xaverian mission newsletter - 2009 jan-march: globalization and a new generation of missionaries

Xaverian MissionNewsletterVolume 57 - No. 1 | February 2009

P overty is often a con-tributory factor or a

compounding element in con-flicts, including armed ones. In turn, these conflicts fuel further tragic situations of poverty…. In this context, fighting poverty requires attentive consideration of the complex phenomenon of globalization.”

Pope Benedict XVI shared these words as part of his mes-sage for World Day of Peace, January 1, entitled Fighting Poverty to Build Peace. He goes on to say: “Yet the reference to globalization should also alert us to the spiritual and moral implications of the question, urging us, in our deal-ings with the poor, to set out from the clear recognition that we all share in a single divine plan: we are called to form one family in which all – individu-

als, peoples and nations... model their behavior according to the principles of fraternity and responsibility.”

Our missionary commitment as Catholics counts these words as guide posts in the challenges of world mission today. Our Founder, Blessed Guido Maria Conforti, many years ago shared this vision “to make the world one family” as a guiding principle in the new challenges we face as missionaries today. This is the best way of thinking of globaliza-tion in a world whose borders are disin-tegrating not only politically and eco-nomically, but morally and spiritually.

We hope this issue of XMN provides a glimpse of the vision of the Holy Father in the zeal and enthusiasm of some of our newest missionaries in the field. Fr. Ramos from Brazil, and Frs. Garduno and Casillas, from Mexico, share some of their first struggles and hopes as they begin their missionary work. Fr. Rocco Puopolo also graces our pages

again in his ongoing work through the Africa Faith and Justice Network based in Washington DC. They are trying to see how healing and reconciliation can occur after the pain and grief of horrif-ic wars, and the outrageous violence they wreaked. There are many stories of this healing, unleashed through the mission of the Church, which we need to listen to. This is restorative justice.

As we begin a new Lenten Journey we focus on the overwhelming compas-sion of Jesus on the cross, coming from the very heart of God the Father, and shared by us as disciples of Christ in a world longing for authentic peace. U

– CC

Highlights • Young Xaverian Missionaries Prepare for First Mission

• From Milwaukee to Bangladesh: A Young Missionary Reflects

• Restorative Justice in Africa

• Zimbabwe, St. Paul, and True Power

• To Live and Work for Peace

• Sharing Missionary Lives on College Campuses

“Make of the world one family”

Globalization and a New Generation of Missionaries

“... we all share in a single divine plan: we are called to form one family in which all – individuals,

peoples and nations... model their behavior according to the principles

of fraternity and responsibility.”

“He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”Luke 4:18

2 Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 2009

Catholics in a World of Many Faiths

Xaverian Missionaries

Provincial Headquarters12 Helene CourtWayne, NJ 07470-2813Tel.: (973) 942-2975Fax: (973) 942-5012Email: [email protected]

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Xaverian Mission Newsletter

Official publication of theXaverian Missionaries of the United States

Coordinating EditorFr. Carl Chudy

Editorial TeamFr. Tony LalliFr. Joseph MatteucigFr. Alfredo Turco

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Donation:$5.00 per year

Young Xaverian Missionaries Prepare for their First Mission in Bangladesh

I recently arrived to Bangladesh for my first mission experience, along with Father Marcos Garduno and Father Melecio, all

from Mexico. We are preparing for our mis-sionary life.

The Constitutions of the Xaverian Missionaries reminds us that “the initial period of transition in the mission field is a particularly significant moment in the life of a Xaverian. It requires a warm acceptance of the new world, serious study of the reali-ty and the language of the place ...”.

We are really buckling down to the books in order to study the language and culture of the Bengali people, because you cannot accept and love what you do not know! We are approaching this new culture for us with a mind and heart open to welcome all that we experience. Moreover, our attitude of openness to the Bengali culture is also an important cultural value for the Bengalis, who say: “Otithi narayan - the guest is God”!

