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).