthony or St. Rita, and all of heaven.
The magic of this reverie was interrupted by the rhythm of two crutches that I know well: It was Bissogit, the Hindu child whom I remember a year ago at Christmas, I called
“the Christ child with crooked feet,” so crooked that even doctors could not operate.
“Father, my son needs new crutches. Can you find two more pieces of wood?” His mother asked me. I had already added two pieces six months ago, but the wood was now outgrown as Bissogit grows quickly despite the birth defects of his feet, a hump, lung and heart afflictions, and spina bifida.
There is a spark in my mind. Here, no doubt in Bangladesh this year the Magi would bring to Jesus not gold, nor silver, nor myrrh, but a nice pair of new crutches! I put to work immediately these hands of a “missionary” worker. I fashioned two crutches from light-weight, extendable steel and with bottom ‘feet’ like that of a Bengal tiger (my own inven-tion), guaranteed not to slip.
On January 6 Bissogit came. He does not know that he ‘images’ the baby Jesus. He doesn’t know what the Epiphany is, but when I put the new crutches in his hands his big eyes shine like the sky with wonder and joy.
My heart is filled with happiness that I could make this happen. I dare not think that I am one of the Magi but the ability to give this gift to Bissogit makes me feel like a king!
Fr. Gabriel Spiga SX
Fr. Gabriel Spiga SX with Bissogit in Bangladesh
Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 20134
The Journey Continues: “Carrying Stones” In the Footsteps of the Pioneers
Xaverian Missionaries in the World
In memory of the late Fr. Sergio Favarin SX, a pioneer of the Xaverian Mission in the diocese of Pala-Chad, who died on June 12, 2012.
I am Richard Nembouet, a Xaverian missionary. I did my training for the novitiate in Cameroon. Ordained to the priesthood on July 4, 2009 at Douala, Cameroon, I was sent on a Mission in the diocese of Pala-Chad, I now serve the parishes of Gounou Gaya and Domo.
In 2012 Xaverians celebrated 30 years of continuous presence in Cam-eroon and Chad. I write with admiration and gratitude to the pioneers who developed the foundation for all the years that have followed and will follow.
The diocese of Pala is divided into 5 pastoral areas according to the major language groups. Each area consists of the parishes formed by villages. The Xaverians live and work in three communities in two pastoral areas. Our area of Gounou Gaya is largely rural, with 9 large
parishes.
We are a multicultural community of 4 persons, three dif-ferent nationalities: Angel (Spanish), Denis (Italian), Simon Peter and I (Cameroon). This diversity itself is evidence of our missionary ideal, to “make the world one family.”
Our two parishes were formed from 65 villages. These com-munities meet once week to share the word of God, prepare the liturgy or to discuss topics affecting village life and the Christian community. We sponsor a four year catechume-nate program to train catechists who are responsible for the villages. The essential elements of our evangelization are: the Bible, the social teaching of the Church and the trans-lation of the Bible and the liturgy. The mass is only twice a month because there are many communities and the
distances are very great.
We also engage in the struggle for justice and peace through J&P Commissions in each village through seminars, publications and radio broadcasts. Each November, to celebrate the Proclamation of the Republic of Chad, the different J&P commissions organize meetings between Christians and Muslims for activities and dis-cussions on peace and cooperation.
We sponsor Christian family formation with support for women and young people. We are committed to improving the quality of education through the construction and monitoring of schools and libraries in our parishes. In thirty years, with the help of benefac-tors, Xaverians have built five libraries. We believe that education is the best gift the Church can provide to youth.
The challenges are many: language, climate, cultural backgrounds, and the problems of the people among whom we work (education, health, poverty).
Our Mission is to proclaim the Gospel, celebrate the encounter with the Lord, and strive togeth-er to build a mature and responsible Church. As Africans we ‘carry our stones’ to build up the
reign of God.
Fr. Richard Nemouet SXPhotos by Fr. Angelo Costalonga SXFrom Top: Prayer in Chad; Catechists on their way to liturgy: Cross-cultural dialogue
Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 2013 5
Xaverian Missionaries in the USA
A Meeting of Hearts and MindsCommon Ground: A Conversation Between People of Faith and Secular Humanists
The United States Province and the United Kingdom Province of The Xaverian Missionaries have been collaborating on our e-newsletter for young adults and youth ministers, A Cross
Borders, for a little over a year now. As the name implies Xaverians seek to surmount all types of borders and boundaries using the gospel message of love and peace to “make of the world one family.”