We often participate in meetings orga-nized specifically for the “new” mission-aries in the country. Last July, for exam-ple, Mr. Atul Francis, Director of Caritas Bangladesh, shared with us how we may live, think and act like the Bengali peo-ple.

The Complexity of a Nation

There are 150 million people In Bangladesh. Approximately 98% are Bengalis, the other 2% are aborigines of various ethnic groups. 90% are Muslims, others are Hindu, Christians, Buddhists and animists. This enormous, diverse tide of people is both the strength and at the same time, the weak-ness of Bangladesh.

Unfortunately, the Bengalis are still living in a caste system where large populations are considered a lesser class people, a mind-set which is difficult to overcome.

The “untouchables” especially have to do the most dirty work, feeling as though they are fated with this burden.

Everyone is strongly linked to the larger community to which they belong. Their

“...our attitude of openness to the Bengali culture is also an important cultural value for the Bengalis, who say: “Otithi narayan - the guest is God!”

A Xaverian Missionary chatting on the road in Bangladesh.

3Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 2009

Xaverian Missionaries in the World

sense of belonging is expressed in their solidarity. For this reason, they prefer to speak in the plural: “our nation”, “our vil-lage”, “our home.” Jesus taught us to pray in solidarity: “Our Father ...”.

Bangladesh Lives and Dies on Water

While flying one day, I looked over the horizon and wondered if Bangladesh was land or water. Even while traveling, especially during the rainy season, there is a perception that the water predomi-nates in the land, which outcrops just above sea level. Even the missionaries reach the villages, hidden among palm trees and banana trees, with long trips on the rivers.

Water is a central reality for Bangladesh. The immense rice and jute fields, the cows to pasture and shepherds who play on the edge of streets, houses of mud and straw, which are reflected on the water, the women trying to work at home ... everything seems to deliver peace and serenity. But the monsoons and cyclones can lead to unpredictable disasters. In short, water is synonymous with life, but can lead to death.

Land of Gold and Disaster

Where more than 2 thousand people live on every square kilometer, land is a major commodity. Those who have the good fortune of owning a piece of land, ordinarily do not sell, unless forced by extreme necessity, such as disease, debt or the dowry for the marriage of a daugh-ter.

Until 1947, the date of the end of colo-nial dependence, the flood plain was called “Sonar Bangla - the Golden Bengal”, not only for the fertility of the land, but also for its cultural richness.

Why is this land, once considered the granary of India, today so poor? The ongoing unbridled exploitation of land and the problem of overcrowding is real and ongoing. Despite everything, this nation must keep its cultural richness that few know. U

– Father Augusto Ramos, SX

Fr. Ramos working on the language.

Bring the taste of mission home. Try a recipe from Bangladesh

Saag Kumro

3 cups peeled and diced pumpkins (kumro)

2 medium potatoes, diced but not peeled

A bunch of fresh spin-ach), chopped

1/2 lb. baby shrimp (peeled+steamed is ok)

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 dried red chili

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

2 tablespoons finely ground/grated coconut

Procedure:

1. First heat the oil in a pan, add the cumin and the turmeric, stir-fry these spices for a minute before you add the shrimp. Fry the shrimp for a couple of min-utes and then take them out with a slotted spoon and leave aside.

2. Next break the dried red chili and fry it in the oil for a minute before adding the potatoes and pumpkin. Stir fry these for a few minutes. Add the coriander, chili powder and sugar and stir-fry for a couple more minutes.

3. Now add the chopped spinach and stir it in until it slowly decreases in volume and blends in with the other ingredients (~3 mins). Now add the salt and sprinkle a little water (3-4 Tbsp) cover and allow to cook under low heat until the potatoes are done.

4. Sprinkle and stir in the ground coconut and shrimp before turn-ing off the heat, you may wish to save a little for the final garnish when you serve this dish.

Serves: 4-6 people

Serving ideas: serve with piping hot plain rice!

