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r. Rino Benzoni, Superior General. After the election, Fr. Rino Benzoni
shared these thoughts: “I had hoped that I had finished with this service to the Congregation. It is quite daunting for me to have to begin again and continue for another six years. At the same time, the trust of the confreres gives me the strength to carry on. Together with my collaborators I hope I can succeed in forming a united and compact group, in order to serve our missionary Family better."
Fr. Rino is 55 years old. He is the tenth of thirteen children and has a brother in the priests of the Sacred Heart and a sister
as consecrated sister of the Child Mary. He was born in S. Lorenzo di Rovetta, in the diocese of Bergamo and became a Xaverian in
1969 after completing his studies in the Xaverian minor seminaries of Alzano Lombardo (BG) and Cremona. He was ordained priest in 1977. After his theology studies in Parma, he worked as a formator in the Xaverian house of
Desio, Milan (1978-1984), as formator and rector in the minor seminary of Zelarino (VE) (1984-1987). He left for the mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he first worked in Kampene, in the diocese of Kasongo (1988-1991) and later in Kinshasa, as the first parish priest of the new mission dedicated to Saint Angela Merici (1991-1995). At the General Chapter
in 1995, Fr. Rino was elected General Councilor and, in 2001 at the General
Chapter in Guadalajara Mexico, he was elected Superior General of the Congregation of the Xaverian missionaries.
Fr. Rino continues: “As far as the mission is concerned, we must look to the novelty that is coming to life rather than to the old that is passing away. The Church is young because the Spirit keeps her young. I therefore believe that
we should not be afraid of the challenges that face us”.
Fr. Luigi Menegazzo, Vicar General. Fr. Luigi Menegazzo was born in Cittadella (Padua) and is 55 years old. He has been a Xaverian since 1969 and a priest since 1977. He obtained a Masters in Missiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and worked in Japan for 15 years, mainly in pastoral ministry,
Gospel proclamation and inter-religious dialogue.
“I only hope that I can facilitate the apostolic commitment, that is to say, the mission of the Xaverian
confreres - Fr. Luigi shared soon after being re-elected - . I have a great admiration for all that my confreres are doing in the various countries of the world”.
Fr.
Carlo Girola, General Councilor. Fr. Carlo Girola is 59 years old and hails form Oltrona San Mamette (Como). He became a Xaverian in 1978 and was ordained priest in 1982. He does not have
a university degree but the experience of nine years work in a factory. Since 1984 he has been working as a missionary in the two neighboring African countries of Cameroon and Chad, as youth animator, the one in charge of parish pastoral work, vocation animator and superior of the Xaverian
Province. The only pause in this activity was in the year 1996-97 when he attended a course for vocation animators in Rome.
He holds this conviction: “I believe that the spirit of listening to the signs of a changing mission, in a world characterized by the clash between opposing forces and searching for justice and peace, is important.
Our Xaverian Family finds its “place” in this context, in order to give its own modest contribution to the hopeful signs for today’s humanity. Listening to the Spirit, in the Church, which becomes listening to the
missionaries”.
Fr. Girola in his own words: “I was born into a modest family of healthy Christian principles and I am grateful to my parents for the example they gave me. I believe I received a first gift from the Lord when he wanted me to live two fundamental experiences for the growth of a young person: a youth group inspired by Christian values and the experience of nine years working in a factory in the Como region. Having received the immense gifts of the religious consecration and the priesthood in the Xaverian Family, I lived with fear and trepidation what was happening in me, aware of my poverty and limits."
"The departure for the mission of Chad 23 years ago was the fulfillment of a
dream - Fr. Girola concludes -. Above all, it was the sign from the Lord that I was to keep on entrusting myself to him. It is in this line of abandonment that I begin this new stage of my life, always at the service of the mission and the Xaverian Family throughout the world”.
Fr.
Luciano Jesus Armando Germán Navarrete, General Councilor.
After his election as General Councilor, Fr. Armando said: “My only aspiration is to be faithful to the charism given to us by our Founder and to serve my brothers with the abilities the Lord has given me”.
Fr. Armando Germán was born in Ozumbilla, Mexico, and is 50 years old. He became a Xaverian when he was 21 years old (1978); after finishing his theology studies he was ordained priest in 1984. In 1995 he went to Taiwan, where he remained until 1998, when he was assigned to the Xaverian mission of Colombia (Latin America), working in pastoral ministry and in the formation of young Colombians who wish to become Xaverians. In Colombia, he also obtained a degree in Philosophy at the University of
Cali.
Fr. Katindi Alphonse Ramazani, General Councilor: Fr. Katindi Ramazani was born in 1957 in Kitutu, a village of Urega, in the South-Kivu province in east Congo. Kitutu is in the diocese of Uvira, where the Xaverians arrived 50 years ago, in 1958. His father Albert was a close collaborator of the missionaries as a catechist and sacristan of the parish
(established in 1967).
After his studies in the minor seminary of Mungombe (Uvira), he joined the Xaverians at Bukavu in 1983: this was the second year in which the Xaverians were
welcoming Congolese candidates for formation. He studied theology at Kinshasa and Yaoundé (Cameroon) and was ordained priest in 1988 in his home parish of Kitutu. His first apostolic activity was in Chad, in the mission of Gounou Gaya, in the diocese of Pala, where the Xaverians have been working since 1982. Later, in 1997, Fr. Katindi obtained a Masters in biblical theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. Since then, he has worked in the formation of the young Xaverians in Yaoundé (Cameroon) as the vice-master of novices and as rector of the Xaverian international theology in Africa. Besides French and Italian, Fr. Katindi
is also fluent in various other languages: kirega, kiswahili, lingala (languages of the Congo) and musey (a language of Chad).
Fr. Katindi Alphonse is the only one that was not present at the General
Chapter, and was contacted by Fr. Rino Benzoni by telephone after his election in order to receive his consent to this new service.
He answered "Yes, with the help of God."
(From Xaverian News)