At the invitation of Father Ziad Haddad, Visitor of the Orient Province of the Congregation of the Mission, Father Tomaž Mavrič, our Superior General, visited Egypt from April 29 to May 4. The primary purpose of this visit was to inaugurate the Vincentians’ new mission in Cairo. Father General used this opportunity also to visit the various works of the Vincentian confreres and the Daughters of Charity in Cairo and Alexandria and to meet with the Vincentian Family of Egypt. He was thus able to see first-hand how vital and dynamic these works are despite the small number of confreres and sisters.
Egypt today has nearly one hundred million inhabitants. The confreres and the Daughters of Charity arrived there in 1844. Today, even with just five CMs in the area, the confreres serve in multiple ways. They run a school serving 1300 students from Kindergarten to High School graduation. In addition, they serve as chaplains to the Daughters of Charity, they minister in Catholic Coptic parishes with Greek Catholics and Maronites, and they accompany various youth movements: the Vincentian Marian Youth, the Scouts, Patronage, and a Religious Training Institute for adults.
There are 38 Daughters of Charity present in eight communities: three in Alexandria, two in Cairo and two in Upper Egypt. These communities serve four schools, two in Cairo and two in Alexandria, four dispensaries, one in Alexandria, one in Cairo, and two in Upper Egypt — one in Koussieh and the other in Sedfa. A center in Alexandria welcomes people with special needs. In addition to these works, the Sisters participate in catechesis, accompany youth movements, and serve through home visits and the promotion of women.
The Vincentians’ new mission in Cairo
Until now, the Vincentians had led two missions to Alexandria. For more than thirty years had been trying to settle in Cairo, where hundreds of people from Upper Egypt poured themselves every day hoping to find a job in the capital. It should be noted that Cairo has nearly twenty million inhabitants. Divine Providence inspired the Visitor, Father Ziad Haddad, to choose to settle at a mission of the Maronite Mariamite Lebanese Order. It had been abandoned for thirty years and was now in ruins, in Choubrah, a working-class neighborhood, just in front of Cairo Central Station, where today so many people are flooding in from Upper Egypt. Acquired for rent and now fully restored, this Saint George Mission was inaugurated on May 3 by the Superior General surrounded by the Apostolic Nuncio in Cairo, the Catholic Coptic and Greek Catholic Patriarchs, the Maronite Bishop of Cairo, and those many confreres of the province of Orient, Daughters of Charity and the Vincentian Family, who were able to make the trip. This mission will serve the population of the Choubrah neighborhood, much of which is Christian, as well as offer popular missions in Upper Egypt. It will begin to function next September after the priestly ordination of our five deacons.
Yes, it is true that Eastern Christians today are living through difficult times, but they refuse to be defeated. This new mission, just created, greatly encourages them. It is a symbol of the dynamism of the Church despite everything.
Let us ask the Lord to bless this new mission and to strengthen the faith of these Christians who are facing all kinds of difficulties in the East.
Antoine-Pierre Nakad, C.M.
Province of the Orient
Translation : Dan Paul Borlik, C.M.
USA Western Province
