DANIEL COMBONI
1. Daniel Comboni: Missionary, Father and Prophet
2. Brief outline of the relation between St. D. Comboni and Egypt (1857-1881)
1.DANIEL COMBONI: MISSIONARY, FATHER AND PROPHET
Daniel Comboni, from whom the Comboni Missionaries take their name, had a life marked by a passion for Africa. He was born at Limone, on Lake Garda in northern Italy on 15 March 1831 and died in Khartoum, Sudan on 10 October 1881. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996 and canonised on 5 October 2003.
Three words depict his short life: Missionary, Father and Prophet.
Missionary
At a time when Africa was the place of great expeditions and explorations, Daniel developed a love for Africa and Africans that would last all his life. In 1857, Comboni arrived in Egypt for the first time whilst on his way to Sudan. He was part of a group set for a missionary expedition organized by don Mazza. Later in his life, he was to pass through Cairo many times. In 1867, as leader of the Institute he had just founded, Comboni had decided to set up a permanent place in Old Cairo. During his lifetime, Comboni built three institutes for Africans in Cairo.
He was entrusted with a vast mission that included the whole of Central Africa and in 1877 was named the first Bishop of Khartoum where he died just four years later.
Comboni's missionary spirituality was centred on devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Heart of Jesus was pierced for love of humanity and Comboni saw in that love the source of zeal for the salvation of souls and strength in bearing trials and crosses for the sake of the Gospel.
In his "Plan for the regeneration of Africa", Egypt played an important role. Apart from being a stop over for the missionaries, it was to be the place where missionaries would adapt themselves, especially to the climate, before proceeding to the heart of Africa. Egypt was also a strategic place, since it was here that Africans, who would later become evangelizers of their own people, were to receive the necessary training.
In his letter to Cardinal Simeoni from Cairo (21/12/1880) D.Comboni said:
" Egypt is the key to half Africa; and I am a humble and unworthy labourer of Africa and deeply concerned in the affairs of Jesus Christ and of the Church, especially African affairs. The interests of Central Africa, Abyssinia and the Gallas, in brief, the whole high plateau of Ethiopia, are closely linked to Egypt: I say religious interests; and I shall frequently prove this serious assertion". (Writings 6200)
Father
Comboni soon realized that to ensure continuity to his mission to the vast African continent, he needed to form a group of priests, lay brothers and sisters. He started in 1867 in Verona by putting together a group of men - missionary priests and lay brothers - to whom he gave a rule for missionary life. Later, in 1872, he founded the 'Pie Madri della Nigrizia', the Comboni Sisters.
He wrote, 'I only have one life to consecrate for the salvation of those souls: I wish I had a thousand lives to spend to such a purpose.' Today, his wish has been fulfilled in the 4,000 Comboni missionaries of many nationalities who work in over 40 countries world wide. Among these many nationalities, a number of Comboni missionaries, priests and sisters, come from Egypt and are now working in different continents and ministries.
Prophet
Comboni looked lovingly at Africa with faith and respect and saw potential where others saw only extreme and crippling poverty.
He designed the above mentioned 'Plan for regeneration of Africa' where he saw Africans as architects of their own destiny. The kernel of the plan was to 'Save Africa through Africans' . At a time when many people were dismissing the African Continent as incapable of joining the rest of the 'civilized' world, Comboni sent two young Sudanese men to Rome to study for priesthood.
He preached and wrote about the all-embracing concept of mission and the direct involvement in missionary work of religious men, women and lay people working together beyond the boundaries of nationalities. At the time, this sounded like Utopia; today these key elements of mission are taken for granted in the Church.
The most profound aspect of Comboni's prophetic vision was in his understanding of martyrdom: he yearned to be so fully united with his Lord that he would willingly sacrifice his life for the Lord and for Africa; like the grain of wheat that would die and produce a harvest for the whole of Central Africa.
