Towards Easter

Towards Easter

With the celebration of Palm Sunday our journey towards Easter takes acceleration, kind of. Tuesday morning, boys, girls, youths and adults who will receive the baptism gather for a moment of prayer and reflection. The leader for the reflection and prayer is Father Matteo.

In the morning we give the report cards to our High School students, and in the afternoon I leave toward Bouar. On the way I stop at the Rizicole Center in Bozoum, where, with the help of the “Lent of Fraternity” of the Diocese of Cuneo, we have begun maintenance work on the dam. The basin provides water during the dry season, and this allows to have two crops per year. But in some places the water has damage the dam allowing huge leaking decreasing the capacity and endangering the whole rice fields. At present the farmers of the cooperative have emptied the artificial lake, and started to excavate the areas to be repaired.

In Bouar, Wednesday morning, we celebrate the Chrism Mass. It is a very special Mass, during which the priests renew their promises and commitments in the service of the Church, and the Bishop blesses the oils that will be used for the sick and the catechumens, and blesses also the Chrism, which is used for the baptisms, the Confirmations and the Priestly ordinations. At this special celebration are present about forty priests from all over the diocese to concelebrate with the new Bishop.

In the afternoon I go back to Bozoum stopping in the village of Bokaya, where I greet Baba Michel, the old catechist. I think he is almost ninety! He is surrounded by a large number of nephews, of whom he is very proud!

With Holy Thursday the Easter Triduum begins. Thursday is the day when we celebrate the Eucharist, the Priesthood and the Washing of the feet, with which Jesus gives us the Commandment of Love. Friday we commemorate the Passion and Death of Jesus. And Saturday night we will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, and with it the Baptisms of our catechumens.

And so ... Happy Easter everyone!

Domenica delle Palme
Dimanche des Rameaux

la diga di Bohoro
le barrage du Centre Rizicole de Bohoro

Baba Michel di Bokaya

l'Altare della Deposizione

On the way

On the way

At our Mission, the weeks before Easter are very intense: preparation to the Sacrament of Baptism (with the catechism tests, moments of spiritual retreat and prayer), the first school term ends, and the Holy Week is approaching.

During the week I go to Baoro, accompanied by a light rain. It’s the beginning of the rainy season. This year the rain seems to be a bit early. The last ones had arrived around the middle of November. The meteorology tells us that in a slowly way the rainy season is close. When the rain will be more consistent and regular, it’s then that farming job will restart.

The Saturday preceding Palm Sunday is traditionally the day of Youth Pilgrimage. This year it will last a single day, about 5 km from Bozoum. De departure at 8.00 am under a beautiful sun. We are about 400 people walking together the 5 Km praying. When we reach the river, we stop there  for all morning reflecting on the theme proposed by Pope Francis for this World Youth Day: "Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found favor before God" (Lk 1:30). Our meditation is followed by the Sacrament of Confession. Around 1.00 pm we celebrate the Mass. Then a little 'free time. Given the heat, we all, almost all, dive into the river nearby the Ouham. At 3:00 pm, just as we get ready to leave, a downpour is on us, and in the rain we return to Bozoum.

Despite the tiredness, boys and girls sing all the way, waving the palms they found, almost a prelude to the feast of tomorrow, Palm Sunday.

Seven novices and a Bishop

La danza in chiesa, a Bocaranga, senza limiti di età
la danse à l'église à Bocaranga. Pas de limites d'age!

Seven novices and a Bishop

At the end of last week a lovely group of seven Carmelite novices came to Bozoum. Five of them are from Cameroon and two from Central Africa. They have already one year of serious experience of community life, of prayer and formation in Carmel. Their coming to Bozoum, together with their trainer Father Alexandre, is an opportunity to get to know our Community lifestyle, in order to have a firsthand knowledge of a community of friars in care of a Parish. In addition to this, the novices will give three catechesis to our catechumens who will receive the baptism at Easter. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday they will meet the catechumens in order to have a conversation with them about the sacrament of Baptism, the Eucharist and Confession.

Wednesday morning I leave for Bocaranga, 125 km far from here. The road is rather bumpy, but in 3 and a half hours I reach the destination. I’m here in Bocaranga for a meeting regarding a training session for the parish Caritas. We are present in five parishes: Bossemptele, Bozoum, Bocaranga, Ndim and Ngaundaye. It is a beautiful moment of comparison of ideas, formation and sharing on what we live and do in our parishes to help those in need and to coordinate the charitable activity.

While we attend our updating course in Bocaranga, we are surprised to receive the visit of the new bishop of Bouar, Monsignor Mirek. He is here after visiting Ndim. All this area is “read zone”. Kind of.  Here the presence of rebel militias (Seleka, 3r, MPC) is a big problem. The Minusca (Blue Helmets) takes action sporadically, and the armed gangs are the scaring rulers: theft, looting, fires, illegal barriers, racketeering, torture, violence. I have just arrived in Bocaranga, when I did see an armored car and other two Blue Helmet cars coming off the Gendarmerie: they were taking away a young man who stole in a store the night before, killing the owner.

The big problem is that the "justice" is not managed by the police or by the authorities, but by the rebellious elements of 3R. They intervene directly, deciding in this case that the young man does not have to be   lynched in the square by the crowd, but has to be brought to another place. I asked myself: which will be the end of that man?

During this week in Bozoum we have also began welcoming about seventy displaced families fleeing the city of Paoua and the surrounding villages, where during the past weeks the violence has been continuously present.

The road to peace is still long and covered by great difficulties. Much more than that between Bozoum and Bocaranga.

Catechesi dei Novizi

I rifugiati di Paoua

Sessione formazione Caritas a Bocaranga

March 8th and surroundings

March 8^th and surroundings

As the Lenten journey continues, and the preparation of the catechumens for their Baptism at Easter is intensified, Bozoum celebrates also the Women's Day.

On Monday I go to Bangui with the UN plane. But there is bad weather, and the air pockets and jolts make me KO for a couple of days! In Bangui, I take a look at the Agriculture School, whose building site continues to grow. On Wednesday I return to Bozoum by car.

Preparations for the Women’s Day celebration needs a few weeks, especially in our St. Augustine High School. Sister Annita is the real engine of these moments, without forgetting that she is also the Vice-Principal. The girls of the Secondary and High school, together with Sr. Annita, organize a moment of reflection and fun, with songs and, above all, dances. And the girls are going wild.

It is also a moment of serious discussion. St. John Paul II wrote: "Thanks to you, woman, for the very fact that you are a woman! With the perception that is proper to your femininity you enrich the understanding of the world and contribute to the full truth of human relationships ". In Central Africa, women do not have an easy life: in their childhood they have to fight in a world where for first comes the male. To struggle for study, for dignity, for the family, for life, all of these are the main problems of all women in Central Africa (and not only!). And the learning curriculum becomes an important part of this effort.

In order to support our girls some friends of Cuneo have launched a beautiful initiative: a floriculturist has decided to offer, in addition to a flowering plant, 1 euro for each purchase which will be destined to create scholarships for girls who attend our school. Long live women!