CONTENT

Editorial: Lucie Pruvost

Courage in Times of Trial

1. Courage and Strength for Living, María Perál del Pozo (Maruja)
2. In Montreal, I Discovered the Courage of My People, Serge-Marie (Eugénie Longtin)
3. In Tikondane, Standing Upright with a New Hope! Rita Hieble and Françoise Laflamme
4. In Deli, Making Efforts in Solidarity! Community of Deli

Walk through the Archives

Autonomous African Congregations, Foundation Stones of New Churches, Lucie Pruvost

Sharing Life

The Grace of Connecting to Our Past, Gisela Schreyer

In Tandem
How does meeting with another person… enrich me? Serge Traore, Mafr.

Did you know?

1. World Conference on Inter-religious Dialogue, Osservatore Romano
2. Immigration Disasters: Pope Asks for Euro-African Dialogue, Internet

Editorial staff

Editorial

   The “Objectives of the Millennium for Development” established by the United Nations in 2000 aim at reducing the poverty in the world by 2015. Does the current economic crisis not risk to be an obstacle to achieving these objectives? This crisis, explains Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International (A.I.), does not just concern the economic sphere. It is also a human rights’ crisis. “The insecurity, injustice and loss of dignity are now the lot of billions of human beings. These are human rights which are in crisis ...”, she wrote. And she specified, “A.I. has been created to demand the release of prisoners of conscience. Today, we demand dignity.” This is confirmed by the Pope in his encyclical Love in truth, essential dynamic force of the true development of each person and humanity as a whole.
  
   The first four texts of this issue of Partage / Sharing show how several of our sisters or communities support women seeking to regain their dignity in times of trial. It is a matter of supporting them, helping them to regain confidence in themselves. This is done in various ways. First by listening, but also by teaching them a trade and by helping them to get access to medical care, etc. This is being done in Oran (Algeria) or in  Montreal (Canada), showing how women in prison or former inmates can also regain courage, while others, left alone with an unexpected pregnancy, are happy to find someone to support them. The sisters in Deli (Chad) witness to solidarity in persons they accompany in times of trial. Street children accommodated at the Tikondane Centre in Lilongwe, Malawi, learn to stand on their own cultivating new hope. All these people have in common trying to find their place in society, and – who knows - in turn helping others to do likewise.

      A Walk through the Archives relates the beginnings of the first three African congregations in their training and government, in which many of our sisters have spent years of their lives, contributing to the development of the local Churches. This service continues in a new way today, as reported in Sharing Life.
 
      The collaboration between Partage/Sharing and Petit Echo of MAfr which began in October 2008 under the heading of “In Tandem” (Regards Croisés) continues regularly twice a year. The theme chosen this time by the General Councils of both our families calls us to reflect on the enrichment which can arise from an encounter with the other, who differs in culture and religion.

      Interreligious encounter? Do we know that Muslims have taken the initiative to organize a world conference on dialogue? And also that the drama of immigration remains a concern of Benedict XVI, with his call for a dialogue between Europe and Africa.

      This issue holds communications from the General Council and a listing of those among us who have entered Life: our sisters, our brothers, MAfr, and members of our families. You will receive it after the holidays, when you return for a new year or leave for another community. To each and all, go the wishes of the Partage / Sharing team to live fully, with courage and love, your share of the mission.

Lucie Pruvost

Theme: Courage in Times of Trial

Courage and Strength for Living

I have been in Oran for 9 years. The city, situated by the sea in the North-West of Algeria, is sunlit and open. I work with young girls and women, in the context of the diocesan Caritas.

      Confronted with suffering
     
      What kind of suffering am I at present confronted with? They are the ones that surface where the minimum vital necessities are lacking. I often hear say, “Come to the house, and you will see how I live”, or “I need to speak with you”.

      The women suffer from not being able to take care of themselves; several others, from not being free; unable to find their place in society; not being allowed to speak; ashamed of showing their misery. Sometimes, I surprise tears in the eyes of those who come to my office and tell me that, for three days, they could not give any food to their children. I also hear women tell me of their suffering because their son tried to cross the Mediterranean to arrive in Europe, disappointed at not finding any work in the country. I hear the victims of the corruption, which is more and more settling in and from which the youth suffer. Everything is bought. I hear families who have nowhere to live, young girls whose family obliges them to hide behind a veil which they have not chosen.
      Teaching them how to develop, how to work, show them that they are able to do it, give them more self-confidence opens them to a greater freedom, helps them find their place in their family and in society. But I also meet young girls who are steadfast in their work in spite of difficulties. They show their know-how, straight-forwardness and honesty.