His plan and work have encouraged followers for more than a century to witness to the Gospel by their work, example and, in some cases, physical martyrdom. Today, Comboni missionaries all over the world continue his work, often risking their lives to remain with the people they serve during times of war and famine.
Times and situations have changed since Comboni's time and, as well as Africa, his followers are now present in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The ideal, however, remains the same: that, wherever we are, we may help the most abandoned of our world to savour the love of God through works of charity and to proclaim the fullness of life promised by Christ through the preaching of the Gospel.
2. BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE RELATION BETWEEN D. COMBONI AND EGYPT (1857-1881)
During his missionary life, S. Daniel Comboni visited Egypt twelve times. In a schematic way, we present a short history of his presence in this country. We also listen to his voice through some texts from his letters:
1) 15 September - 22 October 1857
Occasion: Comboni travels to Africa for the first time as a member of the Mazza Institute along with another five missionaries. He is 26 years old. He weighed anchor from Trieste(Italy) and arrived in Alexandria on his way to Sudan.
Places he visited in Egypt: Alexandria, Cairo, Assiut (30/10), Aswan (11/11), Shellal (15/11)
Events: Before entering Sudan, the group visited Jerusalem and The Holy Land (29/9 - 18/10)
Writings of St. Daniel Comboni: To his Father from Cairo (19/10/1857)
"In Alexandria I found your letter including one from Mama, which slightly cheered me: I say slightly, because I find you very upset at my absence. Don't you know that I don't take a single step without thinking of you? If I write, if I walk, if I take a stroll, if I eat, I always seem to be beside you; and I need to think hard to believe that I am materially separated from you. So take heart!". (…) (Writings 132)
2) September 1859
Occasion: The group reaches Holy Cross in South Sudan. Three members of the group die due to fever. For the same reason, Comboni is obliged to return to Italy from Khartoum.
Places: Shellal, Cairo, Alexandria
Writings:
To Fr. Peter Grana (30/7/1859) from Wadi Halfa.
"I started this journey (...)it went on for 87 consecutive days in an uncomfortable boat, and I was the target of my dearest inseparable friends, the fevers. Arriving in Khartoum on 4th April, although I underwent proper treatment as well as I could, I was stricken with further fevers and a violent bout of dysentery so that, in spite of myself, I was advised by all to give up Central Africa, at least for a period. I remained steadfast in the belief that if I were able to continue the journey, at least to beyond the Tropic of Cancer in Upper Egypt, I would recover my lost health in part; and even more by returning to the homeland". (W 462)
3) 27December 1860 - 5 January 1861
Occasion: His Religious Superior, D. Mazza, asks him to go to Aden in order to rescue some former slave-children. On his way to Aden he stops in Alexandria after a terrible storm.
Places: Alexandria, Cairo, Suez
Events: He meets the Apostolic Vicar of Egypt and Mons. Kirchner, Pro-Apostolic Vicar of Central Africa, from whom he gets some information about the missionary situation.
4) February - 3 March 1861
Occasion: Comboni passed by Egypt when returning from Aden with the former African slave-children.
Places: Suez, Cairo, Alexandria
Events: He is arrested in Alexandria when about to board a ship with the children which was bound for Italy.
5) 15November 1865 - 9 March 1866
Occasion: After traveling through Europe to meet and involve the main European missionary institutions according to his "Plan for the regeneration of Africa", that the Pope Pius IX had approved. He goes back to Egypt with the Franciscan Fr. Cassoria in order to reorganize the Vicariate of Africa Central.
Places: Alexandria, Assiut, Luxor, Negade, Assuan, Shellal
Events: He visits several places to study the implementation of the "Plan for the Regeneration of Africa" and projects the opening of an Institute in Negade (Luxor).
Writings: To Canon Giovanni Mitterrutzner(18/9/1865) from Verona
"I found an unheard-of discouragement at the Institute on account of the Bishop's having decided to abandon the idea of the Mission and he persists. But Comboni will have none of this(…)Be firmly convinced that Comboni cannot live but for Africa and for whatever has a connection with Africa" (W 1183 and 1185).
