NUNTIA No. 8 AUGUST 2008

From the General Curia. Father Claudio Ojeda Pérez. Sad News from Orissa (India). The Mission in the Salomon Islands

From the General Curia:

The Superior General: After his visit to Indonesia, he spent some time on vacation, returning to Rome on 1 September.  On the 4th, he left for Madagascar, by way of Paris.
Father José María Nieto continued his visit in Colombia; Father Gérard Du took a Spanish course in Pamplona; the others supported the humid heat of Rome, without melting.
Father Claudio Ojeda Pérez:
Among the 154 who died in the unfortunate plane crash at the Barajas Airport of Madrid was Father Claudio Ojeda Pérez of the Province of Salamanca, a missionary in Cameroon.  He had come for a health check and to visit his relatives in the Canary Islands.  The news shook all of us who knew him and certainly spread quickly to many regions of the CM.  Because of the tragic circumstances of his death, NUNTIA wants to leave a record of the news of this missionary’s passage to the mission in heaven, leaving the Cameroon mission in the fullness of his labor.
As soon as the news was confirmed Father  Kapuściak, Vicar General, published this note on the Website of the Congregation (https://cmglobal.org): “With great sadness and pain we received the news of the tragic death of Father Claudio Ojeda in the plane accident yesterday in Madrid.  Let us pray that the Lord open the gates of heaven and reward him for the generous service of the poor that he rendered for many years as a true Vincentian missionary.  Let us also pray for Father Claudio’s family and relatives and for all Vincentian missionaries, especially those of the Province of Salamanca and the Region of the Province of Paris in Cameroon, so that the Lord may console them and strengthen their faith and hope in the resurrection.”
Father Claudio Ojeda was born in Las Palmas on 9 June 1946.  He studied in Las Palmas, philosophy in Hortaleza (Madrid) and in Zaragoza, and theology in Salamanca.  He earned a Licentiate in Theology.  He joined the CM on 21 September 1967 and made perpetual vows on 8 December 1976.  He was ordained a deacon on 24 June 1977 at Santa Marta de Tormes, Salamanca.  He was ordained a priest in Las Palmas on 1 January 1978.  He exercised priestly ministry in diverse houses of the province until 1998, when he went as a missionary to the Cameroon.
The Visitor of Paris, Father Elie Delplace, describes his fervent activity in Cameroon this way: “… first at the Seminary of St. Vincent de Paul, then in the parish of Nsimalen, with the last months at the Regional House in Douala.  His strength, dynamism, witness, and determination in facing difficulties certainly allowed the young Region of Cameroon to establish the foundations that now need to be consolidated.  Claudio served as Regional Treasurer and accompanied numerous development projects for the Congregation, the Vincentian Family, and numerous other religious congregations… He was known in Yaoundé and Douala… and those who were with him in Cameroon might recall his many anecdotes about the hardware dealers and also about the port of Douala, when he had to send off a container…
Without intending to make an exhaustive list, we can point out his place in the parishes of Saint Augustine on the Sonel plateau and Saints Peter and Paul in Nsimalen, his commitment to the construction of the Saint Vincent de Paul School, the establishment of a Computer Science and Carpentry Center in Nkol Afeme that receives apprentices… he helped the Cameroonian confreres in their different projects and represented them before partners in Spain and elsewhere.  Just a few days ago, the Regional Superior presented to the Provincial Council the project for acquiring land in order to construct the Regional House near Douala… We have yet to speak about his presence close to the Daughters of Charity of Equatorial Guinea: in recent months, a project for introducing the Congregation in the above-mentioned country was being clarified…”
The Visitor of Salamanca, Father Eblerino Diez Llamazares, accompanied the relatives of Father Claudio in the painful hours of waiting in the Madrid airport until at noon on the 23rd the body was identified.  From there he moved with them and with Father David Fernández, Provincial Councillor, to the Canary Islands where, on the 24th, the funeral and burial took place.
May the zealous missionary rest in peace and from the mission of heaven may he continue protecting our mission on earth.
Sad News from Orissa (India):
The different communication media have given accounts of the harsh situation of violence that Christians are suffering in the State of Orissa, where the CM has been working for almost hundred years.  Our own sources tell it to us this way:
“Orissa’s Kandhamal District is the region worst hit by violence between Hindus and Christians.  They are still nursing their wounds from the Christmas 2007 violence, with hundreds of them still living in a refugee camp in Barakhama.  The majority of the destroyed churches, which exceed 100, remain in ruins; burnt houses are still to be fully rebuilt.
The latest violence broke out following the killing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (Hindu Political Organization) leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his disciples in Jalespeta in Kandhamal district on 23 August 2008.  While the government held Maoists responsible for the killings, the Hindu fundamentalist groups blamed Christians for the incident.
Thus a new wave of violence has struck the Christians of Orissa.  Every day, there is news of killing, wounding, rape, assaults against churches, convents, schools, orphanages, villages, carried out by Hindu fanatics.  Hundreds of people have had to abandon their homes and flee to the forests.  According to government estimation, 4000 houses have already been torched.  Last week we did not feel safe inside the house or outside it.  Many confreres and Daughters of Charity spent days in the jungle without much food or change of clothing and sleeping under the tree unmindful of sun and rain.  Added to the tension we have been experiencing, we were continuously hearing the news of priests getting beaten-up, rape and murder of the Christians.  The sad fact is that it still continues.