This vision is extended not only to people of faith but also to the secular world and is resulting in the joint sponsorship of an international conference to be held Friday, November 8 through Sunday, November 10, 2013 at the Conforti Institute in Coatbridge, Scotland
The title of the forum is Common Ground: A Conversation between People of Faith and Secular Humanists on the Values and Ethics We Share for the Common Good. The purpose is to provide a harmonious meeting between people of faith and secular humanists and the goal is to eliminate barriers and identify the values we share to work for a better world.
The New Evangelization and the Year of the Faith call us to greater dialogue with secular culture. This conference is constructed on Pope Benedict’s “Courtyard of the Gentiles” which seeks to bring believers and non-believers together.
That symbol of apartheid and sacral separation which was the wall of the ‘Courtyard of the Gentiles’ was cancelled by Christ. He wished to eliminate barriers so as to ensure a harmonious meeting between the two peoples. ... Believers and non-believers stand on different ground, but they must not close themselves in a sacral or secular isolationism, ignoring one another or, worse still, launching taunts or accusations as do fundamentalists on one side and the other. Of course, differences must not be skimmed over, contradictory ideas must not be dismissed, or discordance ignored …but thoughts and words, deeds and decisions can be confronted, and even come together.
To register or get more information on the conference or to receive A Cross Borders, please email [email protected] or call 973-942-2975
Photos from Top:(l to r) Xaverian Fathers Rocco Puopolo (US), Tom Welsh (UK) Carl Chudy (US) Joe Matteucig (US) and John Convery (UK)The Conforti CentreSocial Justice Youth Forum at the CenterA Cross Borders E-Newsletter for Youth and Young Adults
Mi ssionin g in Moz ambique :In January of this year, Monsignor Richard L. Tofani, the Director of the Office of Missions for the Diocese of
Jesus is alive in Africa and His Church there is exploding with life! In the last twenty
years the population of the continent has increased by almost 250 million, surpassing the one billion mark. The Catholic Church in Africa has grown
by more than 60 million. In that same span of two decades, 80 new dioceses have been created, more than 100 bishops added, and more than 3,500 parishes established. That is why Pope Benedict XVI, during the Synod of Africa in 2009, called Africa “the Continent of Hope,” and referred to it as “The repository of an estimable treasure for the whole
world: its deep sense of God…an enormous spiritual ‘lung’ for humanity, which appears to be in a crisis of faith and hope.
While visiting the missions in Mozambique recently, I had the privilege of traveling with Xaverian Father Dario Maso, SX, a missioner from Verona, Italy, who has served in Southeast Africa from 2005. Father Dario has sought to invite the Mozambican people to a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. Father Dario shared with me his rationale for being a missioner today:
Out of a deep sense of gratitude to God, a person responds to the gift of faith by wanting to share that joy with others.
Jesus mandates mission.
Mission comes from faith in Jesus; a person goes on mission because he or she is baptized into a missionary faith.
A person goes on mission be-cause the Gospel is a leaven for society and the Church can be a vehicle for service and social justice,
Photos by Msgr. R. Tofani and Fr. Dario Maso, SX: Opposite page from top: The Nazareth Religious Center. Msgr. Tofani next to the tabernacle of the St. Therese of the Child Jesus Church in Chemba under a banner proclaiming the Year of Faith. Interior of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Archdiocese of Beira. Our Lady of Fatima Church in Murraça.Background Inset: The interior of the Nazareth Religious Center.This page: Msgr. Tofani and Fr. Dario Maso SX (r) stand outside of the rural Candéia Chapel where Fr. Dario ministers. Con-celebrating Mass inside the chapel. African Catholics are all smiles after participating at Mass in a church they had built with their own hands in 2012.
Car r y in g a Me ssage o f HopeTrenton, NJ, made a nine-day visit to Catholic missions in Mozambique, hosted by the Xaverian Missionaries.
I began my visit in Mo-zambique feeling excited and slightly apprehensive. I came away enlightened and humbled, my faith fortified, a little tired with a suitcase full of dirty laundry and a head filled with sparkling stories. As I try to share these stories, I wonder who is missioning whom? You see, the wonderful thing about visiting the missions is that you end your journey only to discover that you have been the one evange-lized.