6) 5 December 1867 - 7 July 1868
Occasion: The Mazza Institute abandons the project of the African Mission. Comboni is invited by the religious authorities to found a new Missionary Institute having the headquarters in Verona. In order to put into practice his missionary plan he travels to Cairo where he opens two educational centres.
Places:Alexandria, Cairo
Events:He rents a Maronite Convent in Old Cairo as residence. On 15/06/68, he transfers the Female Institutes to Bahhary.
Writings: To the Society for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary, from Rome (18/9/1864)
"The Project, therefore, which we would dare to submit and propose to the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, would be the creation of innumerable Institutes of both sexes to surround the whole of Africa. These would be carefully situated at the least possible distance from the interior of the continent, in stable and fairly civilised areas, in which both Europeans and Africans could live and work". (821)
"The men's and women's Institutes, each situated and set up according to the regulations of the canonical provisions, would admit young African men and women, with the aim of educating them in the Catholic Religion and in Christian civilisation, and of thus creating one men's and one women's group, destined, each in its own way, gradually to advance and to spread into the African interior, there to plant the Faith and civilisation they have received".
To Card. Barnabò from Cairo (12/3/1868)
"I rented the Maronite's Convent for 336 scudi a year in Old Cairo. It has an old house annexed, a hundred steps from the grotto of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where tradition has it that the Holy Family lived during the exile in Egypt. I have inaugurated and started two small Institutes in the two houses which are separated by a fairly spacious Church. By the grace of God they are thriving". (1578)
To Card. Barnabò from Rome (April 1870)
(...)"The primary purpose of this Institute is the following:
1. The religious, moral, intellectual and technical education of Africans with the aim of forming them in the faith, morals, sciences and skills that are necessary in Central Africa, so that once their education is complete they may return to the tribes of Africa to be apostles of faith and civilisation among the African peoples under the direction of European missionaries. (2226)
2. The acclimatisation of European missionaries and coadjutor brothers so that they may become more able to support the climate and the strains of the apostolate in Africa. (2227)
3. The European missionaries study Arabic, the African languages and other languages needed for the mission. They get to know the oriental customs and the ways of the Muslims (...) (2228)
The Institute is a sort of novitiate to ensure that the missionaries and lay assistants to be sent to Africa may be equipped with the high degree of unshakable chastity, with the faith, humility, self-denial, constancy, charity and the apostolic virtues that are needed to persevere in the arduous and perilous missions of Central Africa, so that they do not run the risk of being converted… instead of convertine" (2229)
"The secondary purpose of the Institute is the evangelisation of the people of the black race resident in Egypt who, according to the Official Yearbook 1869-70 by Levernay, in Cairo alone number 25,000". (...) (2230)
"The Institute of the Sacred Heart of Mary
This is the name I gave to the Institute for African girls, entrusted to the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition(...). Both the primary purpose and the secondary one of this Institute are the same as those adopted by the male Institute, save the variations which regard the nature and the special mission of Catholic women in Africa, destined to assist in the apostolate to poor African girls both in Egypt and in central Africa". (2239)
7) 26 February 1869 - 9 March 1870
Occasion: After gathering means and personnel, Comboni returns to Egypt in order to reinforce the Institutes in Cairo
Places: Alexandria, Cairo
Events: He opens the third Centre in Cairo. There are already some African female educators. He participates in the opening of Suez Canal (18/11). He meets Samuel Baker. He returns to Europe to foster the African Mission in the I Vatican Council.
Writings: To Card. Barnabo from Rome (April 1870)
"This School is run exclusively by the African girl missionaries under the direction of Sr Valerio, whom I brought from Verona, where she was the Novice Mistress in the suppressed convent of the Franciscan Tertiaries. It teaches the faith and Catholic morals, basic primary education, Arabic, French and German, as well as feminine skills of all kinds, from knitting stockings to embroidery in silk and gold". (2249)
8) 26 September 1872 - 26 March 1873
Occasion: Comboni crosses Egypt on his way to Khartoum as the new Apostolic Pro-Vicar (since 26/5/1872) accompanied by the first religious sisters who will work in Central Africa.
