Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Comboni
Cali (Agenzia Fides) – “I think that, in an environment where everyone feels despised, it is good news to find a priest who is not ashamed to sit next to them and listen to them.” This is what Father Franco Nascimbene, a Comboni missionary (MCCJ), says, who, together with his community, has decided to dedicate part of his time to reaching out to men, women and young people caught up in the world of drugs in the Charco Azul neighborhood of Cali.
“I started by sitting on a bench that they had built under a tree,” continues Father Nascimbene, in charge of the pastoral care of about a thousand families, 80% of whom are of African descent. “In that place, at any time of the day or night, there is always a small group using drugs. For a month, I sat there with them two or three times a week to listen and talk. It is not always easy.”
Father Nascimbene also highlights solidarity among the poor. “I visited a house where three elderly brothers live, between 75 and 90 years old. They are very thin people, who have never had children or a partner and who no longer have the strength to work. When I asked them how they get food, they told me that there is always a neighbor who brings them something. So I joined these neighbors to help them sometimes with food.”
“Our Comboni community has decided not to use cars or motorcycles to avoid a negative impact on global warming. I stopped driving 35 years ago, although even among the poor there are many who use taxis without thinking about the pollution this generates.”
With more than three decades of missionary service in Latin America, between Ecuador and Colombia, Father Nascimbene currently lives in a community on the eastern outskirts of Cali, where the Comboni missionaries are dedicated to missionary animation and pastoral work with the Afro-descendant community. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 7/11/2024)
