WORLD SOCIAL FORUM – Dakar . The Kenya Comboni Missionaries were represented by Fr. LATORRE PAOLO AND Bro RIZZETTO PAOLO at the Wold Social forum 2001, held in Dakar from -03 to 12 February 2011.

Click to read more about it: “With Comboni under the Baobab Tree”.

COMBONI MISSIONARIES

OF THE HEART OF JESUS
(Verona Fathers)
P. O. Box 21102
NAIROBI 00505 (Kenya)

FR. KIZITO SESANA IS INNOCENT          

We, the Comboni Missionaries, are happy to inform all Kenyan, in particular the Catholic faithfuls, that our confrere, Fr. Kizito Sesana, has been cleared of all the allegations of child molestation leveled against him in June 2009.

The Deputy Prosecuting Counsel, Mrs. Alice Ondieki, writing under the instruction of the Attorney General to the Director of Criminal Investigations in a letter dated 1st December 2010, has advised the same Director to close the file on Fr. Kizito because “further investigations have not yielded any substantial evidence to support the prosecution case”.

The Commission of Inquiry instituted by His Eminence the Cardinal of Nairobi in June 2009 had reached the same conclusions, namely the innocence of Fr. Kizito. The conclusions of the Commission were not made public at that time, in order to avoid any suspicion of interference by the Church in the investigations of the Kenya Police.

The letter of Mrs. Ondieki points out some striking inconsistencies in the "evidence" against Fr. Kizito; like: the retraction of statements by key "witnesses" and supposed victims, their admission of being given money to falsely testify, and the fact that the person in the much publicized pictures is not Fr. Kizito.
We hail and thank all people in the police and justice departments who have successfully worked for the conclusion of this case.

We deeply regret the smear and vicious campaign against Fr. Kizito and the Catholic Church conducted by some media in a manner which was neither ethical nor professional. Those responsible for it owe to all of us an explanation. We hope that freedom of press be always used for the common good of the Kenyan citizens and exercised in a fair manner, to defend truth and justice. For this reason we expect that the same media would give due relevance to the Attorney General’s decision.

We thank God who has assisted Fr. Kizito and all of us during these hard times. We also thank the Catholic Church in the person of his Eminence the Cardinal, the Papal Nuncio to Kenya, diocesan priests, members of Religious Institutes and the people of this great Country who have never deprived us of their support and sympathy.  “May the Lord bless you and keep you; may He let his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord show you his face and bring you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26).

The Comboni Missionaries

PARTNERSHIP NEW PEOPLE - TV2000

New People Media Centre has signed an agreement with TV2000, the television
network of the Italian Episcopal Conference, to collaborate in “Mentre”, a daily
program which features testimonies by missionaries and volunteers working in
different parts of the world. The program seeks to show not only what those
persons are doing but also what drives them to commit themselves to such a service.
Since 22 November, New Peoplelinks, via satellite, three times a week with “Mentre” to present experiences of mission and cooperation from Kenya and other African countries, told live by their protagonists. The testimonies of the missionaries and volunteers are accompanied by images of their activities filmed by NPMC.
“Mentre” can be watched on weekdays on Internet, www.tv2000.it, from 17 to 18 hours (Nairobi time), or 15 to 16 hours (Rome time).

REFLECTION GROUP ON ISLAM – NAIROBI 2010-12-22

“Personal law in Islam and its implications to dialogue” was the topic of the seminar of the “Reflection Group on Islam”, held in Nairobi from 15 to 20 of November.  It was organised by DAR COMBONI – CAIRO, the Comboni Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies . The representatives of the  Comboni Provinces of Africa contributed with papers detailing the situation  between Christians and Muslims in their country, specifying the way the Islamic personal law is interpreted and applied, and outlining  the pastoral implications for the marriages between a Muslim and a Christian and for the  relationships between the faithful of the two religions. 

THE COMBONI MEDIA COME TO EAST AFRICA
“MUNDO NEGRO” of Spain and “CENTRO JUVENIL – AFRO” of Ecuador sent their correspondent to Kenya and South Sudan on fact finding trips. Mundo Negro is the magazine of the Spanish Comboni Missionaries, while the Centro Juvenil – Afro produces TV programmes for a local TV Station.

SEMINAR ON ISLAM IN KENYA
“The Muslims too are the brothers and sisters for whom Christ died”. They too are part of God’s saving project. In July, a seminar was organised in Nairobi for the Comboni Missionaries to wake up their awareness to the presence of the Muslims in their parishes and to the need of developing mutual acceptance, respect, understanding and cooperation for the benefit of the society.

KENYA GROWING AT A MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR
It is in the Census results of 2009.
KENYA has a population of 38,610,097. More than half the people, 24.5 million, are below 25 years of age, “the youth bulge” that creates problems and challenges for the planners.
The CHRISTIANS in Kenya are 31,877,734 (82.5%), the MUSLIMS 4,304,798 (11.15%), HINDU 53,393 (0.14%), the followers of the African Traditional Religion 635,352 (1.65%), Other Religions 557,450 (1.44%), No Religion 922,128 (2.39%).

THE COMBONI BROTHERS’ CENTRE 2010-2011
The Community of the Comboni Brothers Centre in Nairobi has elaborated its formative charter for the present school year 2010-2011.
The community is multicultural, with brothers from Togo, D.R. Congo, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Costarica and Ethiopia. It gathers Comboni Missionary Brothers at the last stage of their basic formation, in preparation of their first missionary experience. The brothers study at Tangaza College for Diploma and Master Degree in Social Ministry in Mission.  The formative process integrates academic studies with pastoral commitments at the service of the Local Church.
The CBC began in 1981 at Gilgil, where there was a polytechnic institute run by the Comboni Missionaries and where the brothers were trained for a profession. In 1986 the Centre was transferred to Nairobi that offered better formative options.