A bishop on tour

 

A bishop on tour

I am writing today from Mbaiki, 110 km from Bangui.

I am here with all the bishops of Central Africa. There are 10 of us, and with us are the 9 dioceses of the country: Bangui, Mbaiki, Berberati, Bouar, Bossangoa, Kaga Bandoro, Bambari, Alindao, Bangassou.

Twice a year the Bishops meet in Assembly, in January and in June. We are here all week, and this allows us to share what we experience in our dioceses, and reflect together and make proposals to the people of God entrusted to us.

But it was a long road to get here to Mbaiki…

On Wednesday morning, June 12th, I left with some of my friends who came from Italy. We are in 2 cars, and we stop in Bossemptele, where we celebrate Mass with the Carmelite nuns.

In the evening we arrived in Baoro. Here I met the brothers of the community and the Carmelite sisters.

Thursday morning, there was a great Mass in Baoro: the church was full, and even the walls vibrated and danced!

After lunch with the parish community, we left for Bouar, where we had dinner with the Indian nuns of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel.

Friday morning, at 6.30, I celebrated Mass with the Poor Clare nuns. It was a beautiful moment of brotherhood and prayer.
Then we left for Bozoum. The road was increasingly bad, and it took more than 3 hours for the first 90 km. Once we reached 14 km, the scouts were waiting for us, together with Father Marco Poggi, the parish priest of Bozoum.

With them we set off towards the city, which we crossed, among the many people running and shouting. I was impressed and excited, because I was amazed by the affection and joy that "my" people showed me!

Saturday morning Mass was scheduled for 6! It was a little early, but the church was more than full!
The celebration was intense, with songs, dances, and many faces, which remind me of many moments of the 17 years of living and working in Bozoum. There were gifts, poems, songs, everything for this occasion, which for Bozoum was a moment of joy, but also a bit of sadness, because it was a bit of a farewell! But the Lord is great!

We left in the early afternoon, under torrential rain. The road was terrible, and I had to travel the first 60 km over the double bridge.

On Sunday morning I celebrated in the Cathedral of Bouar: it was the diocese in which I lived and worked for 33 years! Here too, the church was full, and there were also many priests from the diocese, and many people: known and unknown faces, all of whom are dear to me.

It's the people and life here that have taught me so much. Who "taught" me to say, every day, what has become the motto of my episcopate: "You know everything, you know that I love you" (Jn. 21, 17)

 

On Monday morning I left early for Bangui, where I met the Carmel community.

Here I greeted my sister and the friends who have come for the consecration, and on Tuesday morning, at 5, I left for Mbaiki, 110 km away, where I participated for the first time in the Assembly of the Episcopal Conference. I noted with pleasure that the environment was very serene, and the exchanges and reflections are profound and very rich.

Al Carmel, a Bangui
Au Carmel, à Bangui

Baoro

Accoglienza a Bozoum
L'Accueil à Bozoum

Cathédrale de Bouar

Bishops in meeting, and return to Bangassou

 

I vescovi in riunione
Les eveques en réunion

 

Bishops in meeting, and return to Bangassou

The bishops of Central Africa meet in an Assembly twice a year, in January and June. The January meeting always takes place in Bangui, the capital, while the June one is always in a different diocese.  This allows Christians from all the dioceses to see and meet all the bishops, and allows the bishops to better understand the realities of the whole country.

This year we gathered in Mbaiki, a diocese 110 km from Bangui, in a forest area. A lively diocese, led by the Spanish bishop Jésus Molina Ruiz. A diocese rich in different ethnic groups, which hosts a large community of Aka pygmies.

The assembly lasts all week, with morning and afternoon meetings. Each bishop presents the situation of his diocese, and then we begin the training. This year we read and reflected on the document "Dignitas Infinita", from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A very rich document, which deals with the infinite dignity of man. In a country like Central Africa, where disparities between the groups are very strong, where many areas are still exposed to the violence of armed groups, where even the government and the authorities do not have for respect for human rights, where lands and subsoil are managed by people without scruples, the call to the dignity of man is a very important announcement.

The meetings are very intense, and the atmosphere is very committed, fraternal and full of listening and participation.

