The 40 years of the diocese
On
November 19th 1978, 40 years ago, the new diocese of Bouar was born,
with the consecration of the new bishop, the Capuchin Fr Armando Gianni.
The diocese of Bouar began as a branch of the former, very large
Diocese of Berberati. Father Armando Gianni arrived in Central Africa in
1964, at the young age of 25. He was initially the parish priest of
Bozoum when we, the Carmelites, arrived but immediately was sent further
north to Ngaoundaye. The creation of a diocese is a very committed
mission and the new bishop had much to do: creating new parishes, a
school for the catechists, the seminary, building a new cathedral and
encouraging the missionaries, mostly in the opening of schools and
dispensaries. After having led the diocese for 38 years, Monisgnor
Armando Gianni has retired to Italy, and since February 11th of this
year we have a new bishop from Poland, Bishop Mirek Gucwa. As a people, a
family and a person: we all need to remember our roots. For this we
have wanted to celebrate solemnly the 40 years of our diocese. For this
reason on Wednesday fifty-two parishners from Bozoum went by truck to
celebrate this special event: catechists and representatives of the
different movements of the parish were happy to take part in the great
"Conference". The other twelve parishes of the diocese were also
present during the three days of reflection, prayer and catechesis. Were
present also the many "old" missionaries who had given their testimony,
along with some married couples as well as some catechists. It was nice
to see this treasure of fidelity to God and to the brothers of many
people. There are missionaries who have been here for almost close to 60
years. I went to Bouar on Thursday afternoon and on Friday morning I
celebrated at the cathedral. After Bouar I went north to Bocaranga. Here
we are starting a project, like Caritas, for this area very punished by
the war. There are many rebels in the area, and many peuls, cattle
nomads, who become pieces in a war game bigger than them. Thank God I
was able to reach Bocaranga without having any bad encounters. The
project will help people with greater difficulty rebuild their lives,
start with some livestock and work. In the afternoon I returned to
Bozoum, covering almost 400 kilometers. On Sunday I celebrated the
Masses in the parish church, but in the afternoon I went to Baoro, where
the next day we had a meeting about the economy of our five houses
(Bouar San Elías, Yolé, Baoro, Bozoum and Bangui). We live in thanks to
the help that comes to us, often from many simple people, who are
generous and have an open heart.
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