      It happens that I call upon people that I know, doctors to whom I can send mothers, girls without means for a medical check-up and the care they need. My office is ever open for all who need to speak, to share what they are living. They need to be supported and encouraged in their efforts.
     
      The Centre of which I am in charge gives training to women that prepares them to produce local crafts and allows them to have a salary which will contribute to the family budget. That is why I try to open the Centre to the production and sale of what the women make. It is a way of fighting poverty. This, of course, requires knowledge, a network of relations which promote the launching of this new project.

      I also try to assist with loans. The loan will be to help them start a small business and be reimbursed gradually. I am aware of
expanding the scope of my initial commitment to the women of the Centre, but it is difficult to take leave of those who come to me without helping them.

      Console, find ways of helping the person before me, really fills my time and often leaves me sometimes tired, but how compelling. I am happy because it is a struggle with women for Life and to build a more human world, where women may live with dignity in society. We struggle together full of hope.

      As for me, this work corresponds to our missionary charism, to my vocation. It is a work of accompaniment: to help build self-confidence, prepare to face life… with the joy of the richness of encounter, relationships, and friendships.

María Perál del Pozo (Maruja), Oran, Algeria    

In Montreal, I Discovered the Courage of My People

Having spent the greater part of her life as a missionary in Africa, ”Eugénie… our ’grandmother Génie”, as the children called her, this tall and wise woman returning to her country of origin, chose to do volunteer work with community organizations. She worked for some time with Fr. Pops, of “Bon Dieu dans la rue” (God in the streets), and was accompanist in the programme mother-child of CFAD in a caravan for eight years. For several years now, the women and children of CFAD have benefited from her vast experience of life, on Wednesdays, and the women and children of “Grossesse-Secours” (Pregnancy Help) every Thursday.

Newsletter of Info –rouli CFAD (Continuité-Famille Auprès des Détenues) Fall-Winter 2008

I have looked and discovered…
      It is more particularly since 1954 up to today that I see “the misery of my people” found in humanity. I have looked and discovered “the courage of my people”. How? By gradually understanding. By loving more and more my being fixed, first in Africa, now in Montreal. We, humans, are created to be happy. And what is being happy? Precisely that: “being human”. It is a challenge for each one to pick up, within the space of a life-time, of my life-time, to come to … being comfortable in our skins!

      Now, here is a little story. One day, an elephant slipped away from his herd and ventured out on a small wooden structure that breached the ravine. The little time-worn bridge groaned and trembled, barely able to support the weight of the animal. Having arrived safely on the other side, a fly which had lodged in one of the elephant’s ears exclaimed with great satisfaction: “Well haven’t we shaken up that bridge!” (Anthony de Mello)  Yes, Lord, to be so comfortable in my skin that I may take it for yours!

      After having been in Africa for 28 years, here I am once again in Montreal since January l992. In January 1993, I chose to work in two groups: CFAD and Grossesse Secours.

      CFAD entrails regularly spending time in a prison milieu with the guards, in a place where children may visit their mothers, priority being given to children of 6 and less, as well as babies. With two of us from CFAD, we spend weekends in the prison. Everything unfolds from inside the walls, in a caravan of which we are in charge. It goes without saying that the guards are part of our world! I have spent weekends there for eight good years.

      Now, I continue, always with CFAD which has opened a family house for the friends, ex-prisoners, and those who are in the house of transition. They are all welcomed with their families. And so with my eight years in the Tanguay prison, with them and like them, I am an “ex” of that prison. A life to be continued!

      At Grossesse Secours, we are close to persons who need a listening hear and information. By telephone, we arrange a meeting with them on our premises, there, where we live and where it is possible to have maternity clothes, baby clothes, etc., for a modest price. The friends of CFAD also come.

      The most important is to « fully face » the suffering that catches up with all of us: self-rejection, and the rejection of others by ourselves, and of ourselves by others… Life offers us what we can receive and share. All this is adding to what each of us has: all that is needed in compassion to listen, look, understand and love living… because friendship does exist!

