asco
de Gama lands on the island of St. George (next to Mozambique Island) on March
11, 1448, and his first task is to give thanks with a celebration of the
Eucharist. Five hundred years
later, the Xaverians arrive at Beira and begin working in the archdiocese.
It is March 2, 1998. Their
arrival is in keeping with all that happened many centuries before and
guarantees that this choice is in line with the Xaverian charism and faithful to
the Lord’s mandate. Also, towards
the end of 1541, St. Francis Xavier himself landed on Mozambique Island and
stayed there until Feb. 1542, as the chronicle of his journey tells us,
“concerned with confessions and helping the sick.”
Why bother opening a new mission when we are already working in 17 other countries and we are a small congregation? It is not easy to give an answer, but we believe that we have chosen the Lord’s way, his initiative, his option, which means the excluded, the abandoned, the poor, those who thirst for justice, for peace and for life.
And so it is only now, 500 years later, that the Xaverians have realized the possibility of opening a new mission in a Portuguese speaking African country. But the notion has its origins with Fr. Giovanni Bonardi, a close associate of Blessed Guido Conforti, in a letter he sent to Fr. Henri Frassinetti on Oct. 18, 1946. The rest is a more recent history of our Congregation.
Why bother opening a new mission when we are already working in 17 other countries and we are a small congregation? It is not easy to give an answer, but we believe that we have chosen the Lord’s way, his initiative, his option, which means the excluded, the abandoned, the poor, those who thirst for justice, for peace and for life. This country has been devastated by a civil war that has raged for 17 years. We saw missions completely destroyed, large areas completely abandoned, mining lands left empty. There are still very few priests, and the majority are still foreign, consigned to serve four or five parishes each. Some religious sisters too assume these leadership roles, but likewise find themselves stretched.
The Xaverians sent to Mozambique they will have to organize themselves, learn the local language, Chisena, but there are about 40 local languages spoken. They will listen and get to know the people, and familiarize themselves with the Christian communities first and then work with them. They will live as the poor live, to reach everyone by going to meet the people first in their own homes. The community will be formed by a family of Italian volunteers and four Xaverians.
The Xaverians assigned there want to see that this new initiative in opening up in the Archdiocese of Beira, Mozambique, be a commitment, not only of the Xaverian Family, but through prayer and support, of all those who long for God’s Reign to come in the world and especially in that part of Africa.
Five hundred years of evangelization in Mozambique… surely, the mission continues.
(Xaverian Mission Newsletter)