I returned to the United States feeling closer to God because of the faithful witness of peo-ple such as Father Dario Maso and his fellow Xaverian Missionaries in Mozambique who make God more see-able, feel-able, hear-able and touch-able.
Father Dario pointed out that if the Catholic Church is to have any credibility in Mozambique
today, “It cannot be a fortress church looking in on itself. It must be a church of dialogue with the culture that gives witness to life, offers hope and serves humanity, especially the poor.”
“The greatest gift the Church can offer Mozambique,” according to Father Dario, “is faith in Jesus.” “And this gift can never be forced,” he continued.
“Like all gifts, we give it to someone because we believe it will please and help them.”
Throughout his ministry in Mozambique, Father Dario has dedicated himself to building Christian communities while finding ways to uplift the poor and un-derprivileged. Father Dario explained the reason he remains “on mission” in Africa. “I want to announce the unconditional love of Jesus in Mozam-bique because I see a new culture arising that is dominated by secular-ism and consumerism. I want to see the Mozambican people maintain their God-centeredness.”
Msgr. Richard TofaniDirector of the Office of Missions, Diocese of Trenton http://www.dioceseoftrenton.org/page.aspx?pid=382
8 Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 2013
The Global Mission Spirituality of Saint Guido Conforti
ST. GUIDO M. CONFORTI :
A reflection made about the new saint of the Church, Bishop Guido M. Conforti, pointed out that he belongs with his whole heart to Parma,
Italy, the place of his birth, but at the same time, from this very solid base, his concern, his desire, his service open up in such a way as to have a universal, a catholic dimension.
Could this openness have been sparked by his child-hood encounter with the big Crucifix at La Pace?
Talking about the Lord he frequently looked at on that Cross he said: “He was looking at me and I was looking at him. He seemed to tell me many things.”
These “many things” most likely helped him to create in himself what could be defined as connaturality between what he believes, what he knows and his actions. This is exactly how he expresses himself in his writing: “The just man must live by faith. And this faith must animate and sanctify all his actions.”
The revealed truth, God’s word that he studied, he meditated upon, and he prayed and preached about had become his interior world: his thoughts, his desires, in one word an integral part of his life.
‘Bloody battles’ marked his life starting with his father’s opposition to his entering the seminary. Sickness almost blocked his priestly ordination. His Bishop refused to let him dedicate himself to train young men for the missions and two Popes appointed him as bishop of a diocese. Everything seemed to go against the original inspiration he received from the Crucifix. His life proceeds always through new obstacles popping up on his path.
The beauty is that, sustained by his faith, he is serene and deeply convinced that his course of action is just and good. His life is a masterpiece of faith. Conforti is a real man. He understood his call and he fulfilled it with perseverance and fidelity both through the easy and difficult moments of his life.
He was a free man thus reaching his goal and more because by allowing himself to be led by God through the events of his life he became a Shepherd of two flocks: Bishop of his home diocese and Founder of the Xaverian Missionaries for the whole world.
Fr. Frank Grappoli SX
Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 2013 9
Missionary Stories of Couragein the Year of Faith
A MAN OF FAITH !
As you well know, faith is the root of every justification, the foundation of every
other supernatural virtue and the nourishment of the Christian life. We were clothed in its holy garment on the day of our Baptism, but this garment must be perfected through appropriate works, by which our faith becomes alive and shapes all our actions.
To live the life of faith means to judge everything in the light of its infallible
dictates; to approve whatever faith approves and to condemn what it condemns, whatever the fallacious judgments of the world might say. It means to act always in compliance with its sublime teachings…. It means to always turn to faith for enlightenment and counsel in both the prosperous and the adverse circumstances of life and, at the same time, to nourish our faith with all the efficacious means that are available to us.»
1913, 2 August, Parma, Letter to the clergy “Giubileo Sacerdotale”)
Photos: Opposite page from top: The Crucifix that was so influential in St. Guido’s life now in the Chapel at his shrine in Parma. A portrait of St. Guido reflecting St. Francis Xavier. This page from top: St. Guido as a very young bishop. St. Guido returning from China. St. Guido’s episcopal seal and motto, “In All Things, Christ.”
