SAINT DANIEL COMBONI’S PERSONAL WRITINGS

Bishop Daniel Comboni, the first Bishop of Central Africa, died in Khartoum, Sudan, on 10th October 1881. He was 50 years old, and the work for which he had given his life seemed to be dying too.

To the small group of missionaries around his bed, he said: “I am dying, but my work will not die!” Humanly speaking, the words were hopeless, coming from a delirium. Instead, they were prophetic. Today, several missionary Institutes: the Comboni Missionaries (priests and Brothers), the Comboni Missionary Sisters (nuns) the Comboni Secular Missionaries (lay women) and Comboni Lay Missionaries (men and women, some of whom are married couples) are working in Africa, Latin America and Asia, with the same determination and enthusiasm that drove St. Daniel.

Yes, he is now a Saint! He was Beatified by Pope John Paul II on 17th March 1996 and Canonised by the same Pope only seven years later, on 5th October 2003.

He was born into a poor family in Limone, a small village on the shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy, on 15th March 1831. The only one of eight children to survive into adulthood, he felt called from an early age to be a priest and a missionary. Circumstances - or the finger of God - made it possible, and he travelled to "Central Africa" in 1857, with five companions. By the middle of 1858, three of the others were dead, and Comboni had to return to Italy. He survived, and his experience had taught him how to approach the interior of Africa. It did not mean that there was no risk to health and life, but missionaries could last longer...The feeling of urgency was strong in him and in those who joined him, and they faced the possibility of not reaching old age with courage and determination.

Comboni wrote thousands of letters during his life. Many of them were to keep in touch with old and new benefactors and urge them to keep up the support of their prayers and donations. Others dealt with the situations in the Mission and the growth and development of his Institutes. In the first five months of 1881, the year of his death, he noted that he had already written over 1300!

One of his great Writings was the “Plan for the Regeneration of Africa" (1864): a document that outlined how the continent of Africa could be be brought to the knowledge and love of Christ through the work of Africans themselves: hence the motto he wrote in several of his letters: “Save Africa with Africa!” Africans would be Catholic teachers, doctors, craftsmen, farmers, husbands and wives who, along with the Faith would pass on knowledge and skills to their brothers and sisters. But the Plan also envisaged the involvement of Catholics all round the world, to fund, build and man Centres around the coast of Africa, where both Africans and those from colder climates could survive.

In 1991, a collection of some of Comboni's letters and reports was printed in Italian, in a book that runs to over 2200 pages. Some time later, editions appeared in Spanish, Portuguese and French. A good number of documents have been translated into Polish and German. The decision to bring out an edition in English was made around 1994, and work proceeded rather slowly for a number of years. By 2005 it was finally completed, and was prepared for printing in 2006: a compact volume of 2233 pages! We received the first copies in October, and they are worth the wait. We are looking at ways to share some of St. Daniel's thoughts and feelings on the Website -- but if you are interested in having a copy of the Writings, just get in touch. Be warned that it costs more than pocket money...!

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