Would you like extra copies of our newsletter for your

CCD class or just to share with friends? Contact the editor at:

xaverianmissionnewsletter @gmail.com.

Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 20094


I was ordained a priest in my home country of Mexico with a dream to begin my first mission experience in

Bangladesh. I arrived in our community of Franklin, Wisconsin, to spend an intense year improving my English skills.

Six months after my arrival to our missions in Bangladesh, I immediately began to study both the language and the culture. I am just beginning to speak in the local language of Bangla. In fact, my first mass in the local lan-guage was this past Christmas. I consid-er this event a symbolic rebirth as I begin my new mission here.

In this month of January I am moving to our parish in Shatkira in order to start my first steps with direct contact with people, language and culture. In this parish most of the people are called “’Rishi”, which means outcast, a very poor and marginalized people.

I have noticed many differences in the local culture that I need to understand more deeply. It’s a kind of culture shock that requires a great deal of patience on my part. It seems a very slow process that requires changing the way I think of things, and some atti-tudes that I carry around with me.

I am struck by contrasts as well. For example, even though women appear to be in a more subservient position in society, in the last ten years Bangladesh has enormous political

struggles. So, in the recent elections, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, a woman, was chosen as the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Before the elections, since they could not agree on how Bangladesh should be ruled, the Army took over. This is the first time in many years that control of the country is transferred from the military to civilian rule.

As I continue my early journey as a mis-sionary priest in Bangladesh, I am learning to live in solidarity with the local people, a task which I find is not easy in some respects. Prayer, patience, grace from God, and support of my brother Xaverians here are my mainstays. Change and early struggles is part and parcel of the missionary life. I find that in the long run, not only the boundaries of my mind is enlarged, but those of my heart as well. Please pray

for us all here in Bangladesh. U

– Fr. Marcos Garduno, SX

From Mexico To Milwaukee To Bangladesh:

A Young Missionary ReflectsBengali Coca Cola

Fr. Marcos at the market.

I have noticed many differences in the local culture that I need to understand more deeply.”

Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 2009 5


Recently I had the chance to visit Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, researching restorative justice pro-

cesses there. I am the director of The Africa Faith and Justice Network and we are looking into where this process of restoring communities broken by conflicts happens and how it could be affirmed as a complement to other forms of doing justice.

Children Recovering from War

From the first meeting with the “push boys” from the Northern Ghana city of Yendi, I saw restorative justice at work. These secondary school boys and girls are displaced and work the Medina market in Accra, out of school and living on the streets because of a chiefdom rivalry hundreds of miles away that turned violent. I sat with a representative group of 17 of them in midst of a busy market and listened to

their stories of the conflict, displace-ment and disappointment.

When asked if they could suggest a way forward that would restore peace to Yendi in a just manner, I was sur-prised to discover a very wise and cre-ative response, one I would not have thought of from my experience nor found in any conflict resolution manual that I am familiar with. It was an example of the wisdom and knowledge of the way forward that is very present in African Societies.

Fambol Tok

The most powerful example of this was found in Sierra Leone where I met the organizers of Fambol Tok (Family Talk), a Sierra Leonean initiative that provides a local community the support and guidance to create their own framework and process that can lead to restoration. Fambol Tok’s first outreach

was to the local community in Kailahun, the very place in the Eastern Province where the insur-gents of the 14 year war had their headquarters and whose local com-munity had experi-enced the war from start to fin-ish.

This broken community wel-comed Fambol Tok’s guidance as they themselves set up a process to bring the commu-nity together. After preliminary background infor-mation to all in the community that framed the work ahead, the community initiat-ed a series of eve-

ning circles around the fire, sharing the stories of loss and hope, learning to lis-ten to each other and trust the strength of their community.