10 Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 201310
World Mission News Digest
World Mission News Digest
VATICAN “The Church needs the two solid pillars of Missio ad Gentes and New Evangelization”: Cardinal Filoni
(Agenzia Fides) - “Jesus Christ is the first and ultimate subject of all evangelization, be it evangelization as the Missio ad Gentes or the New Evangelization. The Church, as the Body of Christ, has received this mandate from the Lord himself: Go, baptize, bring salvation. The Church is a living body and needs two strong solid pillars of Missio ad Gentes and New Evangelization to continue to proclaim this mandate.” These were the words spoken by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of
Peoples, citing Benedict XVI’s homily at the opening of the Year of Faith, in his speech at the Symposium on Evangelization.
“The Second Vatican Council was decisive regarding the development of indigenous Churches,” said the Cardinal, “The attention that the Council gave to these Churches made it possible that they were not only considered as ‘places’ in which missionary service may be exercised,
but above all, they were considered as being themselves protagonists in missionary work.” Cardinal Filoni recalled the basic principles of the Missio ad Gentes, “It is the result of divine inspiration... to evangelize and share with others the joy of the Gospel...is an act of love.”
AMERICA/UNITED STATES Catholics and New Media: New opportuni-ties to evangelize the digital continent Washington (Agenzia Fides) - 62 percent of adult U.S. Catholics, representing an estimated 36.2 million people, have a profile on Facebook; 58 percent of Catholics age of 30 and under share con-tent such as pictures, articles and comments at least once a week,
and nearly a third of all surveyed said they would like their pastors and bishops to blogs: these are some results of a study released by
the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, CARA at Georgetown University.
The report, “suggests many opportunities for the Church to engage with those who live on the Digital continent, as Pope Benedict XVI describes this new culture of communication,” said Bishop John Weber of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications. “We can approach this as missionaries, eager to find God already pres-ent among the inhabitants of this world and to engage them, especially young people, in meaningful dialogue about morals and values in this new public square.”
The Catholic website most often visited regu-larly by adult Catholics is their parish web-site: about one in 10 say they visit once a month or more often. This is equivalent to 5.3 million individuals.
ASIA: BANGLADESHChild Labor
Dhaka (Agenzia Fides) - Education penalized by poverty. This is the situation for almost 50% of elementary school students in Bangladesh who are forced by the over-whelming poverty to leave school before completing fifth grade and get a job. Only a small proportion of the labor force, 0.4%, receives professional, technical preparation, and is paid with very low wages. The situa-tion is particularly serious for street children in the country who come from urban slums and work illegally, 10 to 12 hours a day, for about 32 cents. A report of the Bengali sta-tistics office revealed that 5.8 million chil-dren between the ages of 10 and 14 work in the “informal” sector, not regulated by rules or contracts. These little ones cannot attend school or receive professional forma-tion. With the help of local programs, designed to take advantage of the skills and potential of poor youngsters, at least 45,000 students between 15 and 18 years of age are about to graduate and will be employed in decent jobs, with an initial salary of 62 dollars a month. More than 140,000 young graduates through one of these programs have already found a permanent job.
Child Labor in Bangladesh
The USA Province of the Xaverian Missionaries will be inaugurating a brand new website in 2013 in conjunc-tion with the New Evangelization and the Year of Faith
THE “LIGHTS” OF FAITHAt our shrine to Our Lady of Fatima in Holliston, MA we have a yearly display of spectacular Christmas lights. Many people come with their families to stroll through the shrine and to offer prayers during the magical season of Christmas.
To see all of the pictures from this past season, go to our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catholicmission/sets/72157632414804450/
WEST ESSEX XAVERIAN LEAGUE
The Holidays were all the brighter because of generosity of the members of the West Essex Xaverian Mission League associated with Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Church in Roseland, NJ. A donation of $8000.00 was presented to Fr. Frank Grappoli SX at their annual Christmas party. Fr. Frank expressed his appreciation for their “genuine love, deep faith and unwavering dedication and commitment to the Mission of the Church.” Pictured here with Fr. Frank in an Indonesian shawl (a gift from the Xaverians) are Anne Petrarca (r), president and her daughter Nancy Roma-nyshyn, copresident.
We thank the members of the West Essex Xaverian Mission League for their support and generosity through the years.