Places:Alexandria, Cairo (until 26/1), Negade (26/2), Shellal (7/3)
Events:In Cairo he asks the Khedive for a piece of land and meets the British Ambassador to discuss the abolishment of slavery.
Writings:To Berard des Glajeux from Khartoum (10/3/1875)
"You know that until now my two Institutes in Cairo were housed in two buildings for which I was paying a high yearly rent. In order to avoid this, after trying a thousand solutions, after three years I asked His Highness the Khedive if I could have a piece of land in Cairo to build two houses. His Highness told me he would obtain it for me, but after a thousand difficulties and efforts also on the part of my representative, Fr Bartolomeo Rolleri, the piece of land was only granted in the month of August and on conditions that will require many sacrifices". (3745)
9) 3 February - 17 March 1876
Occasion: Comboni journeys again to Rome and on his way stops in Egypt.
Places:Suakin, Suez, Cairo,
Events:He has to face some misunderstandings with the Camillian Fathers'.
Writings: To Card. Franchi from Khartoum (18/12/1875)
"The importance of the Cairo Institutes of acclimatisation is obvious for this reason alone, besides a thousand others. At the time I came to the Vicariate 18 years ago, under the Pro-Vicar Fr Ignazio Knoblecher, during the first year at least half the missionaries who came fresh from Europe died. In the first two years after their arrival from Europe, at least two-thirds of them died. Since my Plan was applied, to date in the four years that Missionary Priests have come from Europe, not a single one has died; all 15 are healthy and active". (4007)
10) 21 December 1877 - 8 March 1878
Occasion: Once again Comboni is on the way to Khartoum, this time as the Apostolic Vicar (since 2/7/1877)
Places: Cairo, Minya (4/2), Assiut (10/2), Negade (22/2), Luxor, Esna, Aswan (1/3), Shellal
Events: In Cairo he encounters the Khedive and Henry Stanley. In Aswan he meets Gordon Pasha.
11) April - May 1879
Occasion: Comboni is on the way to Rome
Places: Suakin, Suez, Cairo
Events: He encounters Mons. Ciurcia - Apostolic Vicar of Egypt.
12) 3 - 31 December 1880
Occasion: Comboni travels for the last time to Khartoum.
Places: Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Suakin
Events: He meets Mons. Ciurcia and the Khedive Tawfiq Pasha. It's laid and blessed the first stone of Cordi Jesu Church. He ordains John Dichtl and Joseph Orhlwalder as priests. Both will come to be fundamental in the continuation of Comboni's work after his death (10/10/1881)
Writings: To Card. Simeoni from Cairo (21/12/1880)
(...)"Egypt is the key to half Africa; and I am a humble and unworthy labourer of Africa and deeply concerned in the affairs of Jesus Christ and of the Church, especially African affairs. The interests of Central Africa, Abyssinia and the Gallas, in brief, the whole high plateau of Ethiopia, are closely linked to Egypt: I say religious interests; and I shall frequently prove this serious assertion". (...) (6200)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AGASSO D., Comboni. Una vita per la missione, Milano 1991, Ed. San Paolo.
AA.VV., Prospetto cronologico-biografico del servo di Dio Daniele Comboni (1831-1881), in Archivio Comboniano XXI (1983) 2, pp. 28-174.
COMBONI D., The Writings of St. Daniel Comboni, London 2005.
CRUCIANI G., Famiglia Comboniana in Egitto 1: Comboni al Cairo Vecchio, Cairo3 2002.
CRUCIANI G., Famiglia Comboniana in Egitto 2: Comboni al Gran Cairo, Cairo3 2003.
GILLI A., Daniel Comboni. The man and his message, Bologna 1980.
