RADAR • ST DANIEL COMBONI

An Apostle Full of Zeal for Africa

Pope Francis continued his catechesis series dedicated to the passion for evangelisation and apostolic zeal. He applauded St Daniel Comboni’s great zeal and love for Africa, saying he was fuelled by the joy of the Gospel

BY Pope Francis’ General Audience at St Peter’s Square on 20 September 2023

POPE FRANCIS dwelled on the figure of St Daniel Comboni as an example of zeal for evangelization. He recalled Comboni’s words to the African people: “They have taken possession of my heart that lives only for them” (Writings, 941), and “I will die with Africa on my lips” (Writings, 1441). “The happiest of my days will be when I can give my life for you” (Writings, 3159). The Pope asserted that these are expressions of a person in love with God and the brothers and sisters he served on mission, about whom he never tired of reminding that ‘Jesus Christ suffered and died for them too’ (Writings, 2499; 4801).

Slavery

Pope Francis continued saying: “In a context characterised by the horror of slavery, which Comboni witnessed, slavery makes the person a thing, whose value is reduced to being useful to someone or something. But Jesus, God made man, elevated the dignity of every human being and exposed the falsity of slavery. Comboni, in the light of Christ, became aware of the evil of slavery; he also understood that social slavery is rooted in a deeper slavery, that of the heart, that of sin, from which the Lord frees us. As Christians, therefore, we are called to fight against all forms of slavery. Unfortunately, slavery, like colonialism, is not a thing of the past. In the Africa so beloved by Comboni, today torn apart by many conflicts, after the political one, an equally enslaving ‘economic colonialism’ has been unleashed (…). It is a drama before which the economically more advanced world often closes its eyes, ears and mouth’. I therefore renew my appeal: ‘Stop suffocating Africa; it is not a mine to be exploited or a land to be plundered’ (Meeting with the Authorities, Kinshasa, 31 January 2023)”.

Comboni’s itinerary and methodology

“Let us return to the story of San Daniele”, the Pope continued. “After an initial period in Africa, he had to leave the mission for health reasons. Too many missionaries had died after contracting diseases, due to a lack of knowledge of the local reality. However, if others were leaving Africa, not so Comboni. After a time of discernment, he felt that the Lord was inspiring him with a new way of evangelisation, which he summarised in these words: ‘Save Africa with Africa’ (Writings, 2741f). It was a powerful intuition that helped renew his missionary commitment: the people evangelised were not just ‘objects’, but ‘subjects’ of the mission. Saint Daniel wished to make all Christians protagonists of the evangelising action. With this spirit he thought and acted in an integral manner, involving the local clergy and promoting the lay service of catechists. In this way he also conceived human development, taking care of the arts and professions, and fostering the role of the family and of women in the transformation of culture and society. How important it is, even today, to advance faith and human development from within mission contexts, instead of transplanting external models or limiting oneself to sterile welfarism!”

Source of Comboni’s zeal

“Comboni’s great missionary passion, however, was not primarily the result of human endeavour: he was not driven by his courage or motivated only by important values, such as freedom, justice and peace; his zeal was born out of the joy of the Gospel, it drew on the love of Christ and led to love for Christ! St Daniel wrote: ‘A mission as arduous and laborious as ours cannot live by patina, by crooked-necked subjects full of selfishness and self-centredness, who do not care as they should for the health and conversion of souls’. Comboni added: “We must enkindle them with charity, which has its source from God, and from the love of Christ; and when one truly loves Christ, then privations, sufferings and martyrdom are sweetness” (Writings, 6656). His desire was to see ardent, joyful, committed missionaries: missionaries—he wrote—’holy and capable’. Holy, that is, free from sin and humble. But this is not enough we need charity that makes the subjects capable (Writings, 6655). The source of the missionary capacity, for Comboni, is therefore charity, in particular the zeal to make the sufferings of others his own, to feel them on his own skin and to know how to alleviate them, as good stewards of humanity”.

Communion and solidarity with the poor

“His evangelising passion, moreover, never led him to act as a soloist, but always in communion in the Church. “I have but one life to consecrate to the health of those souls,” Comboni wrote, “I wish I had a thousand to consume for that purpose” (Writings, 2271). One life or a thousand lives, who are we alone with our short life, if it is not the whole Church doing mission? What is the zeal of our work —Comboni seems to ask us—if it is not ecclesial?

His desire was to see ardent, joyful, committed missionaries: missionaries ‘holy and capable’

Brothers and sisters, St Daniel bears witness to the love of the Good Shepherd, who goes out to seek the lost and lays down his life for the flock. His zeal was energetic and prophetic in opposing indifference and exclusion. In his letters, he heartily recalled his beloved Church, which had forgotten Africa for too long. Comboni’s dream is a Church that makes common cause with the crucified of history, to experience the resurrection with them. His testimony seems to reiterate to all men and women of the Church: “Do not forget the poor, love them, because in them is present Jesus crucified, waiting to rise again”.

Source: Comboni.org.