On this site you have read about the kidnapping of three Assumptionists priests, Jean-Pierre Mumbere Ndulani, 50, superior, Anselme Kakule Wasukundi, 41, pastor, and Edmond Bamtupe Kisughu, 53, pastoral associate, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, abducted from their rectory on October 19, 2012, nearly six months ago. No reliable contact has been made with their kidnapers since.

(This article first appeared in the April/May/June issue of the Assumptionist magazine, L’Assomption et ses oeuvres. Br. Gwenaël Petton spent forty years as a missionary in Brazil. He speaks here about “his” Brazil: the initial difficulties in learning Portuguese and adapting to a new culture and then his pastoral work in a favela, the experience of living through a military regime, and finally the renaissance of Assumptionists vocations in the 80s.)

I arrived in Rio on October 8, 1963, after a thirteen-day transatlantic voyage on the Louis Lumière of the Chargeurs Réunis line out of the port of Le Havre. Four religious were waiting for me on the dock. The welcome was warm and fraternal. I was only 29 years old and timidly began to know this community that awaited me.

Jesus’ contemporaries wondered: who is he? He himself also asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” We may think this could be a good answer, but there are some more worthy to be considered. Nicodemus said, “You are a teacher come from God.” The Samaritans said, “This is indeed the Savior of the world.” This was also Martha’s faith, “You are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.” Finally, perhaps Thomas gave the most meaningful response, “My Lord and my God!” Are these all faces of Jesus the Risen One, which we can find in the Scriptures and in the words of some of his disciples?

(Located in the northeast region of Brazil, the diocese of Juazeiro faces numerous socio-economic and pastoral issues. Its Assumptionist bishop, Most Rev. José Geraldo da Cruz, paints a realistic picture of the situation for us and demonstrates his determination for the future.   This article first appeared in the April/May/June 2013 issue of the Assumptionist magazine, L’Assomption et ses oeuvres.)

The diocese of Juazeiro is split in two by the São Francisco River in the northeast state of Bahia in the heart of caatinga* country. It is divided into nine townships covering 60,000 square kilometers (about 23,000 square miles). It has about 500,000 inhabitants. There are only 14 parishes, six of which are in the city of Juazeiro (pop. 260,000).

On Saturday, April 30^th, 2013, the Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Assumption College in Worcester, MA was filled with great joy, gratitude and celebration as Bro.Ronald Sibugan, A.A. pronounced his final vows as an Augustinian of the Assumption. Surrounded by his Assumptionist brothers, invited guests and friends, Bro. Ron vowed to live the life on consecrated poverty, chastity and obedience for the rest of his life. Grounded in prayer, living in community and committed to zealous apostolic activity, he promised to live according to the Rule of Saint Augustine and the Assumptionist Rule of life.

ASSUMPTION COLLEGE

Dear members of the Assumption College family,

We are all still in disbelief after the events at the Marathon on Monday. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. In true Assumption fashion, the community came together to support one another and those in our community who were personally affected by this senseless tragedy. Sadly, one of our staff members has a daughter who was a spectator who was seriously injured, and a graduate student, whose father works here, who was treated and released the next day.

Immediately, we planned a Mass and prayer service on Tuesday to help demonstrate our concern, and to enable us to join together as a faith community to pray for all those affected and to pray for peace.

("The Congregation will set up an international volunteer program for young people and adults involving the entire Assumption Family." Thus reads the commitment of the Assumptionist general chapter in 2005, a commitment re-iterated at last year's chapter. In fact the Congregation has established two international volunteer programs, one under the supervision of the Province of France,  www.volontariat-assomption.org, and one co-sponsored by the Assumptionists and the Religious of the Assumption in the United States, Associate Missionaries of the Assumption, www.assumptionvolunteers.org. In the following interview, we offer the reflections of one current French volunteer living and working with an Assumptionist community in Sokode, Togo, Jérémie Six. He is interviewed by an Assumptionist novice, Br. Rémi-Clovis)

On Thursday, December 28, a lively group of young people arrived at the Assumptionist general house in Rome, a small part of the 40,000 who are gathering in the Eternal City for the annual youth gathering. Three young Assumptionists joined six others (three Hungarians, two Portuguese, and a Pole) at our house.

PROVIDING AN EDUCATION TO THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN ONE VILLAGE AT A TIME

Sixty years ago, in 1953, the Assumptionists arrived in Madagascar, the almost forgotten island off the southeast coast of the African continent. The southern end of the island was administered by the Vincentians but covered an immense territory that they were only too willing to share. They retained the eastern half of this territory while the newly arrived Assumptionists assumed responsibility for the western half, with its main urban center Tuléar, in Malagasy Toliara. The head of the Assumptionist mission, Fr. Michel Canonne, was to become the first bishop of the newly erected diocese in 1959.