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From March 12th to 29th, two brothers were on pilgrimage across Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo, where one of them comes from. Here are some extracts from their daily diary. Benin Our stay in Benin began at the large seminary of St Gall in Ouidah, a historic town known as a departure point for slaves. We had a long conversation with the rector and shared a meal with the seminarians and trainers, which allowed us to talk to a few of them. There are more than 150 seminarians from the second year of philosophy to the last year of theology, before ordination. At Cotonou, the economic capital, we visited young people who had been to Taizé, to discover how they were living and to share the parish life. For the last three years it has become harder for young people from Benin to obtain a visa so as to come and take part in summer meetings at Taizé. We stayed in the centre where are found the diocesan office for work and chaplaincy of young people, just behind the parish church of St Michael, where there is intense activity. We prayed with twenty or so youth leaders, belonging to various groups from across the town – exams had prevented others from coming. They pray together regularly and also meet up to organise events which are requested of them across the diocese. After Cotonou, our next stop in Benin was at Gbozounme. Here, the men and young people often work in the town and come back at weekends. On Sunday morning the 6 o’clock Mass is full of elderly men, women and children. Everything happens in the local language, Gon – marvellous rhythms sung with a whole troup of tiny children sitting on mats to the right of the altar. In the afternoon, we will have time to sing together. Straight away, at the end of Mass, the priest jumps on his motorbike to get to the next service in a series of communities, whilst the people form up around the church in little groups, to meet each other, to have instruction, and, for some, to prepare for baptism. At Parakou – 330 km north of Cotonou, in the centre of the country – a young priest who came to Taizé a few years ago has become the Diocesan Youth Chaplain. We prayed and talked about the Nairobi meeting with a whole team of young leaders from various groups and parishes in the diocese. At Dassa-Zoumé we also visited the new president of the Methodist Church. He is still serving in the Methodist parish of the town; thanks to our visit he understood better the meaning of the pilgrimage of trust and assured us that the youth of that Church could take part in meetings at Taizé in during the summer. Awaited at Gouka, we arrived late in the evening and found the pastor, a few old folks and the choir waiting for us. The little chapel overflowed with songs and we were thus able to pray together joyfully (…) Burkina Faso In Burkina Faso, the “country of upright men”, we were welcomed at the Lavigerie Seminary of the White Fathers at Ouagadougou. From the first evening, we were able to meet with the thirty young “interns” from various countries, who are preparing to serve as missionaries: during the day, up to a hundred of them are in training. Early in the morning, we leave for Dori, 250 km to the north. On the way we are surprised by the village of Bani with its numerous mosques and a conical minaret. We arrive at Dori on market day: the “taxis” on donkey back indicate the rhythm of life. The parish comprises close to a thousand faithful. Almost all the thousand parishioners are “passing through”: most of them are civil servants who have been posted to Dori for two or three years in this region that is traditionally Peuhl, and therefore Muslim. We were able to visit three families of young people who came to Taizé last year. Father Juvénot, a Congolese priest who himself stayed at Taizé during his training, made this conversation possible – the great simplicity of the sharing touched us greatly since their living conditions are not easy. In the evening, in the parish, we met for a time of prayer with a few young people who meet together regularly – with plenty of challenges to living their faith in this setting. The question returned: how to live more and more of Christ? After two days at Dori, we took to the road again towards