One Son Lost, Another Gained

Well into the first week, after a fam-ily shared the loss of their only son, who they thought was alive but dis-placed in neighboring Liberia or Guinea, one young man came forward to offer his condolences to the family, and, because of the support created by this circle, admitted to killing this son. He was younger then, and drugged and part of that maddening crowd of child soldiers, but he did remember that he killed that boy. He knelt before the family, now wailing and crying uncon-trollably. When the crying subsided, in the uncomfortable silence of not know-ing what to do or where to go next, the young man spoke. He knows he did wrong. There is no way he could bring back their son. But what he could do is take his place. Any task that the son would have done, brushing the farm, mending the roof, etc., he would do for the rest of his life. The family accept-ed. Restoration was achieved. U

– Fr. Rocco Puopolo, SX

Check out Fr. Rocco’s Blog on his trip at: www.rjwestafrica.blogspot.com

Fambol Tok and Justice After a Devastating War

Fr. Rocco Puopolo with the “Push Boys” (former child soldiers) of Maedina Marken in Accra.

Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 20096

The Situation

“At a time of dramatic global changes and challenges, Catholics in the United States

face special responsibilities and oppor-tunities. We are members of a univer-sal Church that transcends national boundaries and calls us to live in soli-darity and justice with the peoples of the world. We are also citizens of a powerful democracy with enormous influence beyond our borders. As Catholics and Americans we are uniquely called to global solidarity.” The US Catholic Bishops remind us in “Called to Global Solidarity” in 1997 that this solidarity plays out in many ways, most poignant today, the hotly debated issue of immigration.

One of the con-stant features of American history is the fact of immi-gration and the process of conver-sion whereby the receiving population learns to soften its heart and open its arms to welcome the newcomer. As we have seen with the earlier waves of Irish, German, Italian and Eastern European immigrants, this process takes time — time for the immigrants to assimilate and time for the receiving population to become comfortable with the newcomers. The ancestors of today’s Americans faced and overcame many of the same obstacles that now confront today’s immigrants.

Is illegal immigration a bad thing?

Yes, illegal immigration is a bad thing. A very bad thing. It is very harm-ful to the immigrants and to a lesser degree it is harmful to our country as well. Unfortunately, U. S. immigration law provides people with no other alternative in the exercise of their basic human right to immigrate. Is this

a case of the ends justifying the means or the lesser of two evils — neither of which is morally admissible? No, because the act of immigration in the exercise of one’s intrinsic human rights is justifiable and not evil even when it involves the infraction of a law that is itself unjust. The solution to illegal immigration is not to make immigration even more difficult and perilous, but rather to remove the causes of illegal immigration.

Why does the Catholic Church care so much about US immigration reform?

The explanation lies in the church’s view of itself as a pilgrim people in a pilgrim church. It sees the Holy Family — in their flight to Egypt — as the archetypal refugee family. Migrants evoke their own history, including the biblical exodus and exile, the itinerant ministry of Jesus, and its 2,000-year missionary tradition. The stranger is welcomed as a Gospel imperative.

In Strangers No Longer, the church states that people have the right not to migrate; that is, they should be able to live freely in their countries of birth. However, when this is impossible, whether due to extreme poverty or persecution, the church says they have a right to migrate, and nations have a duty to receive them.

“The so-called “illegals” are so not because they wish to defy the law; but, because the law does not provide them with any channels to regularize their status in our country – which needs their labor: they are not breaking the law, the law is breaking them.”

Most Reverend Thomas Wenski, Bishop of Orlando

The Catholic Commitment to Global Solidarity and the Challenges of Immigration Today


Two fundamental strands of the church’s mission — protecting the dig-nity of all and gathering into one God’s scattered children — come together in its ministry to migrants and newcomers. In effect, the church teaches that all people are “brothers and sisters” and that immigration sta-tus does not change this fact. Likewise, it offers its Catholic Charities programs, legal offices, com-munity organizing grants, and refugee resettlement services to all vulnera-ble migrants and newcomers, regard-less of their religious beliefs.

The Bishop’s Position on Immigration in a Nutshell

The Catholic Church in the United States does not support open borders, illegal immigration, or an “amnesty” that would grant legal status to all unauthorized immigrants. It believes nations have a legitimate responsibili-ty to promote the common good by denying admission to certain migrants and by regulating the flow of all those who are seeking to enter.

