Visit to USA
On 16th
April I arrived at our house at Jasper Indiana, for the Easter Triduum which I
celebrated with Fr Angelo Quadrini and all the people who attend our chapel in
Providence Home, Jasper. We had
discussions with the Advisory Board for the improvement and future of the
Providence Home which has its origins in 1933 and its founder Fr Aleksander
Chwilowicz FDP from Poland. After that I
visited Phoenix, Arizona, to meet the Board of the Hickey Family Foundation
which gives us so much help in the Philippines and Kenya to our work for sick
and disabled children and young people.
I also showed the Board some PowerPoint presentations of our work in the
Philippines, Kenya and India which encouraged them to continue their great help
to us.
Fr Mirek
Kowalczyk and daily Mass-goers
at St Joseph-St Lazarus Parish, East Boston
Next, I
went to Boston, to be with the confreres, Frs Mirek Kowalczyk, Fr Marcelo
Boschi, Fr Gino Marchesani and Fr Alvamir Miguel Gonçalves, there, and carry
out the canonical visit and discuss present and future work there. First, however, I gave a talk to the Hispanic
children and young people of the Madonna Queen Shrine on the Orionine
Missionary Year.
Hispanic young
people and catechists
at the Saturday Catechesis, Madonna Queen Shrine, East
Boston
We had the
Delegation Council meeting in Boston on 6-9th May, which Frs Eucinei Antonio De
Souza, Fr Philip Kehoe and Fr Joseph Vallauri attended and then I returned to
Rome on 11th May.
The
Delegation Council (minus Fr Mariano Zapico)
at the Holy Cross Cemetery,
Boston, where some of our confreres and sisters are buried
Visit to Kenya
I set out
for Kenya on the night of the 14th May and arrived the next day. Fr Paul Mboche Mwangi brought me to the
formation house in Nairobi where final preparations were going on for the
inauguration of the new chapel on 23rd May.
But first was the ordination of Deacon Morris Mawira Gichia on 17th May,
near Meru, some 200 km north of Nairobi.
All the confreres and aspirants, a good number of our sisters, the
family of Fr Morris and parishioners from Fr Morris’s parish, Kaburugi and
Kandisi, and many people were present for the ordination administered by Bishop
Salesius Mugambi, Bishop of Meru, to Deacon Morris and another deacon of the
diocese of Meru.
Fr Morris
Mawira Gichia FDP
with some young friends after his First Mass, 18th May 2014
There were
many priests, religious and seminarians of the diocese of Meru present. Our own Bishop Raymond Ahoua FDP came
especially for the event from the Ivory Coast and presided together with Bishop
Mugambi. The celebration was in Fr Morris’
home parish which had recently been created from the larger parish of Chogoria. The people made us all very welcome
indeed. The next day Fr Morris
celebrated his first Mass surrounded by Bishop Raymond and all the Orionine
confreres and seminarians of Kenya. This
was a smaller affair inside the prayer house and not outside in the large
school field as on the previous day. We
all rejoiced in Fr Morris’ ordination which brought the number of Kenyan
Orionine priests to five, namely, Fr Peter Wambulwa Wakoba, Fr Raphael
Kailemiah Limiri, Fr Paul Mboche Mwangi, Fr James Njoroge Waituika and now Fr
Morris. The other two Orionine priests
in Kenya are Fr Alejandro Ruiz from Chile and Fr Achi Stanislas Gbeissay from
the Ivory Coast. The celebration was in the
foothills of Mount Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa after Mount
Kilimanjaro, which is in Tanzania.
The second
big Orionine event in Kenya was the opening and dedication of the new chapel
presided over by His Excellency Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo, the Papal
Nuncio in Kenya, on 23rd May. The chapel
is circular, in keeping with the design of traditional Kenyan houses and can
accommodate about 100 people comfortably.