Ouagadougou. On the way back, at midday it was over 42º C in the shade and numerous women, with children on their backs, were walking along the road with their tools to get to places where they know the earth contains gold dust. Not far from there, the multi-national mining companies do the same thing: open casting on a much bigger scale. From Ouaga where we had spent the night, we left early in the morning for our next stopping place which would be in Togo. There is not a bus every day, so we had to take a bus that goes only to the Burkina-Togo frontier, then find another means of transport to get to a priest who was waiting for us in Kara. Togo The first Home of Charity in Africa is at Aledjo, where a priest friend, and a young person who came to Taizé in 2008, live in a tiny youth centre which is still in construction. Seven young people live in tiny round cabins. They have just cleared part of the fields and are building a hen house. In the evening a few youths and children from the parish welcomed us for a prayer together. At Atakpamé, the church has passed through so many trials that it was lovely to meet up again with a young bishop: a musician and guitarist …who, after one year of service is full of gratitude for the present and of hope and trust for the future. On the Saturday, we were back at Lomé, in the parish of Notre Dame under the cross of Agbalépédogan. We were joint animators for a parish day of recollection: some 400 people of all ages came together for a morning prayer followed by a bible introduction in French and in Ewé about the love of God for us and our freedom; a bible text and the Letter from Kenya served as the starting point for reflection on the interior life and our involvements with and for other people. A very committed young man witnessed to his life as a thief before having a “meeting with Christ that bowled him over”. During the feedback of what had been shared in small groups, a child spoke so simply of the way of forgiveness that those listening gave spontaneous applause. The Way of the Cross went round the neighbourhood before coming back into the area around the church – the people smiling and freely kneeling, even on the dusty ground: these were real reminders of a way that follows Christ. At the closing Mass joy shone on faces, gratitude for living a perceptibly strong time of communion. On the Sunday we were again at a children’s Mass in another parish: the children gave their all to the songs and at the end of the service we learned that they belonged to the aptly named choir – “the Friends of Jesus Children”!
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Benin Naš je boravak u Beninu počeo u velikom sjemeništu St. Gall u Oudahu, povijesnom gradu poznatom kao mjesto polaska za robove. Dugo smo razgovarali s rektorom i ručali sa sjemeništarcima i predavačima, koji su nam dopustili razgovor s nekima od njih. Ima više od 150 sjemeništaraca, od druge godine filozofije do posljednje godine teologije, prije zaređenja. U Cotonou, gospodarskom glavnom gradu Benina, posjetili smo mlade koji su bili u Taizéu kako bismo vidjeli kako žive i dijelili s njima život u župi. Zadnje tri godine mladima iz Benina postalo je teže dobiti vizu kako bi došli i sudjelovali u ljetnim susretima u Taizéu. Smješteni smo u centru gdje se nalaze i Biskupijski povjerenstvo za pastoral mladih, župne crkve sv. Mihaela, gdje je aktivnost intenzivna. Molili smo s dvadesetak voditelja mladih koji pripadaju različitim skupinama iz cijelog grada – ostali nisu mogli doći zbog ispita. Redovito zajedno mole, a sastaju se i kako bi organizirali potrebna zbivanja širom biskupije. Nakon Cotonoua, sljedeća je postaja bila u Gbozounmeu. Ovdje muškarci i mladi često rade u gradu i vraćaju se samo vikendom. Nedjeljom ujutro, misa u 6 sati puna je starijih ljudi, žena i djece. Sve se odvija na lokalnom jeziku, gon – zadivljujući ritmovi koje je pjevala velika skupina male djece sjedeći na strunjačama pokraj oltara. Poslije podneva ćemo opet zajedno pjevati. Na samom kraju mise, svećenik je motociklom krenuo na sljedeću službu, dok su se ljudi oko crkve okupili u malim skupinama kako bi se upoznali, dobili upute, a neki od njih kako bi se pripremili krštenje. U Parakou – 330 km sjeverno od Cotonua, u središtu zemlje – mladi