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The Comboni Missionary Sisters (S.M.C.; ) are a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...
originally founded under the name ''Pie Madri della Nigrizia'', translated as the "Pious Mothers of the Nigritia" or "The Devout Mothers of Africa". They are also known as the Missionary Sisters Pie Madre della Nigrizia or the Missionary Sisters of Verona,


History

Daniele Comboni Daniele Comboni, MCCJ (15 March 1831 – 10 October 1881) was an Italian Catholic Church, Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum, Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa from 1877 until his death in 1881. He worked in th ...
was a missionary in
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
briefly in 1858–1859. In 1864 he wrote a plan for the regeneration of Africa to focus the global Catholic Church's interest in the evangelization of the continent while emphasizing the African people themselves as agents of this evangelization. He established a male
religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...
, the
Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus The Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (), also known as the Comboni Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, or the Verona Fathers, and originally called the Sons of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (''Congregatio Filiorum S. Cordis Iesu''), is a Cat ...
, on 1 June 1867. Comboni attempted to affiliate the male order with a female congregation to cooperate in missionary action (the Virgin of Charity). The attempt to set up the female branch failed and was postponed, so Comboni spoke to the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition. With the support of these sisters and the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregatio ...
, Comboni founded the Institute of the Motherland of Nigrizia in Montorio Veronese in
Verona, Italy Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city municipality in the region and in northeastern Italy. The metropoli ...
on 1 January 1872. On 8 December 1874, the bishop of Verona, Luigi di Canossa, handed over to the first eight aspirants the constitutions. He reviewed and approved and allowed them to start the
novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
. Comboni returned momentarily to Verona to receive the profession of the vows of the first two Sisters of his Congregation on 15 October 1876. The first Comboni sisters came to Africa in 1877. Comboni died on 10 October 1881, around the same time that the
Mahdist War The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later th ...
in Sudan began. The order struggled with both a leadership vacuum and the loss of eight sisters who were held as prisoners by the Mahdist rebels. Eventually, Maria Bollezzoli, who had joined the order on 6 September 1874, emerged as a strong first General Superior, and led the Pious Mothers through rapid development until her death in 1901. Throughout Bollezzoli's lifetime, the Comboni sisters were active only in Egypt, Sudan, and at their
motherhouse A motherhouse or mother house is the principal house or community for a Catholic religious community.YourDictionaryMotherhouse/ref> One example is the Missionaries of Charity's motherhouse in Kolkata, which functions as the congregation's headquart ...
in Verona. Between 1900 and 1930, they spread into Eritrea, and the
African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes (; ) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tangan ...
region. Between 1930 and 1960, they spread even more to additional African countries, the United States, Latin America, the Middle East, and created new centers for novitiate formation in Europe.


Formal recognition

The Congregation received the Papal
Decree of Praise A is the official measure with which the Holy See grants to institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life the recognition of ecclesiastical institution of pontifical right. When the decree of praise is issued in the form of an ...
on 22 February 1897 and its constitutions were approved by the
Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...
on 10 June 1912.


Vision

Comboni founded the order not for
nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of Evangelical counsels, poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Enclosed religious orders, enclosure of a monastery or convent.' ...
, but as strong-willed
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
. He told the sisters not to hold their "head bent to one side, because in Africa one needs to hold the neck straight and be ready for lots of sacrifices and, if necessary, even for
martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloqui ...
." Contrary to typical views at the time, he regarded them as of equal dignity with the male missionaries in Africa, and wanted them to have the same training and practices. In his correspondence, Comboni sometimes described the ministry of missionary sisters as a "priesthood". Comboni listed the activities of early sisters: "religious instruction, school,
orphanages An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusiv ...
, refuges for slaves, nursing the sick in hospital and at home,
baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
in
harems A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...
and in pagan families."


Activity and dissemination

While the specific purpose of the Combonis is missionary work among the peoples of Africa, they also work in the field of evangelization on other continents. The Comboni Missionary Sisters are present in Europe (Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Spain), Africa (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia), the Americas (Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, United States of America) and Asia (United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Israel); The headquarters is on Tito Livio Avenue in Rome. On 19 Ottober 2022
Sr. Anne Maria Quigg
was elected Superior General of the institute. On 31 December 2022, the congregation had 1,004 religious in 192 houses.


Notable

Sr. Pia De Angelis, who has spent most of her missionary life in Egypt, was granted L’ONORIFICENZA UFFICIALE dell’Ordine della Stella D’Italia by the Italian Ambassador in Egypt, for her tireless work with the Italian community in connection with the Italian Embassy. This is not the first time Sr. Pina's work among the poor and the rich has been recognized. (on the 8th May 2023, at the venue of the Italian Embassy in Cairo)
Sr. Gabriella Bottani
who was the coordinator of "Talitha Kum" - Uisg, was awarded the Heroes Award Winner i
2019
Sr. Alicia Vacas Moro, who was a nurse and leader in the Comboni Missionary Sisters, was awarded the
International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...
in 2021 after being nominated by the Holy See.
Sr. Inma Cuesta
who was director of the Office of Ethnic Ministry of th
Catholic Diocese of Richmond
was awarded the NCADDHM (30th Anniversary National Recognition Awards) in 2023.


Notes


Citations


References

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Further reading


External links

* * *  – a video describing their lifestyle. * {{Authority control 1872 establishments in Italy Catholic Church in Africa Ordination of women and the Catholic Church Religious organizations established in 1872 Catholic female orders and societies Catholic missionary orders Catholic religious institutes established in the 19th century