The Papal
Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo,
begins the celebration of dedication
of the new chapel, formation house, Nairobi
It will enable the aspirants, postulants and
junior religious to celebrate the liturgy in a very dignified manner as the
Church wants. Fr Joseph Vallauri, who
opened the first house of the Sons of Divine Providence in Kenya, concelebrated
and also gave an inspiring talk about the beginnings of our presence in Kenya
in the 1990’s culminating in the opening of the formation house at
Karen-Lang’ata in 1996. I also said a
few words putting our presence in Kenya in the context of the Orionine
Missionary Year. A good number of
relations, friends and parishioners from Kandisi and Kaburugi were able to
attend as well as our Sisters and other religious and priests. The celebration ended with the eating of a
beautiful cake modelled on the new chapel.
Next year we hope to begin the theological house of the Delegation in
Nairobi, now graced with a beautiful chapel with “Instaurare omnia in Christo”
over the front entrance. On the next day
I went to Kaburugi to celebrate two Sunday Masses in Kikuyu and even managed to
preach in the local language.
After a lot
of personal meetings and a meeting with all the confreres in Kenya, I set off
for the Philippines on 27th May, arriving in Manila on 28th. I was sorry not to be able to participate in
the celebration of the perpetual vows of three of our Kenyan Sisters, Agnes,
Makena and Stella on 31st May at Laare, Meru diocese, which, however, some of
our confreres attended.
Visit to the Philippines
Fr Anderson
Monteiro De Rezende, superior and novice-master at Montalban met me and took me
to the novitiate house where I stayed with the novices who were about to make
their first profession, that is, three from the Philippines and three from
Kenya. I also saw all the new aspirants
who had arrived at the Don Luigi Seminary at Montalban making a total of 60
aspirants, under the care of Fr John Socorro Castillo and Br Ramon Padilla.
Then I
visited the Cottolengo Filippino where Fr Stefan Bulai was in charge and saw
some new developments there. There was
building work going on at the novitiate to prepare 10 additional new rooms to
accommodate the expected 17 novices for the next novitiate year. A new conference room was also being
prepared. In the seminary two new toilet
and shower blocks and study areas were also being finished.
The 60 aspirants with Fr John Socorro
Castillo
in the
seminary chapel at Montalban
On 30th
May, the eve of the first profession, six new Philippine novices entered the
novitiate in a simple ceremony in the novitiate chapel. On 31st May in the large beautiful seminary
chapel the six novices, Aldrin, John Carl, and Rowell from the Philippines and
Harrison, Joseph and Emmanuel from Kenya, made their first profession before me
and all the confreres, sisters, relatives, friends and aspirants present in the
Philippines. Parents and family members
of the Philippine novices and “adoptive” parents and friends of the Kenyan
novices clothed them in the new habit and supported them on this special day. Many friends from the local parish of
Montalban, Payatas and other places were also present, as the newly-professed
began the journey of their religious life towards perpetual consecration to
God.
The newly
professed Brothers Joseph, Rowell, John Carl,
Aldrin, Emmanuel and Harrison
signing their vows forms
In the
afternoon of the same day, three new Kenyan novices arrived and entered the
novitiate, just in time. They had been
delayed because of difficulties with obtaining visas. The expected 6 Indian novices had greater
difficulties obtaining visas and began their novitiate on the feast of St
Aloysius Gonzaga, 21 June.
Novices of the
Delegation 2014’2015
– 6 from the Philippines, 6 from India and 3 from Kenya
with Fr Anderson Monteiro De Rezende, novice-master and Br Anthony Gachau
Mbuthia, tirocinante
After these
few days in Montalban I went to our community of Payatas, 15 km away, for one
night, and was greeted by Frs Julio Cuesta and Diego Lorenzi. I then travelled with Fr Joseph Van Cu and Br
Anthony Gachau to Lucena for a visit of more than a week. After the 5-hour journey I began to feel very
weak and began to have a bad cough and so had to visit the Lucena Catholic
Hospital for some treatment the next day.
