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Comboni and Church News Just click on any of the links below to go to the selected article.
Since last we wrote (Summer issue 2006!) the main changes in personnel are as follows: Fr. Patrick Wilkinson, after 8 years service in the Province, has received his dearest wish i.e. to have a chance to return to the Mission in Malawi. He is now a member of the Lilongwe community there and, despite a few health concerns, is enjoying every minute of his new assignment.
The other confrere on the move is Fr. Tekie Hagos who had been in charge of the theology students at Elstree. Although Fr. Tekie was only in England for 3 years he made a lot of friends and takes back to Eritrea many happy memories of his time in Hertfordshire. Both Fathers have asked me to thank you - friends, benefactors and supporters - for ‘taking care’ of them and I’m sure you will wish to join us in offering both of them every blessing and success in their new tasks. We are happy to announce that Fr. John Downey makes a welcome return to the Province from his arduous mission in Brazil. Fr. John had a health scare earlier in the year but now, following successful medical treatment, is bouncing back stronger and more enthusiastic than ever. We are hoping to bring you news of another two assignments to the Province early next year. For details about this and about Fr. John’s more specific assignment …… watch this space! Among the various visitors to the Province over the summer we were delighted to extend a warm welcome to Frs. John Fraser (Uganda), Vincent Maquire (Uganda), David Glenday (Philippines) and Javier Alvarado Ayala (Eritrea). All, we are pleased to report, keep well and, having enjoyed a good holiday and a well-deserved rest, return to the fray renewed in mind and spirit.
At Elstree we have a classic situation to report on: there is the good news and then there is the bad news – this time very bad news! The good news first. On 28th. April our theology student Jemil Araya from Eritrea took his final vows at the Priory while another student, Ruben Bojorquez from Mexico, renewed his vows for one more year. A month later, 21st. May, Jemil was ordained to the Diaconate at the hands of Bishop James O’Brien at St. Francis’ Church, Pottery Lane (London) and was ordained to the priesthood last September in his home town of Keren in Eritrea. We wish Fr. Jemil every grace and blessing as he begins his priestly ministry in Cairo, Egypt. The celebrations in Elstree this year were rounded off with the ‘Open Day’ in June. There was a fine turn-out and, some would say, a fitting end. And that, dear readers, is the crux of the ‘very’ bad news alluded to above. The June 2006 ‘Open Day’ was Elstree’s last. The community, our house for theology students, is now closed. In the business world what we are doing would be termed ‘restructuring’. The fact is that we have no new candidates from Britain or Ireland, there are very few (or none) from ‘Catholic’ Europe [Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland], the vast majority of candidates that we do have hail from Africa, Asia and the Americas and there seems little point in providing a missionary education for them here in London, education for these candidates costs so much less nearer to their home countries and, as mentioned in Comboni Mission – Summer 2006, the Missionary Institute London (where our students studied theology) is itself closing down. Though we are sad to see Elstree close, we are grateful to all those friends and benefactors who have supported us over so many years. We remember in a special way Anna who did so much more for the students than merely run the kitchen (indeed the heart of every household), Peter Shorey, John Doneo and their families, we remember Luis, Gentil, Ugbamichael, the ‘Open Arms’ musical connection, the Parishes of Borehamwood, Burnt Oak, Edgware, Golders Green, Shenley, White City ……… Bishop James O’Brien, the priests and the Diocese of Westminster and all of you who made us welcome and took us to your hearts. For our part, we have in turn taken The Priory – and thus you – to the furthest corners of the earth.
One of the sadder moments to report on since we last prepared the Roundup page was the passing, in April, of Mrs. Mary Marbaix aged 83. Her funeral Mass was presided over by Fr. Brendan Burke, Parish Priest of St. Joseph’s in Rustington (W. Sussex) and was well attended by our Parishioners. Mary, who did so much at the Sacred Heart Church and whose passion was flowers and the garden, left behind Tony, her husband, and her children Suzanne, Paul, Fiona, Jane and Joanne. Our thoughts and prayers go to Mary, Tony and the family.
On the up-side Sunningdale saw Messers. Ambrose Mulroy, Tony Carson and friends hand over a cheque for just over £25,000 to be sent to Fr. Martin Devenish in Moroto, Uganda, for the further development of the technical school he is building, equipping and running there. This June jamboree was the fifth time that Tony and Edna Carson had hosted such a fund-raising event in their Surrey home and the fifth time that the indefatigable Frank (It’s the way I tell ‘em, and former Mayor of Balbriggan) Carson, now 80 years old, held court. Happy Birthday Frank …. and you are dead right: it is the way you tell them! But let us not forget that the great amount of charity work that you undertake (for all kinds of good causes) is a further measure of the fine, generous. ever-friendly man you are. Other events of note at Sunningdale during 2006 were the Easter festivities, the Provincial Assembly in Low Week, our celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart in June, a record number of marriages during the summer, a burglary (!), the installation of lighting in the car park and Fr. David Glenday’s Mission Appeal in September.
April was not a good month since it marked the death not only of Mrs. Marbaix in Sunningdale but also that of Comboni Sister Alba Burlo, aged 73, in Chiswick. Sr. Alba made her Religious Profession at the age of 22 in London and the following year left for Uganda where she served with great joy and generosity for the next 47 years returning to London just three years ago. May she rest in peace.
On a more joyous note, the Sisters in Chiswick hosted all (5) the Comboni communities of southern England for the Feast of St. Daniel Comboni on 10th. October. Fr. John Troy, who presided at the Eucharist and gave the homily, took the opportunity to present Sr. Mariateresa Goffi, the Sisters’ Provincial Superior, with a copy - hot off the presses - of the English translation of the collected letters of St. Daniel. Further copies of St. Comboni’s Writings will be generally available in the new year.
The communities in both Leeds (15th. July) and Glasgow (24th. June) held ‘Open Days’ during the third quarter of the year. In each case the day was a success, the turn-out was good, old friendships were renewed and the goal of extending the missionary endeavour of the Church was strengthened. Along with the Dublin community, Leeds and Glasgow have been kept busy with the activities of their respective Mission Offices. Each Office has published the names of the winners of the Annual Mission Draw (our thanks for your participation), during the month of June the Masses for the Sacred Heart were offered, and now, at the end of the year, the November Masses are being said. For your support in this and indeed in all our mission promotion activities our sincere thanks.
In 2006 we carried out a number of Mission Appeals in the UK and Ireland. In England we were hosted by the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton as well as by certain Deaneries of the Diocese of Southwark; in Ireland we preached in the Diocese of Clonfert; and in Scotland we were made welcome in the Deaneries assigned to us in the Dioceses of Galloway, Motherwell, and Argyle and Isles. We are honoured to acknowledge the hospitality and generosity of the faithful in all the parishes we were privileged to visit and once again we remain indebted to the unfailing kindness of the priests who looked after us so well. May the Lord reward you all.
Finally, a word on behalf of Mr. Brendan McLarnon of Belfast who, during the beginning of the month of October, made a pilgrimage to Limone, St. Daniel Comboni’s birthplace in northern Italy (see article on page 4). Brendan (and the Comboni Missionaries) wishes to thank everyone who, in one way or another, made this pilgrimage possible. He is happy to report that he delivered to Limone all the petitions received, that the novena envisaged was completed and that the concluding Mass on St. Daniel’s Feast Day in Limone was an experience never to be forgotten. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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