However, the church sees the cur-rent US immigration system — while generous in many respects — as badly

in need of reform. It has been partic-ularly offended by hundreds of deaths along the US-Mexico border; the growth of human smuggling rings; the disconnect between US labor needs, trade policies, and immigration admis-

sion levels; and decades-long delays in some family reunification categories.

The church does not believe that criminal prosecution and deportation of unauthorized immi-grants offer a viable, much less a humane, approach to the problem. As the church is quick to highlight, many unauthorized immigrants live in “mixed-status” families and rep-resent five percent of the US workforce.

Doing nothing, the church believes, would facilitate the growth of a popu-lation of second-class noncitizens with limited rights, few prospects, or secu-rity.

As the US bishops stated in 1986, the year the US Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), “It is against the common good and unacceptable to have a dou-ble society, one visible with rights and one invisible without rights — a voiceless underground of undocument-ed persons.” IRCA made it illegal for employers to hire unauthorized immi-grants, increased enforcement, and granted amnesty to unauthorized

immigrants who met certain criteria. After IRCA passed, the US bishops mobilized the country’s largest net-work of “qualified des-ignated entities” — vol-untary and community organizations that had permission from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to help unauthorized immigrants fill out adjustment-of-status applications.

The Catholic Church believes a just immigration system would allow immigrants to realize their basic aspirations and, in doing so, would serve the good of all Americans. U

Resources for Reflection, Prayer and Action Parish kits, available on the website, contain the following:

Implementing • a Justice for Immigrants Campaign in the Parish

Initial • Organizational Tasks

Suggested • Parish Committees and Tasks

Organizations • to Include in Campaign

Liturgy • and Prayer Suggestions

Suggestions • for Homilists

Relevant • Scriptural Passages

Prayer • Card

Strangers • No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope: A Pastoral Letter Concerning Migration

Catholic • Social Teaching and Migration

Understanding • Catholic Social Teaching as it Relates to Migration

Check out this and more at: www.justiceforimmigrants.org

The Catholic Commitment to Global Solidarity and the Challenges of Immigration Today


World Mission Spirituality

Zimbabwe, Saint Paul and True Power

Zimbabwean Jesuit David Harold-Barry looks at the concept of power expressed in the letters of St. Paul. How does Paul’s idea of power differ to the mani-festations of politi-cal power we see today?

www.thinkingfaith.org

People who observe Zimbabwe from afar often explode, ‘Why

is the situation going on so long? Why don’t you do something? Why don’t you get rid of that man who is blocking every-thing?’ Those of us who live here do not ask these questions. We are not interested in vio-lence; we had years of it in the struggle for inde-pendence and they were deeply traumatic. And besides, bad as our situa-tion is, we have no wish to find ourselves along-side Kivu and Goma, suf-fering the same misery as that caused by the Rwandan genocide.

But there is perhaps a deeper reason which we do not often put into words. Our president uses force to stay in power but to use force to remove him would be inviting for ourselves decades of instability. We prefer to wait. Eventually circumstances will abound that will make change inevitable. What we are living through now in Zimbabwe is painful but it is not time lost. People in their thirties and forties, educated reflective peo-ple, have observed what has been happening this past ten years and they are deeply embarrassed by the continued presence of ‘the old man’. But they want to see him go peacefully. Meanwhile they are con-sciously planning the sort of society they want. They

A depiction of St. Paul’s conversion on the way to Damascus by Carravaggio.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in your faith, so that in the power of the Holy Spirit you may be rich in hope. (Rom 15:13).

Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. (Eph 3: 20)

There is exterior power, which is the imposition of something by brute force, that has no relationship to the

reality on the ground. There is also interior power, which is what Paul refers to. It is doing some-thing, often painfully and slowly, that relates, as it were organically, to some need on the ground and which ultimately people accept because it has an interior logic. This is the power Paul writes of. And he is quite blunt about it: for Paul, power means the

cross. W

now know – by a sort of via negativa - what good gov-ernance means and what effective management of the economy means. We will never again tolerate someone bulldozing his way through the institu-tions of the state.

In this year of St. Paul we have a sure theological base for this way of seeing things. Paul often talks of power but in a way quite different from our leader.

An election rally during the violent times in Zimbabwe.


Become a Partner in Global Mission

Fr. Rene Casillas, SX, pic-tured above on the left, together with Fr.

Hernandez, SX, are young Xaverians beginning their first mission experience. Fr. Rene relates:

“The desire to become a missionary was born in me when I was a teenager. After studying in high school, I entered the Novitiate in Salamanca, Mexico, and became a Xaverian in 1999, at the age of 21 years. After studying philosophy, I was sent to Parma to attend courses in theology, next to the shrine of Blessed Guido Conforti, founder of the Xaverian Missionaries. I returned to Mexico to be ordained a priest on 23 August 2008 in Los Cabos.

For me to be a missionary priest means sharing my life with God and with others, it means giving myself to the service of the kingdom of God, announcing and bearing witness to His mercy and peace. In this way, peace and unity is possible in a world often fractured by division.

I am certain that the mis-sionary vocation commits us to this: to be true prophets of peace. Being a missionary today means to allow our-selves to be put at the ser-vice of a project bigger than us: to proclaim Jesus, Prince of Peace, who trans-forms our lives to “make the world one “family” in all its diversity.

Today we live in a world that seeks peace every-where, but cannot find it because this is often sought by force of arms and power. Our world urgently needs men and women who pro-claim peace, who are proph-ets of peace. It is crucial that people put their lives at the service of these dreams and ideals, after the exam-ple of Christ.

Now I am already in the Amazons of Northern Brazil: I’m experiencing new friends and a new mission, a new home. I hope to faithfully follow my ideals with the Brazilian people. They are often young people that are full of generosity, faith. cele-bration, and contradictions.

In the North, in the Amazon region of Brazil, there are about 45 Xaverian Missionaries. The majority of them working in parish churches in Altamira, Abaetetuba, Xingù, and Belem, in the formation of Basic Christian Communities, Church leaders, catechists and local seminarians. Some others work in the promotion of justice and the defense of human rights in cooperation with various organizations. Still a few good bunch work in mission animation and vocation promotion, or some projects with the native Indians.

In the South, on the other hand, there are 59 Xaverian Missionaries. There we work on mission anima-tion, vocation recruitment, and formation of young Brazilian candidates to become Xaverians. We also respond to the needs of the local church in the parish of San Miguel Arcanjo, bairro Matao, Campinas, SP. These parishes cover vast territo-ries, are densely populated, and affected by many social problems. U

“The boundaries between continents, cultures, races and nations disappear in order to have a united attitude of sincere and universal welcome, of dialogue and col-laboration among different people…” – Pope Benedict XVI

BUILD THIS WORLD OF PEACE

AS A XAVERIAN

MISSIONARY

Contact:

Fr.. Joe Matteucig 508-429-2144

[email protected]

“Being a missionary today means to allow ourselves to be put at the

service of a project bigger than us...”

A

To Live and Work for Peace


World Mission News Digest

World Mission News Digest

Indonesia Ferry Sinks, Hundreds Missing

Some 245 people are missing after a ferry sank en route between the Island of Sulawesi and Borneo, said Transport Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal, adding that first investigations indicate that the cause of the disaster were the bad weather conditions. According to the 22 survivors, the ferry capsized on Saturday night after being hit by over 5-meter high waves. The director of maritime security of Pare Pare, the port on the west-ern coast of Sulawesi from where the ferry departed, said that the ferry flipped over during the night when most of the 250 pas-sengers and 17 crew members were sleeping. DRC

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Catholic Church assists after the massacres