svećenik koji je prije nekoliko godina bio u Taizéu, postao je biskupijski povjerenik za mlade. Molili smo i razgovarali o susretu u Nairobiju s cijelim timom vođa mladih iz različitih grupa i župa biskupije. U Dassa-Zouméu posjetili smo novog predsjednika metodističke Crkve. Zahvaljujući našem posjetu, bolje je shvatio smisao Hodočašća povjerenja i uvjerio nas kako će mladi iz ove Crkve sudjelovati na susretima u Taizéu ovoga ljeta. Kasno poslijepodne doputovali smo u Gouku i sastali se s pastorom, nekolicinom starijih ljudi i zborom koji nas je čekao. Mala je kapelica bila preplavljena pjesmom i tako smo se mogli zajedno radosno pomoliti … Burkina Faso U Burkini Faso «zemlji poštenih ljudi», primljeni smo u Bogoslovlju Lavigerie Družbe Afričkih misionara u Ouagadougou. Od prve večeri, uspjeli smo se upoznati s trideset mladih bogoslova iz različitih zemalja, koji se pripremaju za misionarsku službu: tijekom dana traje nastava za njih stotinu. Rano ujutro smo krenuli u Dori, 250 km prema sjeveru. Na putu nas je iznenadilo selo Bani s brojnim džamijama i stožastim minaretom. Stigli smo u Dori na sajmeni dan: «taksiji» na leđima magaraca određuju ritam života. Župa okuplja blizu tisuću vjernika. Skoro su svi župljani u prolazu: u većini su to državni službenici koji su smješteni u Dori na dvije ili tri godine u ovu regiju koja je tradicionalno Peuhl, pa tako i muslimanska. Imali smo priliku posjetiti tri mlade obitelji koje su bile prošle godine u Taizéu. Otac Juvénot, svećenik iz Konga koji je i sam tijekom svoga školovanja bio u Taizéu, omogućio je taj razgovor čija nas je velika jednostavnost dirnula budući da njihovi uvjeti života nisu laki. Navečer smo se u župi sastali na molitvi s nekoliko mladih koji se redovito sastaju – s mnoštvom izazova kako živjeti svoju vjeru u ovoj sredini. Ponovilo se pitanje: kako sve više i više živjeti u Kristu? Nakon dva dana u Doriju, ponovo smo krenuli na put prema Ouagadougou. Na povratku je u podne bilo više od 42º C u hladu, a brojne žene s djecom na leđima hodale su putem noseći alat kako bi stigle na mjesta gdje znaju da u tlu ima zlatnog praha. Nedaleko, multinacionalne rudarske kompanije čine isto: otvaraju puno više novih radnih mjesta. Iz Ouage gdje smo proveli noć, rano smo ujutro krenula do sljedeće postaje koja je u Togu. Autobus ne vozi svakoga dana, tako da smo morali uzeti autobus koji vozi samo do granice Burkina – Togo, a zatim pronaći drugo prijevozno sredstvo kako bismo stigli kod svećenika koji nas je čekao u Kari. Togo Prvi «Home of Charity» u Africi je u Aledjou, gdje jedan prijatelj svećenik i jedan mladić koga smo 2008. upoznali u Taizéu žive u majušnom centru za mlade koji se još gradi. Sedmero mladih živi u malim okruglim kolibicama. Upravo su raščistili dio polja i grade kokošinjac. Navečer nas je nekoliko mladih i djece iz župe primilo na zajedničkoj molitvi. U Atakpaméu je crkva prošla kroz tolike kušnje da je bilo prekrasno opet se sastati s mladim biskupom: mladi glazbenik i gitarist koji je, nakon jedne godine službe pun zahvalnosti za sadašnjost i nade i vjere u budućnost. U subotu smo se vratili u Lomé, glavni grad Toga, u župu Notre Dame pod križem Agbalépédogana. Bili smo animatori za župni dan zajedništva: nekih 400 ljudi svih generacija sastali su se na jutarnjoj molitvi koju je slijedio biblijski uvod na francuskom i ewéom jeziku: o Božjoj ljubavi za nas i našu slobodu; biblijski tekst i Pismo iz Kenije bili su polazna točka za razmatranje o unutarnjem životu i našim vezama s drugim ljudima i angažmanima za njih. Jedan vrlo predan mladić pričao je o svom životu lopova prije no što se «susreo s Kristom koji ga je preobratio». Dok se prepričavalo što su bile teme razgovora u malim skupinama, jedno je dijete tako jednostavno govorilo o načinu praštanja da su slušatelji spontano zapljeskali. Križni put vodio je po okolici prije povratka u okolicu crkve – ljudi koji su se smiješili i slobodno klečali, čak i na prašnom tlu: bili su stvarni podsjetnik na put koji slijedi Krista. Na završnoj misi lica su sjala radošću, zahvalnost zbog proživljenih trenutaka jakog zajedništva. U nedjelju smo opet bili na dječjoj misi u jednoj drugoj župi: djeca su dala sve od sebe pjevajući, a na kraju smo saznali da pripadaju zboru zanimljivog imena – «Djeca Isusovi prijatelji»!