GILLI A., History of the Comboni Missionary Institute. From its foundation to the death of Daniel Comboni (1867 - 1881), Studium Combonianum, internal publication.
GRANCELLI M., Mons. Daniele Comboni e la Missione dell'Africa Centrale, Verona 1923.
PEZZI E., L'Istituto Pie Madri della Nigrizia. Storia dalle origini alla morte del Fondatore, Bologna 1981, EMI.
ROMANATO G., L'Africa Nera fra Cristianesimo e Islam. Lesperienza di Daniele Comboni (1831-1881), Milano 2003, E. Corbaccio.
SGARAMELLA A.M., In Egitto sulle orme di Daniele Comboni, Cairo 2003.
1. Daniel Comboni: Missionary, Father and Prophet
2. Brief outline of the relation between St. D. Comboni and Egypt (1857-1881)
1.DANIEL COMBONI: MISSIONARY, FATHER AND PROPHET
Daniel Comboni, from whom the Comboni Missionaries take their name, had a life marked by a passion for Africa. He was born at Limone, on Lake Garda in northern Italy on 15 March 1831 and died in Khartoum, Sudan on 10 October 1881. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996 and canonised on 5 October 2003.
Three words depict his short life: Missionary, Father and Prophet.
Missionary
At a time when Africa was the place of great expeditions and explorations, Daniel developed a love for Africa and Africans that would last all his life. In 1857, Comboni arrived in Egypt for the first time whilst on his way to Sudan. He was part of a group set for a missionary expedition organized by don Mazza. Later in his life, he was to pass through Cairo many times. In 1867, as leader of the Institute he had just founded, Comboni had decided to set up a permanent place in Old Cairo. During his lifetime, Comboni built three institutes for Africans in Cairo.
He was entrusted with a vast mission that included the whole of Central Africa and in 1877 was named the first Bishop of Khartoum where he died just four years later.
Comboni's missionary spirituality was centred on devotion to the Sacred Heart. The Heart of Jesus was pierced for love of humanity and Comboni saw in that love the source of zeal for the salvation of souls and strength in bearing trials and crosses for the sake of the Gospel.
In his "Plan for the regeneration of Africa", Egypt played an important role. Apart from being a stop over for the missionaries, it was to be the place where missionaries would adapt themselves, especially to the climate, before proceeding to the heart of Africa. Egypt was also a strategic place, since it was here that Africans, who would later become evangelizers of their own people, were to receive the necessary training.
In his letter to Cardinal Simeoni from Cairo (21/12/1880) D.Comboni said:
" Egypt is the key to half Africa; and I am a humble and unworthy labourer of Africa and deeply concerned in the affairs of Jesus Christ and of the Church, especially African affairs. The interests of Central Africa, Abyssinia and the Gallas, in brief, the whole high plateau of Ethiopia, are closely linked to Egypt: I say religious interests; and I shall frequently prove this serious assertion". (Writings 6200)
Father
Comboni soon realized that to ensure continuity to his mission to the vast African continent, he needed to form a group of priests, lay brothers and sisters. He started in 1867 in Verona by putting together a group of men - missionary priests and lay brothers - to whom he gave a rule for missionary life. Later, in 1872, he founded the 'Pie Madri della Nigrizia', the Comboni Sisters.
He wrote, 'I only have one life to consecrate for the salvation of those souls: I wish I had a thousand lives to spend to such a purpose.' Today, his wish has been fulfilled in the 4,000 Comboni missionaries of many nationalities who work in over 40 countries world wide. Among these many nationalities, a number of Comboni missionaries, priests and sisters, come from Egypt and are now working in different continents and ministries.
Prophet
Comboni looked lovingly at Africa with faith and respect and saw potential where others saw only extreme and crippling poverty.
He designed the above mentioned 'Plan for regeneration of Africa' where he saw Africans as architects of their own destiny. The kernel of the plan was to 'Save Africa through Africans' . At a time when many people were dismissing the African Continent as incapable of joining the rest of the 'civilized' world, Comboni sent two young Sudanese men to Rome to study for priesthood.