Caritas International has sent aid to 10,000 families in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where on Christmas Day Ugandan rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) carried out massacres on the local population. “The rebels have been terrorizing the people of northern Congo for several months. However, the wave of violence during the holiday sea-son has left over 400 victims from a series of massacres car-ried out by the LRA rebels on Christmas Day and the days that followed.” Officials said, “We are shocked by survivor’s accounts. In spite of the pres-ence of soldiers in some towns, many people fear new episodes of violence. The inhabitants of the villages attacked have fled empty-handed and Caritas is try-ing to provide for those who were forced to flee on Christmas Day and the days that following.” Up to 150,000 people are thought have left their homes to seek safety following violence which has seen rebels burning villages, hacking people to death

and kidnapping children and forcing them to become soldiers.

Sierra Leone, Africa Son of Former President Sentenced ‘Chuckie’ Taylor, son of the president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, already recognized last October of being guilty of torture and complicity in several homicides between 1999 and 2003, was sentenced to 97 years in prison by a court in Miami. Born in Boston, a citizen of the United States, Charles McArthur Emmanuel 31, was judged on the basis of a law that authorizes federal courts over crimes of torture perpetrated by US citizens. During the presidency of Charles Taylor, currently on trial in The Hague by the UN for war crimes committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone, ‘Chuckie’ led the “anti-terrorism” unit.

Vatican City Pope Benedict XVI on Gaza: “Military Options are No Solution”

“Once again I would repeat that the military option is not a solution and that violence, wher-ever it comes from and whatever form it takes, must be firmly condemned”, said Pope Benedict XVI in a speech to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. “The birth of Christ in the poor grotto of Bethlehem, natu-rally conducts our thoughts to the situation in the Middle East, and first and foremost to the Holy Land, where over these last few days we are witnessing a recrudescence of violence, which causes damages and huge suffer-ings amidst the civilians. This sit-uation further complicates the pursuit of a way out of the con-flict between Israelis and Palestinians, profoundly desired by many of them and the entire world”, added the Pontiff.

Taiwan Our Lady of Wan Jin

The faithful of the Diocese of Tai Nan are showing their great enthusiasm and devotion to Our Lady of Wan Jin, whose image is on pilgrimage through the vari-ous dioceses of the island of Taiwan, in order to “invoke the Lord’s blessing on the country,” on the occasion of its 150th anniversary of evangelization. Cardinal Paul Shan, Emeritus Bishop of Kaohsiung, on behalf of all the Bishops of Taiwan who were on their Ad Limina visit in Rome, presided over the solemn procession that took place on December 13, welcoming the arrival of the pilgrim-statue of Our Lady of Wan Jin to Tai Nan. When the religious procession passed in front of a Buddhist temple, even the Buddhists who were inside the temple praying came out with their hands in prayer and bowed their heads in respect before the statue.

Burundi, AfricaNew Religious Congregation Approved

The Archdiocese of Gitega has recently approved the new religious family of the Congregation of Mary, Queen of the Holy Priesthood. The Congregation was founded by diocesan priest Father Avit Vyumvuhore on August 15, 1976, with the mission of sanctifying the People of God and bearing witness to the irreplaceable role of the priesthood in ecclesial life. The charism given by the Founder (who was a missionary in Africa and Europe) is that of praying and working for the holi-ness of all the baptized, espe-cially for the holiness of priests, spreading the spirituality of the love Jesus related to his Disciples: “Love your enemies and pray for those who perse-cute you” (Mt. 5:44). The Institute includes both a mascu-line and feminine branch (the latter being a more recent foun-dation).

The Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) strives to be a meaning-ful voice for Africa in U.S. public policy. AFJN stresses issues of human rights and social justice that tie directly into Catholic social teaching. AFJN works closely with Catholic missionary con-gregations and numer-ous Africa-focused coali-tions of all persuasions to advocate for USA economic and political policies that will benefit Africa s poor majority, facilitate an end to armed conflict, estab-lish equitable trade and investment with Africa and promote ecological-ly sound development.