Serge-Marie (Eugénie Longtin), Avenue Laval, Montréal

In Tikondane, Standing Upright with a New Hope!

“Even Christian Organizations who advertise that they help orphans just abuse us and feast on our misery…”

      A 14-year-old boy – let us call him Dandaulo - released his heart by writing a ‘poem’. We were very surprised to read it.

      Dandaulo is one of the boys who live on the streets. After he had fallen very sick the week before, we had helped him to get admitted and well cared for at a hospital. We made sure that one of his friends would stay with him, and one of our staff members visited him regularly for a whole week. Dandaulo wrote these words shortly after his arrival at Tikondane, after having been discharged from hospital.

      When we asked him what he meant, he shared about his pain. Dandaulo is HIV +.  For some time, he had received antiretroviral drugs through a certain organization. But what pained him was that each time he looked very dirty or when he was very sick, they would take photos of him. He felt humiliated and he knew that these photos would be used for raising funds, most of which would “be eaten” by those working in that organization...

      It is not only in Malawi, that huge amounts of money come into the country for orphans, AIDS patients and other particularly vulnerable and marginalized groups of society. But most of the money never reaches those groups. Many of them feel cheated, powerless, very frustrated, angry and resentful about it.

      On the other hand, among those who are in positions where they can benefit from the system, the mentality has developed that this is the ‘normal’ state of things. Of course, this widespread mentality poses also a great challenge to our presence and apostolate. We are responding to it by continuously striving to develop a culture of stewardship and of care beyond boundaries of one’s own family, culture, religion, etc. among our staff and in relation with other working partners.

      It has been quite a challenge to build up a team in such a spirit. But we can see that there is a growing awareness and pride among the staff that their work at Tikondane is not just a paid job, but a mission – so to say offering God our eyes to see the misery of God’s people and to do about it all, or at least, the little we can do.

      Many of the children and their families, who have been in touch with Tikondane, have been able to gain new hope and confidence in life. And many of them have expressed explicitly or implicitly that they experience Tikondane as a response to their desperate prayers.

      One of our strategic partners is the Victim Support Unit of the Police (VSU). The Police officers can afford to open their ears and their eyes to the misery of the children who are brought to them, because they know that something can and will be done for the children in collaboration with Tikondane. Whereas it is common practice here in Malawi that Civil Servants, including police officers, get allowances for any collaboration with NGOs, the VSU Police officers have become very reliable and committed working partners for the good of the children, even though there are no allowances. They are encouraged and motivated by something which resounds within them and which gives more meaning to their life than money alone can give.

      At times, we also get ‘awesome’ feedback unexpectedly. One example is that of a young man from Europe who had stayed in Malawi for several years and had offered his free services to Tikondane. Before his departure, he told us that he had been very disappointed and bitter with the Church, but that his contact with us helped him to reconcile with Religion.

Rita Hieble and Françoise Laflamme, Lilongwe Area 2, Malawi

EXTRACT OF “GUIDING VALUES OF TIKONDANE”
 which each new member of staff receives

      We believe that we are all children of the ONE GOD. Yet we see that many of our brothers and sisters are suffering under dehumanizing conditions because of injustices and sinful structures (i.e. laws, traditions, ways of doing which benefit the powerful and privileged and exploit the powerless and poor). We believe that God is calling us to commit ourselves with Jesus that ‘they may have life and have it to the full’ (Jn 10:10).

      This requires of us to develop a critical social awareness. And this requires first of all an ongoing personal conversion. We need to take on the attitudes, values and priorities of Jesus. First of all, we need to realize that all we have is a gift: our very life, our health, the opportunities for education we have had, job opportunities, etc. These gifts have been entrusted to us to develop and to use for service (Parable of the talents - Mt, 25:14-30). A steward is not the owner, but the one who is put in charge of ‘a household’ and responsible that each one receives what is his/her due, in due time (Mt 24:45-51; Jn 13:12-17).

      God did not ‘stay in his secure heaven’ to save us, but he joined us in our humanity. Jesus respects each person, regardless his/her social class, and he is especially close to the marginalized. We, too, are invited to deal with each other and with our clients in simplicity, to treat each person with equal respect, and to be truly concerned not only about members of our own family, Church, culture, etc.  If we commit ourselves truly to justice in this way, then God can use us as a channel for healing, reconciliation and peace, which also bears fruit in our own lives.”

