Divine Word Missionaries

SVD Mission 2000

Province
Reports
for
the XV
General
Chapter

Contents

Presentation
Four Zones
AFRAM
ANG
BOT
CNG
GHA
KEN
MAD
MOZ
TOG
ASPAC
EUROPA
PANAM
Statistics
Index

en Español

SVD Publications
Generalate
Rome
1999

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AFRAM ZONE

1. A Look to the Past

Even before he founded the Society's Motherhouse in Steyl, Fr. Arnold had shown a great interest in Africa. His mission magazine often featured articles on missionary work there. He was a close friend of Daniel Comboni, bishop of Sudan and founder of the Comboni missionaries. After a visit to the Motherhouse of the Comboni missionaries in Verona, he wrote: "They welcomed me warmly and offered me the room of Msgr. Comboni."

At that time, Africa had become the center of contention among the European colonial powers. Germany had taken part in the partition of the continent during the Treaty of Berlin in 1884. It is only natural that the third mission which the Society accepted in 1892 was Togo. The First World War put an end to this experiment. In 1918 - 1919 the Society had to leave the promising missions of Togo and Mozambique, and returned to the continent only in 1938, when it opened a mission in Ghana.

The so called "option for Africa" slowly became a reality in the 1980's. After a few years, the Society initiated an expansion program on the continent. This led to the awareness that the 5 provinces and the 3 regions on the continent should form a unit, now known as the Afram Zone.

2. Characteristics of the AFRAM Zone

AFRAM
Assigned to Zone
Bishops 2
Clerics 300
Brothers 50
Temporary Vows 107
Novices 33

Total

 492

Average Age
40.5
Foreign Born (%) 78.5
Nationalities Present 39


Personel Distribution
of Members in Final Vows (%)
Parish Ministries 48.1
Schools & Education 3.4
Special Apostolates 13.9
SVD Vocation & Formation 10.7
SVD Administration & Support 9.0
Studies & Cultural Orientation 11.8
Retired and Sick 1.6
Other 1.6

The General Chapter of 1994 described the AFRAM Zone in these terms:

  • It is a group of countries which are, from the missionary viewpoint, "living in a moment of grace and hope." The peoples of Africa are open for Christianity.
  • The Society is constantly receiving requests from many bishops for missionaries.
  • The missionary imperative of the moment is to give the Gospels a chance to be inculturated in the numerous and diverse cultures of Africa.
  • The religious context of the continent places particular demands on our capacity to dialogue with the Protestant churches, with the newly established native churches and with Islam.
  • At the same time, the SVD is experiencing on the African continent a political and social process characterized by painful ethnic conflicts, millions of displaced persons, and grave problems of survival.

3. Common Programs

There are three objectives which are beginning to take shape within AFRAM:

  • The concern that the SVD take root in the continent through the development of native African vocations.
  • The Society's common program of theological formation for all of Africa with centers in Tamale, Ghana, and Nairobi, Kenya.
  • A strong emphasis on the Bible apostolate.