The police have not given adequate protection to the Christians.  This is because the party in government is being supported by Hindu fundamentalist groups.  Without international pressure on the Indian government, we do not expect the Orissa state government to do anything to protect the Christian minority in Orissa.
There is an easy interpretation that would make Orissa’s missionaries and Christians real martyrs of justice and the promotion of the poor.  The epicenter of this violence is the district of Kandhamal, in the state of Orissa.  This is an area of poor people, at the very bottom of India’s caste system.  The missionaries’ work has contributed to the fact that these people are educating themselves and are increasingly conscious of their dignity and their rights.  The people, who benefit from the old system and from the condition of submission of these poor people, cannot tolerate all this.  Many times they tried to block the work of the missionaries.  This time they are succeeding to a great extent.  They are targeting the priests and nuns working in the area.  Their lives are at risk.”
We also received news that India’s Episcopal Conference has gone to India’s Prime Minister, expressing sorrow, on one hand, about Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati’s death and, on the other hand, realizing the condition of defenselessness in which the Christians live.  In addition to describing the situation, the bishops claim defense of the lives and the rights of the Christians as well as indemnifications for the personal and material losses caused by the violence of the Hindu fundamentalists.
The Mission in the Solomon Islands:
“The main reason our Congregation came here was to form the students of Holy Name of Mary Seminary, and most of the confreres here are devoted to it.  Our two other important works are Nazareth Apostolic Centre and Good Shepherd Parish.  We also have the responsibility to minister at the Prison in Honiara, as well as at Saint Vincent’s Chapel, Burns Creek (a disadvantaged settler area on the near edge of Honiara).
Regarding the men here, Father Frank Vargas (Philippines) completed his time at the end of 2007; he had held the roles of Superior and Rector.  Father Greg Walsh (Australia) agreed to take up the Superior role roughly mid-way through 2007, and he takes the lead in Burns Creek.  Father Victor Bieler (Indonesia) has very kindly stepped in as “Acting Rector” so far this year.  Father Bing Caintic (Philippines) joined us at the beginning of 2007; on returning to his home country in December 2007 it was discovered he needed a major heart operation.  Thanks be to God he made a good recovery and he has rejoined us for Second Semester.  Towards the end of 2007, Father Emanuel Prasetyono (Indonesia) came to us, and he spent a very educational six weeks in Takwa Parish in Malaita Province during the seminary holidays.  Most of the seminarians are from Malaita, and Father Emanuel was able to spend time with some of them in their home environment.  Father Drago Ocvirk (Province of Slovenia) has joined us again to teach theology for most of the Second Semester in the seminary, as he did so kindly last year.  We also expect Father Antonius Abimantrono to join us as a seminary staff member in a few weeks’ time.
We are fortunate that we now have Father Joeli Nabogi as the Centre’s Director; he took up the role a little before Father Joseva Tuimavule returned to Fiji early in June.  Both these confreres are from Fiji (Province of Australia).
We are also blessed that Father Ivica Gregurec from Croatia (Province of Slovenia) continues as Parish Priest of Good Shepherd, which surrounds both the Centre and the Seminary.  Father Ivica has very energetically pursued the establishment of a Parish Station at Red Beach, which is approximately 10 minutes’ drive from the Seminary and the Centre.  The priest’s temporary dwelling (also used by those aspiring to join the CM) is a small traditional sago-palm leaf house.  The temporary church is to be opened in mid-August and the next project will be the Parish Church.  When it is complete, the temporary church will become the Parish Hall.
We sent Father Ivica Gregurec, our Parish Priest, to Papua New Guinea to do a Melanesian Culture Course, which he found to be very interesting and helpful.  We are hoping to send a confrere each year to complete this course.  Father Ivica has also very generously filled the role of Vocations Director for those young local men who are seeking to become seminarians for the Congregation of the Mission.  Father Joseva had this role until his recent departure.  There are quite a number of these young men and hence it would be much better to have one confrere devoted full-time to their accompaniment and formation.  The Province of Australia has already accepted three Solomon Islands men into the seminary, and they are studying in Fiji this year.  A full-time CM Vocations Director and Formator would give the option for such young men to complete some of their seminary formation in their homeland, remembering that it is the Australian Provincial who would exercise this option.
Our main need for confreres to work here is the Seminary.  It is in the process of being transformed from a first-stage “philosophate” to a full-blown seminary including “theologate.”  Several years ago the bishops were sending their students to Papua New Guinea, after they had completed their first stage here.  Last year we inaugurated the first year of theology in the seminary.  This change in the seminary means that our greatest need is for confreres with the ability to teach seminary courses.  We have been fortunate to have the help of several visiting lecturers, but longer-term assistance is required.
This year the seminary has 34 students, but the addition of an extra year-level annually will make for a growing student body.  Up until last year we had a three-term academic year, but this year we changed to two semesters.  We do have some gaps in our teaching staff, for example the areas of Sacred Scripture and Moral Theology.
We hope this report helps you to understand a little more about the Mission here; we do feel very much the help of the Congregation worldwide here as we try to assist the Local Church of these Solomon Islands”.


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