In Deli, Making Efforts in Solidarity!

Problems relating to health, education and faith are often times of struggle to defeat trials. Situations of injustice are frequently the ones which give rise to people’s misery. We can notice this generally every day in Chad, and in particular, in Deli. Being witnesses to their daily struggle, we accompany the people in their effort in solidarity.
 
     Health first of all. Health facilities being reduced, many people are being treated at “the chuku doctors”, vendors of medicines on the market, which are less costly. Coming from doubtful sources, these medicines cause many problems. The sisters who work at the health centre, of which we are in charge, along with the health personnel, try to conscientize the people to come for treatment at the centre, where the cost is set in accordance with the means of the population. Those who are living with HIV/AIDS find themselves excluded and rejected by their own families and acquaintances who fear contamination. That also causes situations of distress. However, through an association created by one of us, we can see a gradual improvement in them. We notice also that more and more they live a certain solidarity and mutual assistance. We are continuing to support them and conscientize the population that they regard themselves with dignity, equal to every other person.
 
     But the school system  is yet one of the most distressing situations. Ignorance and illiteracy are, in fact, a major cause of the situations of poverty. You know as well as we do that education is at the basis of a nation’s development. Well, here in the primary and secondary schools, the situation is appalling. The conditions in which the pupils study are precarious. The classrooms are built of straw or millet stalks, and during the cold season, it is difficult to follow the courses. The classrooms are equipped with a small table for the teacher and a small board. Squeezed together, the pupils are seated on badly shaped branches of trees. With no support on which to write, they make use of their knees, which makes their writing illegible. Most of the teachers are not trained. For the primary schools, persons in the neighbourhood are selected who speak a bit of French. They are often persons of good will, but do not have the level of education required to teach. The results which follow from that are clearly seen.

      It is the same for the secondary schools. They are holders of the baccalaureate who teach courses in the primary, secondary, and even the final class, though they themselves do not master their subject matters. Many of the pupils have a hard time expressing themselves in French and in reading, hence the difficulty  in finding some who are really interested in  our little parish library. For example, once we gave a page of a newspaper to a secondary school student of the fifth class to read, telling her to underline the words which were difficult. She underlined everything saying simply that she understood nothing.

      Happily some come out of it well, but they are rather rare. Considering the insufficiency of rooms, the pupils pass easily from one class to another, whatever be their average. In spite of this situation so difficult, we are able to notice, all the same, the good will of certain parents and teachers who are trying to seek out and find the means to improve the quality of the teaching and of the buildings. Our community is accompanying and encouraging them to move forward.
 
    Poverty is also present at the level of faith. Christians do not really understand their role as Christians, hence their lack of commitment. It must be noted that in Deli, the Christian faith is not rooted in the life of the people. It remains superficial.
 
     It is through all of that that we are continuing to see, understand and serve our brothers and sisters who are crying out to us, according to our capacities and possibilities.

The Deli Community, Deli, Chad

Walk through the Archives

Autonomous African Congregations, Foundation Stones of New Churches

Reflections of Sister Emmanuelle

I met a little girl
on a steep and stony path.
She carried her little brother on her back.

“My child, I said to her, you are carrying a heavy burden.”
She looked at me and said:
“It’s not a heavy burden, it’s my brother.”

I was left dumfounded.
The word of this courageous child
remained engraved in my heart.

And when the pain of people overwhelms me,
and when all courage leaves me,
the word of the child reminds me:

IT’S NOT A BURDEN THAT YOU CARRY, IT’S YOUR BROTHER.

      From the very first years of the foundation of his missionary institutes, Lavigerie defined the goal for them:

In a founding text, the Cardinal called his disciples to bring to the peoples of Africa, along with the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the spiritual, material, intellectual and cultural well-being that could lead to a real autonomy in the faith. Does not this project evoke an essential dimension of an integral development sought today? Is it not realized through the development of the Church in Africa? Diocesan clergy and the papal or diocesan religious founded by the Missionaries of Africa have taken over from the foreign missionaries in acquiring their autonomy from the mother Churches. The early history of African women's congregations, usually founded by the local Ordinary, a MAfr, illustrates the realization of the goal of our Founder. A few of these congregations have become missionaries in their turn and left their country of origin. Thus, they extend the dream of Lavigerie for the interior of Africa.