During the Assembly we also prepare the bishops' Message, which will be published by the end of the discussions.

On Thursday afternoon we split up and went to meet some communities in the surrounding area. I left with the president of the Episcopal Conference, Mgr Nestor Nongo, bishop of Bossangoa. We went to Boukoko, a village 11 km from Mbaiki. A community founded in 1946 by Fr. Charles Tisserant, a Spiritan missionary who had worked in Bozoum in the 1930s!

The welcome is continuing: for Christians, welcoming the bishops is a great celebration! We pray with them, we listen to their story and their joys and difficulties, and we celebrate the Eucharist together. At the end, a meal awaits us and brings together the various leaders of the community.

On Saturday morning we celebrated Mass together in the community of the Sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, together with the guests of their community: orphans, malnourished children with their mothers, elderly people, people with disabilities.

On Sunday there was the final celebration, which was presided over, traditionally, by the last ordained bishop... that is, by me! There are many people, and much joy because the bishops of the 9 dioceses are here: Bangui, Mbaiki, Berberati, Bouar, Bossangoa, Bambari, Kaga Bandoro, Alindao and Bangassou.

At the end of the Mass, the Bishops' Message, always eagerly awaited, was read.

Finally, around 2.30pm, we left for Bangui.

Monday morning at 6 we were at the airport. At 8am the plane was on the runway, the engines were at maximum, but then they slowed down, and we went back due to a technical problem. We had to disembark, wait, and then they announced that the flight was postponed to the next day...

Tuesday we left for the airport. Departure scheduled for 11. We were already on the plane, but they made us get off because we didn't have flight authorization... We finally left at 12.

We finally arrived in Bangassou at 1.30pm. With the surprise of finding some priests and nuns, and the children of Casa Speranza who welcomed us and accompanied us to the city.

The day before they were ready to welcome us, and many people were waiting for us at the cathedral. Today there were a little fewer, but all along the route there were people shouting and waving, and then we arrived at the cathedral.

I entered and went to pray at the tomb of Monsignor Maanicus, the first bishop of Bangassou. Then I greeted and blessed the many people who gathered to welcome the new bishop.

We moved on to the table, with the priests and nuns who welcomed me with joy and celebration.

On Sunday the 30th we will celebrate the great Mass, the beginning of my episcopal service in this blessed land of Bangassou.

 

 

 

 

Cathédrale de Bangassou

 

Mo inga, mbi ye mo: you know that I love you!

 

 

 

Mo inga, mbi ye mo: you know that I love you!

Here I am, Aurelio, coadjutor bishop of Bangassou!

After a week of prayer, the last days before June 9th flew by, one after the other, to follow the final preparations.

Guests start arriving on Friday. At 7, Miguel and Nuria, Mgr Aguirre's brother and sister, arrived from Spain. And at 11:40 the Ethiopian plane landed, with 38 brothers, relatives (my sister and her husband, and my nephew and his girlfriend) and friends.

They stayed in various places (the fathers in the Carmel convent, and the others in the reception center and in a hotel).

Sunday was the big day of the episcopal consecration!

I was serene and calm: the days of preparation and prayer helped me to experience this moment of grace and the episcopal ministry not only as a great, enormous responsibility, but to believe in the strength of the Holy Spirit, and in the support and prayers of many friends, of many brothers and sisters.

The celebration began at 9:30. Over a hundred priests were present, coming from Bangassou, Bouar, Bangui, from our Carmelite province of Genoa, from the diocese of Cuneo, and from the Generalate of the Carmelites. There were the bishops of Central Africa, together with the Apostolic Nuncio: they accompanied me and welcomed me as a brother, successor of the Apostles.

In the long and beautiful tradition of the Church, there must be three consecrating bishops. Today the main consecrator was Cardinal Nzapalainga, archbishop of Bangui, together with Mgr Nestor Nongo, president of the Episcopal Conference, and Mgr Juan Josè Aguirre, the bishop, my bishop of Bangassou.

The cathedral of Bangui was full: there was the president of Parliament, some members of the Government, the Ambassador of Italy, my family, my Carmelite family, friends, the seminarians from Bangassou together with many others from Bangassou, a delegation of 150 people from Bozoum, others from Baoro, and dozens of former Yolé seminarians, dozens of nuns, and many people.