He preached and wrote about the all-embracing concept of mission and the direct involvement in missionary work of religious men, women and lay people working together beyond the boundaries of nationalities. At the time, this sounded like Utopia; today these key elements of mission are taken for granted in the Church.
The most profound aspect of Comboni's prophetic vision was in his understanding of martyrdom: he yearned to be so fully united with his Lord that he would willingly sacrifice his life for the Lord and for Africa; like the grain of wheat that would die and produce a harvest for the whole of Central Africa.
His plan and work have encouraged followers for more than a century to witness to the Gospel by their work, example and, in some cases, physical martyrdom. Today, Comboni missionaries all over the world continue his work, often risking their lives to remain with the people they serve during times of war and famine.
Times and situations have changed since Comboni's time and, as well as Africa, his followers are now present in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The ideal, however, remains the same: that, wherever we are, we may help the most abandoned of our world to savour the love of God through works of charity and to proclaim the fullness of life promised by Christ through the preaching of the Gospel.
2. BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE RELATION BETWEEN D. COMBONI AND EGYPT (1857-1881)
During his missionary life, S. Daniel Comboni visited Egypt twelve times. In a schematic way, we present a short history of his presence in this country. We also listen to his voice through some texts from his letters:
1) 15 September - 22 October 1857
Occasion: Comboni travels to Africa for the first time as a member of the Mazza Institute along with another five missionaries. He is 26 years old. He weighed anchor from Trieste(Italy) and arrived in Alexandria on his way to Sudan.
Places he visited in Egypt: Alexandria, Cairo, Assiut (30/10), Aswan (11/11), Shellal (15/11)
Events: Before entering Sudan, the group visited Jerusalem and The Holy Land (29/9 - 18/10)
Writings of St. Daniel Comboni: To his Father from Cairo (19/10/1857)
"In Alexandria I found your letter including one from Mama, which slightly cheered me: I say slightly, because I find you very upset at my absence. Don't you know that I don't take a single step without thinking of you? If I write, if I walk, if I take a stroll, if I eat, I always seem to be beside you; and I need to think hard to believe that I am materially separated from you. So take heart!". (…) (Writings 132)
2) September 1859
Occasion: The group reaches Holy Cross in South Sudan. Three members of the group die due to fever. For the same reason, Comboni is obliged to return to Italy from Khartoum.
Places: Shellal, Cairo, Alexandria
Writings:
To Fr. Peter Grana (30/7/1859) from Wadi Halfa.
"I started this journey (...)it went on for 87 consecutive days in an uncomfortable boat, and I was the target of my dearest inseparable friends, the fevers. Arriving in Khartoum on 4th April, although I underwent proper treatment as well as I could, I was stricken with further fevers and a violent bout of dysentery so that, in spite of myself, I was advised by all to give up Central Africa, at least for a period. I remained steadfast in the belief that if I were able to continue the journey, at least to beyond the Tropic of Cancer in Upper Egypt, I would recover my lost health in part; and even more by returning to the homeland". (W 462)
3) 27December 1860 - 5 January 1861
Occasion: His Religious Superior, D. Mazza, asks him to go to Aden in order to rescue some former slave-children. On his way to Aden he stops in Alexandria after a terrible storm.
Places: Alexandria, Cairo, Suez
Events: He meets the Apostolic Vicar of Egypt and Mons. Kirchner, Pro-Apostolic Vicar of Central Africa, from whom he gets some information about the missionary situation.
4) February - 3 March 1861
Occasion: Comboni passed by Egypt when returning from Aden with the former African slave-children.
Places: Suez, Cairo, Alexandria
Events: He is arrested in Alexandria when about to board a ship with the children which was bound for Italy.