A first Congregation

SISTERS OF OUR LADY, QUEEN OF AFRICA, Tanzania

      It was at Karema (Tanganyika) that, on the initiative of the MAfr well supported by MSOLA, was born in 1903 the first African Congregation, the Sisters of St. Peter Claver, whose training would be entrusted to our sisters. These sisters arrived in Karema in November 1894, having been sent by Mother Marie-Salomé, in response to the request of Bishop Livinhac, then Superior General of MAfr, who wanted them there. As the MAfr had preceded them, there was already a small well-established Christianity. An old manuscript states that “two days after their arrival, more than 200 little children came to the catechism lesson ...” Later, “Many patients come to the dispensary every day ... The home visits and excursions get organized.” The sisters would soon accommodate orphans and girls ransomed from slavery. From 1902 onwards, slavery gradually declined, and the sisters began to receive free girls, born of parents who had become Christians.
      Among these young Christians will appear the first signs of a religious vocation. Mgr Lechaptois, Vicar Apostolic, saw with joy the foundation of an African congregation under the guidance of MSOLA. Two young girls presented themselves, joined by a young catechumen, later baptised Unda, queen of Ufipa. By Christmas 1903, the postulate was established, and the three girls received a blue habit. They were soon joined by other aspirants. In 1907, seven young girls began the novitiate. The first professions took place a year later, in 1908, the year when the Congregation, long known as “African Sisters of Karema” received its actual title of “Sisters of Our Lady, Queen of Africa.”

      After their first profession, three young sisters were sent to Zimba to open a boarding school and a dispensary. Like the MSOLA, they took care of the church, visited families and taught the catechism. Another community was opened in 1912, in an outstation of the mission of Kirando. Other foundations followed, including one in Zambia. The first final vows took place in 1931. In 1948, a first African superior was appointed to the community of Karema. Approved by the Church in 1949, the Congregation became a “diocesan congregation”, which is a sign of autonomy. The MSOLA were gradually phased out as from 1960 onwards, when the first councillors were elected. In 1963, Mama Elisa became mistress of novices. In 1966-67, the staff was completely africanised with Sr. Priska as the first African Superior General.


A second Congregation

THE BANNABIKIRA, Uganda
   
  It began in 1909 in Villa Maria (Uganda), from where it was later moved to Bwanda. Mother Mechtilde, first novice mistress, gave a good description of the beginnings. Upon the arrival of MSOLA in the country in 1899, Bishop Streicher placed four Christian women at their service, with the expressed wish: “We will make of these women, catechists and religious, God willing.” This was the starting point of “the project of women catechists” who would become the Congregation of African sisters called 'Daughters of Mary' which in the language of the country became “Bannabikira.”  “We see them eager to help us ...” They deprived themselves in order to offer the sisters food that would build up strength lost during the long journey by sea and by land. They taught them the language of the country... A few months after their arrival, the MSOLA opened a school that was attended mostly by the daughters of chiefs. “From among these came our new recruits.” In 1900, three of them "asked as a favour to be admitted to assist the sisters in their apostolate.”

        A schedule was worked out, and the young girls began their formation in religious life. They helped the MSOLA in their activities, schools, catechism, caring for the sick as well as the MAfr in the upbringing and education of catechumen and neophyte children. One of them “is not happy with only the education of young children. With a rare good judgment and perfect tact, she is found wherever there is good to be done...” In 1908, the young girls expressed the desire “to be united and work together through a religious bond.” Bishop Streicher chose twelve to begin a novitiate under the care of the MSOLA. The first clothing ceremony took place on 29th March 1910, and on the following 3rd December, eleven of them promised chastity and obedience to the Bishop. The aim of the Congregation was stated: “Personal holiness, religious instruction and Christian education to be given to the children of the Vicariate ...” From 1915 onwards, Mama Caecilia became mistress of novices.

     The autonomy of the Bannabikira continued gradually. In August 1925, 150 sisters met in Bwanda to elect 16 delegates to the first General Chapter of the Congregation. On 14th August, they elected a Superior General, Mama Caecilia, and three assistants. The following September, important news came from Rome: the promise made to the bishop was replaced by religious vows for three years. The first profession took place on 7th July 1926. The Bannabikira then became a “diocesan” congregation before moving to the level of a congregation of pontifical right in 1958.