They treated me for bronchitis and gave me a number of medicines and I
gradually improved. Fr Joseph Van cu and
I celebrated Sunday Masses at the community house of Alupaye and then
Talao-Talao and Dalahican. On Monday, we
took part in the diocesan priests’ recollection day with the bishop of
Lucena. The next day I went with Fr
Joseph and Br Anthony Gachau to Mauban to get the boat to the island of
Cagbalete where we have pastoral care of the Catholic Christians and celebrated
Mass and visited several of the chapels staying overnight in a resort. We returned on the small ferry-boat in heavy
rain after being made very welcome by the people of the island, especially Kuya
Tin (“Big Brother” Augustine) and his fellow volunteers. On my last day there I visited Bishop Marquez
of Lucena with Fr Joseph Van Cu and the meeting was very fruitful.
Brother
Anthony Gachau, Fr Joseph Van Cu and I returned to Manila by bus and we arrived
at Payatas in the early afternoon after a taxi ride from Cubao bus
station. We then had a meeting of all
the confreres present in the Philippines (Frs. Eucinei and Martin were having
their home visit at that time so were not able to be present).
Confreres at
meeting in Payatas
– left to right: Br Anthony Gachau, Br Ramon Padillia,
Fr
Joseph Van Cu, Fr Anderson Monteiro, Fr Diego Lorenzi,
Fr Julio Cuesta , Fr
Stefan Bulai and Fr John Castillo.
I returned
to Montalban and spent some more time with Fr Anderson and the novices as we
awaited the arrival of the Indian novices and we had various celebrations and
meals with Frs John Castillo and Fr Stefan Bulai and the seminarians. I also celebrated Mass in English in the
local parish. I left for Rome on 19th
June.
Rome
In Rome, I
tried to rest and restore my energy which was rather low and get finally cured
of bronchitis with the help of our local Dr. Morena. It was also a time to share with Fr Flavio
Peloso, our Superior General, news of the Delegation and discuss various
matters with the General Councillors and also to apply for a visa to visit
India.
UK & Ireland
I departed
for the UK and Ireland on 21st July and arrived in time for the meeting of the
Confreres on 22nd August at Hampton Wick (London), the Annual General Meeting
of the Members of the Sons of Divine Providence Charity. Fr Philip Kehoe, Fr
Henryk Halman, Fr Joseph Tirello, Br Feras Abu Rahmoun and Fr Francisco de
Assis all made me very welcome. On
Wednesday 23rd July we celebrated the Annual Gathering of the Orionine Family
in the UK and this year the theme was the Orionine Missionary Year and the
story of our congregation’s presence in the UK, as well as the presentation of
annual report of our activities and finances and the presentation of awards to
some of our staff. We also had a
speaker from the Princess Alice Hospice, Esher, Surrey, on the work of the
hospice as it can touch the lives of elderly or terminally ill people. Fr. Francisco de Assis Silva Alfenas, from
the Brazil North Province, is studying English there at present.
Fr Francisco
de Assis Silva Alfenas
from Brazil
who is studying English
Br Feras
Abu Rahmoun took me by car to visit Fr Roy Elikowski and we had a good half day
together, going out for a nice meal. He
is doing well in spite of his illness and is in good spirits. Let us continue to pray for him. We continued our journey to Up Holland where
we stayed with Fr Stephen Beale and Br Anthony Njenga. Br Feras stayed the night and returned to
London the next day. I stayed in Up
Holland for a few days and was able to see some old friends and familiar places
from times past as well participating in some events with Fr Stephen and Br
Anthony. I had spent 20 years in Up
Holland in the past (1967-1989, with a two-year break in Rome, 1975-77).
On Friday
1st August it was time to fly to Dublin to stay in the community there while
all the confreres in the UK & Ireland plus Br Francis Porto Dos Reis, from
the Vatican Community, went on their annual retreat to the Jesuit Retreat House
at St Beuno’s, North Wales. However, I
was not alone as there were also two ladies from Italy and two younger ladies
from Venezuela staying in our accommodation for visitors in Dublin. Then there were our two friendly dogs! I had daily Mass and contact with the staff
and visitors to the Day Centre for older people and the residents of Fr Bidone
Court. When Fr John Perrotta and Fr
Michael Moss returned from their retreat we had a lot of sharing of experiences
and plans for the future in Dublin. They
have prepared a strategic plan for our congregation in Dublin.
Finally I left for Rome where I am now for a few
days before leaving for India on 19th August.
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