Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Koupela (Agenzia Fides) – The Congregation of the Daughters of St. Camillus have a little less than 100 houses and nearly 900 religious worldwide, with novitiates in Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, India, Benin, Philippines, and Burkina Faso. In Burkina Faso, the religious Congregation founded by Blessed Luigi Tezza and Blessed Mother Giuseppina Vannini in 1892 has been present for over forty years. The Founder’s dream became a reality in 1966, when Cardinal Paul Zoungrana, Archbishop of Ouagadougou, invited the Congregation to come to Africa, in the area of modern-day Burkina Faso. That same year, three missionaries, with the blessing of Pope Paul VI, established the first centers in the rural areas. In 1967, the first four missionaries of the Daughters of St. Camillus arrived.
“We, the Daughters of Saint Camillus” – said the Superior General Mother Laura Biondo in her opening address for the 40th anniversary of the Institute’s founding in Burkina Faso, in the Diocese of Koupela – “have our mission camps: hospitals, medical dispensaries, houses for the elderly, leper colonies, etc. Our hearts overflow with joy and we are at a loss for words in expressing our gratitude and recognition to God.”
The spirituality of the Daughters of St. Camillus is to witness to the love of Christ towards the sick, in a bodily and spiritual ministry that even includes the risk of their own lives. Thus, the Sisters bring the traditional work of the Camillians in the health field, to the rural areas where it is needed more than ever due to the unstable economy and the insufficient medical assistance, especially in the farming regions.
The Camillians are present in Burkina Faso with the Medical Center in Ouagadougou, which is a fully-running health center, the Medical Center in Nanoro, fully-equipped with modern equipment, and the clinic in Kossiam, in a rural area, which can treat 200 people a day. They also run a Center for Pastoral Health Care, begun in 1996, which has quickly become a point of reference for the entire Church in Burkina Faso. (AM) (Agenzia Fides 29/7/2008)