The third Congregation

THE BENEBIKIRA, Rwanda

      The beginnings of the Benebikira (Daughters of the Virgin) were difficult. Yet, already before the arrival of the sisters in Rwanda on 13th March 1909 at Issavi, (at present Save), the Lord had inspired a few young girls and widows to consecrate themselves to the service of their brothers and sisters in need. Formed by the sisters, they became catechists, nurses, mothers of orphans, advisors and peace-makers among the women. Some of them felt called to a more total gift. In 1911, the first three aspirants presented themselves, and “it is with joy, we read in a little historical report, that the sisters welcomed the girls”.

      As Vicar Apostolic, Bishop Hirth, residing in Nyundo in 1912, immediately expressed his desire to start a local congregation. “He returned repeatedly to the need of this work”, the sisters wrote. He constructed a postulate at Nyundo. Mother Ignace de Loyola gathered about ten young girls and started their formation with all her heart. The people of the region did not understand this new way of life. The first postulants persevered a whole year, but then got discouraged and returned home.

      In October 1913, Mother Ignace de Loyola left Nyundo for the foundation at Rwaza. Soon, some young girls presented themselves saying: “We want to give ourselves to God like you.” Fr. Delmas, the Superior of the mission, saw in this an indication of the Providence and built a house to receive them. The house was blessed on 2nd February 1914, and the postulate began. The first clothing ceremony took place on 8th December 1916, followed by the first religious profession on 25th March 1919. In December, the novitiate was transferred to Issavi (at present Save). The annual report of Issavi showed that in 1926-1927, this “work” was under the direct authority of the Vicar Apostolic. “The purpose of the African sisters has not yet been clearly defined. The Vicar Apostolic had so far given some orientations. Now, he made changes in the manner of acting towards the postulants and the African sisters in the missions. The African sisters now have a Superior (masculine)…”

      Autonomy was therefore not yet acquired. Its first signs date back to 1935-1936, when it became a congregation of diocesan right. It grew when, in 1943, Sr. Ste Begge, a MSOLA, became Superior delegate of the Vicar Apostolic. It was acquired in 1953, when the first Chapter convened by the Vicar Apostolic, elected Mother Tereza and 4 councillors. The aim of the Congregation was at that point very well defined: “To assist the clergy in the missionary apostolate under the authority of the Ordinary of the place.”

       Over the years, other foundations would follow in the various regions assigned to the MAfr. Everywhere, the training of new members and the first formation were assigned to the MSOLA. Initially, these foundations were in Equatorial and Central Africa. From 1934, the movement extended to West Africa. In all, the MSOLA collaborated on the formation and development of 22 religious families: 4 in Tanzania; 2 in Uganda; 3 in Zambia which includes 1 Secular Institute; 1 in Kenya; 1 in Malawi; 3 in the Congo; 2 in Rwanda; 1 in Burundi; 3 in Burkina Faso; 1 in Mali; 1 in Ghana.
     
      Moreover, for a number of years now, members of these congregations often succeed the MSOLA communities and take over our institutions to which they can fully give their African dimension. Thus is fulfilled the dream of Cardinal Lavigerie: “Missionaries must be in the first place initiators. The enduring work can only be carried out by the Africans themselves, once they have become Christians and apostles.”

Lucie Pruvost

Sharing Life

The Grace of Connecting to Our Past

In April, I received a phone call from the then Superior General of the Assumption Sisters of Nairobi (ASN), Sr Gacambi. In a few days, she said, they were to start their 7th General Chapter and had no secretary. Somehow, I felt I could not say “no”. And so, I spent two weeks in an ASN retreat centre, where the Chapter was held. It was my task to take notes of the proceedings of the Chapter.

      But I also “took note” of our common past, when the MSOLA had been involved in the formation of the ASN. Many MSOLA are still very much remembered, also our Sr. Cecilia Commissariat (Cecilia-Mary), who passed away during that Chapter.

      More than in the past twelve months, I took note of the reality of Kenya: many families had suffered during the post-election violence, and some were still “Internally Displaced People” (IDP), with few perspectives of being helped or even return to their homes. The headlines of the newspapers became “incarnated”.

      Last but not least, I took note of the struggles and joys a congregation, which we assisted in its foundation and formation, can have. Inculturation of religious life, how and where?

      So, the disturbing request to help out at their Chapter has become a time of grace, the grace to reconnect concretely with our common past.

