Below is an article first published by Agenzia Fides and written by Anselmo Fabiano an SMA Seminarian from Italy. On the 25th of June 2024 was one of 29 young men who took their first Oath and thus became members of the Society of African Missions (see Twenty-Nine New SMA Members) Anselmo has already completed five years of training with the SMA and is about to begin the next stage of his formation in Cairo, Egypt.
“It is time to leave, it is mission time. I take you with me on this experience in Egypt, where I will continue my formation and pastoral service in the mission in Cairo”, writes Anselmo Fabiano, on his departure from the mission in Calavi (Benin), where he spent a year participating in an international vocational promotion program, to now face what he calls “a new missionary reality”.
“Leaving for Benin was an experience of faith and life that changed and enriched me greatly, just as the soil in which the seed was sown grows and bears fruit”, says Anselmo. “Like the sower who returns full of joy with his sheaves, so I too return from Calavi with the fruits of this year, full of gratitude to God who has always guided and accompanied my steps.”
“Africa has taught me so much through the brothers and sisters I met there,” he continues, “the value of welcome and hospitality, simple but always made with the heart, the great wisdom of African proverbs, an inexhaustible source of wealth, the value of time and relationships.” “Malaria was also a great lesson for my life, which made me confront my weakness,” he stresses, “it changed me, made me less fearful, more cautious and grateful for the great gift of health.” “The fraternity in diversity that I experienced in Calavi with 40 other seminarians,” Anselmo continues, “made me feel that it is really possible to overcome all barriers and discover that we are all brothers. The diversity is a great richness and extraordinarily beautiful, just like the many cheerful colors of the typical fabric of sub-Saharan Africa.” “The most beautiful fruit of these months in Benin was my ‘yes’ to becoming a missionary and joining the great family of African missionaries (see Fides 3/7/2024)”, he concludes. “Now my ‘first mission’ has arrived in Egypt, in Cairo, where we have to start serving and confront a completely new reality of missionary life – adds Anselmo with emotion. There will also be an opportunity to become part of a small, minority church, open to interreligious, missionary dialogue.”
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