Category Archives: Interreligious Dialogue

It was a rare occasion in our refugee settlements. Far away from the town, somehow isolated, the refugees of Maaji and Agojo – settlements in the North of Uganda, have rarely seen such great events and opportunities to gather and pray. Ten days before its arrival in Maaji, the people of the settlements were informed that the image of Our Lady of Kibeho was on its way. The time to prepare for her arrival was very short and all the leaders of the Catholic chapels that we, the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa and the Missionaries of Africa, are in charge of, rolled up their sleeves to start the preparations. Drawing up the budget, collecting food, cleaning the houses to receive those who would accompany the statue of Our Lady, clearing the ground around the chapel that would be the main venue for the welcome, building the podium,…

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Postulants NIYOMWUNGERE Evelyne, TEBABO Philogène and AFUA Mediator     Dear sisters, we are happy to share with you our community experience and our learning of the English language for two months. First of all, we are very grateful for the welcome of our sisters who allowed us to spend our time in Gumo in a good atmosphere. We were touched by their availability, their attention and their encouragement in our learning of the language. When we arrived, the sisters showed us the house and the community program. This put us at ease and we felt at home by sharing the community tasks. What struck us during the lessons was the fact that our teacher did not understand French. We did not understand each other’s English either. The teacher did his best so that we could understand him. We do not forget the help of our sisters who encouraged us…

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Sr. Mia with Srs. Marie-Ange, Elyse and Olive     From Sr Mia Dombrecht in Teichott, Mauritania July 1 to 31, 2024   Dear sisters and dear readers, It is with great joy that we share with you this experience of meeting our Muslim brothers and sisters. “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.” This sentence from the Acts of the Apostles has touched me since my childhood. It is undoubtedly at the origin of my missionary vocation. In 2011, during my first stay in Mauritania, with my sisters, we had the joy of discovering one of these ends of the earth, in the villages of the Imraguen, along the Mauritanian coast between Nouakchott and Nouadhibou in the Banc d’Arguin National Park. With our sister Marie Cécile Baffier, we stayed there for two months. She was in Rgeiba, to teach sewing, myself in Teichott, to teach…

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    Our novice, Divine Cyrisma, shares her joy for the End of Ramadan Feast   April 10, the date marking the breaking of the fast in the month of Ramadan, was a day of celebration for our Muslim brothers and sisters. I learned that for Muslims, Eid el-Fitr is, above all, a celebration of sharing and solidarity, and this is what our Muslim friends’ families concretely confirmed by inviting us to share with them the joy of this celebration. That day, in our community, we divided ourselves into two groups to join all the families who invited us for the occasion. Being invited by Muslims to their celebrations for us Christians, especially for us the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, is very significant. This desire reflects the relationships of proximity, respect for the faith of others that exist between people of different religious faiths. It was an…

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MSOLA SMNDA Africa Afrique missionary sisters sœurs missionnaires

  The experience of our sister Béatrix Dagras   The door of room 506 of the “Résidence de Bon Secours” in Paris is accustomed to discreet and unexpected knocks: questions, services requested or rendered, information… are all occasions for friendly encounters, bringing the pleasure of their balms. Even at night, a joker or a person suffering from insomnia may knock on the door a couple of times. No need to open the door: by the time you get up to see who’s there, they’ve gone!   In our residence a parish-initiated reflection group was set up, for the reading of the New Testament. I took part along with other residents. When this parish activity came to an end, the comment was made: “We don’t know the Old Testament!” The group then became an in-house group, called “Biblical”, and they entrusted me with the task of leading it… Since last year,…

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  The community of Missionaries of Africa and MSOLA sisters at Lavigerie’s house in Karlsruhe, is formed by a Nigerian, a Rwandese and a German Missionaries of Africa and two MSOLA. Our Mission is to live and promote interreligious and intercultural Dialogue, and to accompany the refugees who are our sisters and brothers. We contact families, single persons, and some victims of human trafficking: accompany them to offices, to doctors and hospitals and help them to fill out their many papers and even to participate in social activities. Every Thursday and twice on Saturdays we have a cooking program with refugees from the camps. They are very happy to cook their own food! One of us helps in the Caritas fabric shop selling cheap clothes or even giving them free of charge. During the interculturality week we opened wide our doors and invited refugees for a culinary feast. Refugees from…

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  Sister Françoise Dillies, currently in the Ehpad St Jean in Lille, has spent most of her life in Kabylia. When an opportunity arose, she spontaneously accepted to be photographed dressed as a “Kabyle woman” and with great simplicity, she let her heart speak and told us how happy she is to have lived with the women of this country. I have been very blessed in my life because I have only served in Kabylia where I learned the Kabyle language which is not easy; this was with Sister Madeleine Alain, the great linguist. We were a small group and so it was like private lessons well adapted to each one. I began my journey by teaching at the elementary school in Beni-Yeni, for a couple of years. Then I was asked to come to France for a while. After that, I had the chance to return to Beni-Yeni. Because…

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  Sr Monique Bonami, in the community at the MRS St Joseph in Evere, Bruxelles, shares a story about the pleasures of sharing between young and old. Next to the St Joseph’s Rest and Care Home (MRS) in Evere, north of Brussels, there is an elementary school and happily there are good exchanges between the two structures with intergenerational activities (games, etc.). In the past Sr. Mia had done activities in the school on interculturality, and Sr. Marie-Paule Schiltz and I did some tutoring. For Christmas, the guests of the rest home were invited to the school. This year the religion teacher, Mrs. Sylvie Panneels, organized some Eucharists for the children in our chapel, and all the Residents could participate so about 12 MSOLA were there. I had been with the children in the classes for the preparation and also the Father Chaplain adapted well to the children.    …

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On the occasion of the Season of Creation 2022, the Muslim-Christian dialogue group of Nouakchott organised a common prayer by the sea on Wednesday 21 September. We sat side by side on the sand, 5 Muslims and 6 Chris-tians, contemplating the immensity of the ocean before us. We were inspired by the suggestions sent by the Sea-son of Creation 2022. During the spontaneous sharing about what was coming up in us, as we contemplated the ocean and the people around us, listening to the birds, we felt confirmed that creation unites us as believers of different traditions. God has given human beings the responsibility to care for all created beings. We experienced the Kingdom of God already here, feeling brothers and sisters, called to care together for creation and to praise God for the air we breathe, for the water that gives life, for the earth that sustains and nourishes…

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A Muslim lives the charism of Lavigerie We share with you a marvel of God’s action, the presence of his Kingdom among us. Yahya Sall, a young Muslim from Mauritania, fights for the rights of undocumented and out-of-school children, as well as planting trees in his neighbourhood, supporting migrants and foreigners, widows and children. Through our sisters in Nouakchott, he has become a reference person in the neighbourhood for those who are voiceless and without support. He himself says that he is now a missionary: “What touches the human being also touches me”. Sensitive to the suffering of others, recognising that he himself is limited, he believes that God is beyond our limits and that with Him everything is possible. When a poor family or a sick mother turns to him, he replies that he personally has no means of helping them; but he promises to tell all the people…

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