The Executive Director is Xaverian Missionary,

Fr. Rocco Puopolo.

Get Involved at: www.afjn.org


From our USA Communities

News from our USA Communities

Missionaries who work many years in far flung places world-

wide have the fortune to “bring home” these rich, eventful experiences in order to share them with us and to help us know the global links we all have as Catholics.

Fr. Adolph Menendez worked for 23 years in Mexico and before that, more than seven in Japan. From there he came to the Eastern Illinois University and finally to the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana to work in campus ministry. Presently he serves the mis-sion education program of the Catholic student center and the Hispanic Apostolate.

Fr. Adolph, whose warm and friendly approach with the students, brings an important dimension to min-istry with the Catholic stu-dents of the campus. He says that in sharing his missionary

life and the mission of the Church, they come to under-stand their lives as a gift of God given for the benefit of others. Also, he enjoys to see the signs of wonder in them as they come to know more of the ways of God.

Fr. Victor Mosele, another Xaverian Missionary working in campus ministry, worked for more than 30 years in

Sierra Leone, West Africa, where in his last years expe-rienced the horrors of war, was kidnapped by rebels and eventually found freedom. He brings this rich faith experience to Illinois State University in Normal/Bloomington, Illinois.

On staff at the Catholic Student Center, he assists with the sacramental life of the students and is present to them for counseling and friendly chats. Fr. Victor says that many of the students have little idea of what the missionary commitment of the Church in the world is really all about today. He tries to “fill the gap” of knowledge and appreciation for mission in order to help the students understand their commitment of global solidarity as Catholics. U

Check out Fr. Victor’s Book, Running for My Life, at Amazon Bookstore. (See details on page 12)

Soup and Mission Program for Lent

2009 Presents

The Xaverian Missionaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

By Fr. Pascal Kamanzi Kasanziki Rector of our International

Theology Program in Chicago

Saturday, March 28

Our Lady of Fatima Shrine 101 Summer Street

Holliston, MA

Call 508-429-2144 for reservations

Margaret Toner, founder of the

Xaverian Mission Guild of Kearny, NJ, more than 40 years ago passed away on January 8, 2008 at the age of 93.

Fr.. Maloney remem-bers her: “I recall her enthusiasm, her gentle-ness, her spirited antics, her willingness to be there for her children and for her neighbors and friends and for her relatives still in Scotland.” She worked tirelessly for many years in the support of the mis-sionary work of the Church. She will truly be missed.

Sharing Missionary Lives on College Campus

Fr. Victor Mosele talks with students at the FOCUS conference, a meeting of Catholic College students nationwide.

Fr. Adolph Menendez with some international students at a special program at the University.

Xaverian Mission Newsletter • February 2009Xaverian Missionaries

101 Summer StreetHolliston, MA 01746-5857

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDXaverian

Missionaries

Return Service RequestedThe Xaverian Missioners Are Presently Serving In:

Bangladesh • Brazil • Burundi • Cameroon • Chad • China • Colombia • Democratic Republic of Congo • FranceGreat Britain • Indonesia • Italy • Japan • Mexico • Mozambique • Philippines • Sierra Leone • Spain • Taiwan • U.S.A.

Lenten Reading Suggestion

Running for

My Life

by Fr. Victor Mosele, SX

Breathtaking and cruel, the 11-year civil war in Sierra Leone, Africa,

becomes frighteningly real with the capture of Catholic missionary Fr.

Victor Mosele. His true story of sur-viving two harrowing kidnappings and the risks ordinary people took to save him are testimony to the

triumph of the human spirit. Go to: http://www.nedderpublishing.

com/running.html

Contact the local community closest to you (see page 2)

This Lent, consider donating your time, talent and treasure with us as you reach out to the world in Christ’s name.

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xaverian mission newsletter - 2009 jan-march: globalization and a new generation of missionaries

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