In Kinshasa, as in all parts of the Oblate world, on Saturday, January 25, Oblate missionaries from the Province of Congo opened the year of the 200-year jubilee of the Constitutions and Rules. The « book of life » On February 17, 1826, Pope Leo XII approved the Oblates, and the congregation inaugurated the year of the bicentenary on January 25, on the anniversary of the founding of the congregation.
In the chapel of the scholasticate Saint Eugene de Mazenod of Kinshasa-Kintambo, the provincial superior of Congo presided over the Mass for the pastoral sector of Kinshasa. Father Constant Kienge-Kienge presented the book of Constitutions and Rules as a sign of hope in a world often doomed to despair:
A Holy Book and History
« Celebrating the bicentenary of our book of life is an opportunity to reflect on our vocation and mission, inherited from our founder, Saint Eugene de Mazenod. It is also an opportunity to reconnect with the memory of our common and personal history, history of our vocation in order to renew ourselves in our missionary identity and to engage with joy, courage and hope, aware of our roots in a holy history. »
« Do this, and you will live »
Symbolically, the provincial superior received a copy of the book of the Constitutions and Rules from Father Jean-Pierre Bwalwel, who arrived before the altar at the head of a procession of superiors from present communities. Father Kienge-Kienge, in turn, delivered the book to Father Bwalwel by taking the words that each provincial superior pronounces on behalf of the Superior General of the congregation each time he delivers the book to the novice who has just pronounced his first vows of religion: « Do this, and you will live. »
Community is the place where the life in common and the consecration of each person takes place. The Constitutions and Rules are a fundamental landmark for each Oblate community.
Associated laity also
The Constitutions and Rules inherited from Saint Eugene de Mazenod inspire the Oblates but also their lay associates. On 25 January, in Kinshasa, the occasion of the opening of the two-hundredth anniversary of the Constitutions and Rules was conducive to the installation of the provincial office of the lay Missionary Associates of Mary Immaculate. The provincial superior received the commitment of the President and Vice-President. They were elected at the Association's first General Assembly held from 07 to 09 December. The five members of the committee signed the text of the profession of faith and commitment:
KITENGE Muyembe Louis, President
IBANGA Anzela Flore, Vice-President
KALULA Massanza Arthur Dany, Secretary
KAWUKA Mpia Emmanuel, Deputy Secretary
MASELA Mambuku Denise, Treasurer
MWANKO Sylvie, Assistant Treasurer
The provincial announced in the homily:
« After their elected assembly, the governing team was confirmed by the provincial superior in council to allow elected officials to lead the association with the light of our Constitutions and Rules and that they commit themselves to living this Oblate spirit in their ordinary living environment. «
In Mwembe and Songololo
Far from Kinshasa, the Oblates of the Congo Province seized the opportunity to present the congregation, its history and its commitment to evangelization. This was the case in Mwembe, Kasai Province, and in Songololo, Kongo Central Province.
The parish priest of Saint Joseph de Mwembe, Father Dominique Kimani, wrote: « On the occasion of the launch of the two-hundredth anniversary of our CC and RR, a mass was said this morning with the students of the schools who are at the mission. In the afternoon, a football match between the students and the young people of the mission. The whole thing was closed by a festive meal organized in the courtyard of the community. Happy birthday to everyone. »
In the parish of St Joseph of Songololo, after the Mass celebrated in the morning, the evening was dedicated to a musical concert. Children members of the « Kizito and Anuarite » showed up in a ballet.
Fathers Asodo Istoyo, assistant general of the congregation, and Alberto Gnemmi, general adviser for Europe, returned to Rome on Wednesday, April 1. The provincial superior of Congo, Father Constant Kienge-Kienge, accompanied them [Read More]
On Sunday 11 August 2024, 19th Sunday of ordinary time in liturgical year B, was in Kikwit, in the parish Our Lady of the Rosary, the occasion for the Provincial Superior, Reverend Father Constant Kienge-Kienge, to accept [Read More]
On Saturday, December 2, at the collation ceremony of academic degrees at De Mazenod University in Kinshasa-Kintambo, the provincial superior, Constant Kienge-Kienge, recalled the ideal of the founder of the Oblates and patron saint of the University [Read More]
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