Gisela Schreyer, Nairobi, Kenya

The rubric “IN TANDEM” is presented for a second time this year. Father Serge Traore, MAfr, writes about the theme chosen. A call to grow in humaneness and to transform our heart!

How does meeting with another person, different in culture and religion, enrich me ?

Listen! It is a little word used throughout the day by everyone! Umva – (Kinyarwanda) – Listen (English) - Écoute (French) - Sikia (Kiswahili). This word in several languages always expresses a deep desire to be heard, understood, accepted and welcomed such as I am. The beauty of meeting with another person is to experience listening, which is admittedly not easy. I often want to speak, react, explain, discuss and justify; nevertheless, we have to let others speak until they finish. After having studied as much as I have, I am learning to empty myself of my knowledge, and especially my mind, in order to listen to God through others. The word of God to Job constantly rings in my head: “Job, give me your attention, listen well; keep silence: I have more to say” (Jb 33:31).

Who therefore is this God?  By listening to another, I realise that “God is greater than our conscience and he knows everything” (1 Jn 3:20). I sometimes have the impression I do not know him at all. A kind of thirst to know him better takes me over: “As a doe longs for running streams, so longs my soul for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, the God of life; when shall I go to see the face of God?” (Ps 42:2-3). In discovering the lives of the men and women of other religious traditions, I am taken by surprise by this God at work in their lives. Who is this God? I lived for three days in the house of Pastor Daniel, a Presbyterian married to Dina; they have three magnificent daughters! In the evening after a meeting replete in words, looks and meals shared, in the silence of the night before sleep, I cannot but relive these moments of such intense encounter. I sigh in a sense of wonder. Peter’s experience becomes mine, “Then Peter addressed them: ‘The truth I have now come to realise’, he said, ‘is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him’” (Ac 10:34-35). Who then is God? The experience of the Prophet Elijah comes to me like a flash. On Mount Horeb, he had an extraordinary experience of the presence of God like “the sound of a gentle breeze. And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak…” (1 K 19:12-13). How beautiful! God is present in this intense silence, “the sound of a gentle breeze”, in the life of Reverend Daniel, of El hajj Sudi…
 
Gentleness of heart! Speaking to others has never been easy. How can we pass on deep personal convictions to others without hurting or frustrating them? How can we rectify prejudices another person holds against us without a fight? There is only one truly efficient way – gentleness of heart. Christ was right. “Happy the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage” (Mt 5:4). Every meeting with a person different from me has always been an exercise in “gentleness of heart” and to reach it, I have always the counsel of the apostle Paul in mind, “Finally, brothers, fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise” (Ph 4:8). 

  When Sudi calls me to ask what time I am leaving for the Muslim-Christian seminar, and he would like us to travel together, I can only be amazed! Therefore, we take the bus together, and the journey becomes an experience of listening and of communication. Just as Jesus was amazed at the faith of the Roman centurion (Mt 8:9), so I discover what is true, noble, just, pure and worthy of loving, honouring what is called virtue, whatever is worthy of praise in the lives of these men, women and children of other religious traditions. It leaves me speechless, but my heart is racing. St. Francis was right. “The world of men is an immense battlefield of riches and power. Moreover, too much suffering and atrocities have hidden from them the face of God.  We must in no circumstances approach them giving the impression as a new kind of competitor. Among them we need to be peaceable witnesses of the Almighty, men without covetousness or scorn, capable of being their true friends. They expect our friendship, friendship that enables them to experience that they are loved by God and saved in Jesus Christ”  (E. Leclerc, Sagesse d’un pauvre, p. 139).

Finally, unlimited compassion! In Rwanda, I spend hours listening to people whose souls are scarred by a history of suffering, violence, war and genocide. It is a pastoral activity of listening and of prayer! I was describing to a Muslim friend how this activity took place. Suddenly, he opened up to me. Taken between the desire to listen to his story of suffering and thinking of referring him to a Sheik, his Muslim spiritual father, I had no time to decide. He was already “opening his heart” to me as though to say, “I was pouring out my soul… all this time I have been speaking from the depth of my grief and my resentment” (1 S 1:15-16). Unlimited compassion! What was I to do? Listen. However, there was more; I was to weep. I was so moved by his story of suffering that my tears followed his. Was it an embarrassment? No! I understood the power of God. “At the sight of her tears, and those of the Jews who followed her, Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart…” (Jn 11: 33). 
    