5) 15November 1865 - 9 March 1866
Occasion: After traveling through Europe to meet and involve the main European missionary institutions according to his "Plan for the regeneration of Africa", that the Pope Pius IX had approved. He goes back to Egypt with the Franciscan Fr. Cassoria in order to reorganize the Vicariate of Africa Central.
Places: Alexandria, Assiut, Luxor, Negade, Assuan, Shellal
Events: He visits several places to study the implementation of the "Plan for the Regeneration of Africa" and projects the opening of an Institute in Negade (Luxor).
Writings: To Canon Giovanni Mitterrutzner(18/9/1865) from Verona
"I found an unheard-of discouragement at the Institute on account of the Bishop's having decided to abandon the idea of the Mission and he persists. But Comboni will have none of this(…)Be firmly convinced that Comboni cannot live but for Africa and for whatever has a connection with Africa" (W 1183 and 1185).
6) 5 December 1867 - 7 July 1868
Occasion: The Mazza Institute abandons the project of the African Mission. Comboni is invited by the religious authorities to found a new Missionary Institute having the headquarters in Verona. In order to put into practice his missionary plan he travels to Cairo where he opens two educational centres.
Places:Alexandria, Cairo
Events:He rents a Maronite Convent in Old Cairo as residence. On 15/06/68, he transfers the Female Institutes to Bahhary.
Writings: To the Society for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary, from Rome (18/9/1864)
"The Project, therefore, which we would dare to submit and propose to the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, would be the creation of innumerable Institutes of both sexes to surround the whole of Africa. These would be carefully situated at the least possible distance from the interior of the continent, in stable and fairly civilised areas, in which both Europeans and Africans could live and work". (821)
"The men's and women's Institutes, each situated and set up according to the regulations of the canonical provisions, would admit young African men and women, with the aim of educating them in the Catholic Religion and in Christian civilisation, and of thus creating one men's and one women's group, destined, each in its own way, gradually to advance and to spread into the African interior, there to plant the Faith and civilisation they have received".
To Card. Barnabò from Cairo (12/3/1868)
"I rented the Maronite's Convent for 336 scudi a year in Old Cairo. It has an old house annexed, a hundred steps from the grotto of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where tradition has it that the Holy Family lived during the exile in Egypt. I have inaugurated and started two small Institutes in the two houses which are separated by a fairly spacious Church. By the grace of God they are thriving". (1578)
To Card. Barnabò from Rome (April 1870)
(...)"The primary purpose of this Institute is the following:
1. The religious, moral, intellectual and technical education of Africans with the aim of forming them in the faith, morals, sciences and skills that are necessary in Central Africa, so that once their education is complete they may return to the tribes of Africa to be apostles of faith and civilisation among the African peoples under the direction of European missionaries. (2226)
2. The acclimatisation of European missionaries and coadjutor brothers so that they may become more able to support the climate and the strains of the apostolate in Africa. (2227)
3. The European missionaries study Arabic, the African languages and other languages needed for the mission. They get to know the oriental customs and the ways of the Muslims (...) (2228)
The Institute is a sort of novitiate to ensure that the missionaries and lay assistants to be sent to Africa may be equipped with the high degree of unshakable chastity, with the faith, humility, self-denial, constancy, charity and the apostolic virtues that are needed to persevere in the arduous and perilous missions of Central Africa, so that they do not run the risk of being converted… instead of convertine" (2229)
"The secondary purpose of the Institute is the evangelisation of the people of the black race resident in Egypt who, according to the Official Yearbook 1869-70 by Levernay, in Cairo alone number 25,000". (...) (2230)
"The Institute of the Sacred Heart of Mary
This is the name I gave to the Institute for African girls, entrusted to the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition(...). Both the primary purpose and the secondary one of this Institute are the same as those adopted by the male Institute, save the variations which regard the nature and the special mission of Catholic women in Africa, destined to assist in the apostolate to poor African girls both in Egypt and in central Africa". (2239)
7) 26 February 1869 - 9 March 1870
Occasion: After gathering means and personnel, Comboni returns to Egypt in order to reinforce the Institutes in Cairo
Places: Alexandria, Cairo
Events: He opens the third Centre in Cairo. There are already some African female educators. He participates in the opening of Suez Canal (18/11). He meets Samuel Baker. He returns to Europe to foster the African Mission in the I Vatican Council.