We began with a long procession, and the Mass began with the reading of the translation of the Papal bull, with which Pope Francis appointed me Coadjutor Bishop.

We then listened to the Word of God. Today the Gospel was carried solemnly in a splendid procession that resembled a pirogue (here in Central Africa the Gospel arrived like this, brought by the first missionaries in 1894).

The Gospel I chose was that of John, chapter 21. After the resurrection, Peter returns to fishing. But they don't catch anything. In the morning, Jesus appears on the shore, and once again a miraculous catch occurs. Peter throws himself into the water, and having reached the shore, after the meal prepared by Jesus, he hears Him and asks him a very profound question: "Peter, do you love me?".  And, on the third time, Peter, saddened by the memory of the three times in which he denied Jesus, tells him: "You know everything, you know that I love you".

It is the word I chose for my episcopate: "You know everything, you know that I love you".

After the cardinal's (beautiful) homily, the central part of the consecration begins. We sang the Veni creator Spiritus, an ancient hymn of invocation to the Holy Spirit.  

The Cardinal, in front of all the bishops and the people of God, asked me if I accept the episcopal ministry, that is, to live and announce, guide and govern, and to sanctify the people of God entrusted to me.

Then, while I prostrate on the ground, the whole assembly prays for and on me, invoking the intercession of the saints. At the end, the bishops, in silence, lay their hands on me, an ancient gesture that signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit, and pray with a prayer of consecration, while two deacons hold the book of the Gospels open above me.

And so I am bishop, successor of the apostles, father and pastor of the people of God. Not by my own merit, but by the grace of God!

Then the Cardinal anoints my forehead with Chrism oil, gives me the Gospels, puts the ring on me (a sign of loyalty to the diocese, to the people of God who are entrusted to me), the miter and the crosier.

I am a bishop, and the bishops present welcome me with a warm embrace. And the most beautiful hug is the one with Juan Josè Aguirre, the bishop of Bangassou, with whom I will work in "our" diocese, side by side.

Then began a very long offertory procession: all the parishes and all the delegations bring gifts and offerings for the new bishop (there is no shortage of fish, goats, coal, cassava, oil...).

After communion, my Carmelite brothers (there are more than 50 of us!) take me in front of the statue of the Madonna, where we sing the solemn Salve Regina.

Then I walk through the church, together with the cardinal, to bless the people.

We finished the Mass around 12:30. But it is not easy to get to the sacristy, because there are hundreds of people who come to greet me, take a photo and, above all, to ask for a blessing.

Finally, at a certain point, some people literally drag me to the place of the meal: here everything is prepared very well, for more than 450 people!

So I can finally say goodbye to my family, and the friends and brothers who came for the occasion.

But the party doesn't end like this.

On Monday I was welcomed to Carmel, where I celebrated a beautiful Eucharist with the brothers from Central Africa and Italy, and many other people. For lunch we were in the refectory (just completed) of the new convent. Here too, between the refectory and the cloister, there are more than 250 people celebrating!

On Tuesday afternoon I celebrated Mass in the parish of St. Jaques, for the many families whose origins are in Bangassou. Cardinal Nzapalainga, and 3 other bishops, who are also originally from Bangassou!
And, after communion, the assembly exploded into beautiful songs and dance: it is one of the qualities of the Bangassou population. I was offered some very important gifts: an ebony dugout canoe, which recalls the arrival of the gospel (but also a land rich in rivers, like the diocese), a wooden plate, a spear and a knife, a state of shepherd, and a chasuble.

After dinner, we quickly ran to the other side of the city, where the Cardinal awaited us, for a moment of celebration and brotherhood.

In recent days there has been an enormous amount of organizational work, which my priests from Bangassou, my Carmelite brothers, "my" former seminarians and many others have carried out. Thank you!

And now I'm in Baoro, where I will celebrate in a few hours, and then continue on to Bozoum and Bouar.

And everywhere, as I thank God for this call and this ministry, I repeat: "You know everything, you know that I love you".

 

Here is the link to the page with the video recordings:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081099975652&mibextid=ZbWKwL