      Such is the power of compassion: sighing and becoming distressed in front of the other person’s suffering. The words are no longer important. I did not know what to say. However the story of Hagar and Ishmael came to mind. In the desert, faced with the last sighs of her son, God only asked her one thing: “Come, pick up the boy and hold him safe, for I will make him into a great nation” (Gn 21:18). Water and food would follow. For the time being, only the hand in the hand of the child would give it life. I shall never forget this hand in the hand of this man. The “sound of a gentle breeze” could be heard, “who makes no distinction between men and that in every nation whoever fears and practises justice finds favour with him”. How happy I am to love such a God!

Serge Moussa Traore, MAfr., Burkinabè

Did you know?

World Conference on Inter-religious Dialog

      In July 2008, the Muslim World League organised the World Conference on Interreligious Dialogue in Madrid. Cardinal Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue was invited to take part. Upon his return, he made the following declaration to the Osservatore Romano:  “One must never give the impression or think that all religions are basically alike, or that they are more or less the same. No. Every religion has its specificity. What we declare is that all believers, those who are in search of God, have the same dignity, and it is for this reason that we have to respect them, not because their religion is true or false, but because they are all human beings.”

Some principles

      At the end of the Conference, SOME PRINCIPLES were adopted, and are published in “The Madrid Declaration”.  To mention only a few:

* The uniqueness of humankind in the original creation and their equality in human dignity irrespective of their colours, ethnic backgrounds and cultures.
* Diversity of cultures and civilisations among people is a sign of God and a cause for human advancement and prosperity.
* The revealed religions aim at realising the obedience of people to their Creator… They seek to enhance ways of understanding and coexistence among people despite their differences.
* The family is the basic unit of society and its cornerstone. Its protection and preservation against the dislocation are the foundation of any stable and safe society.
* The preservation of the environment and nature and their protection against the dangers of pollution and against any other risk, constitute a fundamental goal, common to all religions and cultures.

 Recommendations

      The final document has adopted also some RECOMMENDATIONS:

* To fight against theories which consider the clash of civilisations and cultures inescapable…
* To enhance common human values…
* Disseminate a culture of tolerance and of mutual understanding through dialogue, so as to be a framework for international relations…
* Urge governmental and non-governmental organisations to work on the publication of a document that stipulates the respect for religions and their symbols.

Osservatore Romano

Immigration Disasters: Pope Asks for Euro-African Dialogue

Some European countries show an increasingly restrictive attitude with regard to the tragedies of clandestine immigrants from different origins, especially from the African continent. Trapped by dishonest ferrymen, they cross the Mediterranean in boats which are overloaded.

      It is in the struggle against various forms of “non intentional immigration” that these countries issue laws which make of this kind of immigration a criminal offence, and punish the immigrants making them pay heavy fines and even with imprisonment. Doctors, associations or other persons who come to their help in one way or another, are pursued for complicity and also risk heavy fines and imprisonment. Human Rights defenders refer to this as a  “solidarity offence”.

      On Palm Sunday, 5th April 2009, faced with nearly 100.000 worshipers gathered on St. Peter’s Square, Benedict XVI reacted vigorously against such measures. He appealed for a dialogue between the European Union and African States to put in place as soon as possible coordinated strategies, concerning this worrying issue. The Pope was referring explicitly to the recent shipwreck off the coast of Libya of a makeshift boat which was heading towards the Italian coast. This shipwreck left at least 21 people dead and 200 missing.

      Since last April, several boats, which were overloaded with new immigrants on the way to Italy, have been intercepted in international waters and were obliged to return towards Libya, without any humanitarian measures having been taken for them. It so happens that these boats carry also sick persons who need medical care, political refugees, etc. Those facts have caused the disapproval of the Church, of the HCR (High Commission for Refugees) and of the great majority of the Italian political classes. According to the IMO, the International Organisation for Migration, 13 000 bodies were recovered in Mediterranean waters, in the last 10 years.

Source: “Internet”

Libya: 21 migrants died, more than 200 disappeared in the same shipwreck.
The boat was loaded with illegal migrants trying to reach Europe, off the Libyan coast, on 29th March 2009.
21 persons died and more than 200 went missing, said the official of the International Organization for Migration (OIM) in Tripoli.

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