Writings: To Card. Barnabo from Rome (April 1870)
"This School is run exclusively by the African girl missionaries under the direction of Sr Valerio, whom I brought from Verona, where she was the Novice Mistress in the suppressed convent of the Franciscan Tertiaries. It teaches the faith and Catholic morals, basic primary education, Arabic, French and German, as well as feminine skills of all kinds, from knitting stockings to embroidery in silk and gold". (2249)
8) 26 September 1872 - 26 March 1873
Occasion: Comboni crosses Egypt on his way to Khartoum as the new Apostolic Pro-Vicar (since 26/5/1872) accompanied by the first religious sisters who will work in Central Africa.
Places:Alexandria, Cairo (until 26/1), Negade (26/2), Shellal (7/3)
Events:In Cairo he asks the Khedive for a piece of land and meets the British Ambassador to discuss the abolishment of slavery.
Writings:To Berard des Glajeux from Khartoum (10/3/1875)
"You know that until now my two Institutes in Cairo were housed in two buildings for which I was paying a high yearly rent. In order to avoid this, after trying a thousand solutions, after three years I asked His Highness the Khedive if I could have a piece of land in Cairo to build two houses. His Highness told me he would obtain it for me, but after a thousand difficulties and efforts also on the part of my representative, Fr Bartolomeo Rolleri, the piece of land was only granted in the month of August and on conditions that will require many sacrifices". (3745)
9) 3 February - 17 March 1876
Occasion: Comboni journeys again to Rome and on his way stops in Egypt.
Places:Suakin, Suez, Cairo,
Events:He has to face some misunderstandings with the Camillian Fathers'.
Writings: To Card. Franchi from Khartoum (18/12/1875)
"The importance of the Cairo Institutes of acclimatisation is obvious for this reason alone, besides a thousand others. At the time I came to the Vicariate 18 years ago, under the Pro-Vicar Fr Ignazio Knoblecher, during the first year at least half the missionaries who came fresh from Europe died. In the first two years after their arrival from Europe, at least two-thirds of them died. Since my Plan was applied, to date in the four years that Missionary Priests have come from Europe, not a single one has died; all 15 are healthy and active". (4007)
10) 21 December 1877 - 8 March 1878
Occasion: Once again Comboni is on the way to Khartoum, this time as the Apostolic Vicar (since 2/7/1877)
Places: Cairo, Minya (4/2), Assiut (10/2), Negade (22/2), Luxor, Esna, Aswan (1/3), Shellal
Events: In Cairo he encounters the Khedive and Henry Stanley. In Aswan he meets Gordon Pasha.
11) April - May 1879
Occasion: Comboni is on the way to Rome
Places: Suakin, Suez, Cairo
Events: He encounters Mons. Ciurcia - Apostolic Vicar of Egypt.
12) 3 - 31 December 1880
Occasion: Comboni travels for the last time to Khartoum.
Places: Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Suakin
Events: He meets Mons. Ciurcia and the Khedive Tawfiq Pasha. It's laid and blessed the first stone of Cordi Jesu Church. He ordains John Dichtl and Joseph Orhlwalder as priests. Both will come to be fundamental in the continuation of Comboni's work after his death (10/10/1881)
Writings: To Card. Simeoni from Cairo (21/12/1880)
(...)"Egypt is the key to half Africa; and I am a humble and unworthy labourer of Africa and deeply concerned in the affairs of Jesus Christ and of the Church, especially African affairs. The interests of Central Africa, Abyssinia and the Gallas, in brief, the whole high plateau of Ethiopia, are closely linked to Egypt: I say religious interests; and I shall frequently prove this serious assertion". (...) (6200)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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