Digodigo is found near the Kenyan border to the northwest of Arusha beyond Lake Natron and the Ngorongoro Crater

Assumption in Africa continues to grow in Tanzania. In response to a request from the archbishop of Arusha, Most Rev. Josaphat Lebulu, the Plenary General Council of the Congregation approved the opening of a new parish, St. Augustine’s, in Digodigo. The official inauguration took place in Digodigo this past August 28 on the feast of St. Augustine. Archbishop Lebulu presided the ceremony during this year that the Assumptionists are marking their 25^th anniversary in East Africa. Joining the archbishop were the regional superior, Fr. Simon Njuguna, the new pastor, Fr. Melchior Vanzwa, other Assumptionist confrères from Tanzania, some Oblate Sisters of the Assumption, who have communities nearby in Loliondo and Wasso, and many parishioners.

A darkened world of war and strife,
Where hate and poverty ran rife,
Awaited a Savior, announced of old,
To warm so many hearts grown cold.

He came but not as a king with power
Or as a bold, strong, and fearless leader;
He came to us simply as a newborn Child,
The Man-God and King, humble and mild.

Our world is again dark with evil and strife
Even as we remember his Birth and his Life.
Will we as disciples now dare to offer his Love
And share with all his Light from above?

A HAPPY AND HOLY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

December 25, 2014 Eugene LaPlante, A.A.

Fr. Marcel Uwineza, SJ

For the last “Conversations at the Center” for this semester, the community, residents and guests of the Assumptionist Center invited Fr. Marcel Uwineza, SJ to share his experiences of the Rwanda genocide and how it has shaped his faith journey and self-understanding as a priest.

He began by presenting a brief history of his country, the reality of the ethnic tribes living in peace before the advent of colonialism, the subsequent divisions that developed and the complexities that led up to the rebellion in 1990. The genocide of 1994 saw close to one million Tutsi and moderate Hutu die.

We can only imagine

The lonely trek

Of Mary and Joseph

To Bethlehem