AMERICA/MEXICO - COMBONI MISSIONARIES AND THE MEDIA: “WE HAVE EARNED READERS WHO KNOW THEY FIND IN OUR PUBLICATIONS INFORMATION THAT THEY CANNOT FIND ELSEWHERE”

Wednesday, 1 October 2003

Mexico City (Fides Service) – On 21 May 1871 in a letter to the Bishop of Verona Daniele Comboni, the great evangeliser of Africa, said that since January 1 that year he had written no less than 1,347 letters to friends and benefactors. Comboni was a tireless writer, a born communicator and he used this talent to speak about Africa to promote missionary initiatives. He certainly believed in the power of communication and he collaborated with various European publications of the day, writing about missionary work, local geography, exploration, local people. Today his spiritual sons, rich in his heritage, are fully involved in mission through the media with a variety of publications and other initiatives in different countries all over the world.
One of these periodicals, Esquila Misional published in Mexico, marks its 50th anniversary this year. On the occasion of the anniversary and the canonisation of Daniele Comboni, Fides Service interviewed editor Comboni Father Miguel Villegas. Mexican Father Villegas, aged 60, was ordained a priest in 1969. He studied philosophy in the United States, theology in Italy and journalism in Mexico. After missionary work in Egypt and Sudan, and a year in Spain he spent 13 years on mission in the United States. In 1997 he returned to Mexico where he is in charge of lay missionaries. Since May this year he has been editor of Esquila Misional.

Comboni missionaries are involved in the media. Some might think this is a waste of personnel and resources which serve for direct evangelisation. In fifty years of activity what obstacles were encountered by Esquila Misional?
It is a traditional commitment for Comboni missionaries to work in the media, print media in particular. We have a series of very popular publications greatly appreciated. Nigrizia in Italy, Mundo Negro in Spain, Esquila Misional in Mexico. In many countries Comboni mission periodicals are the most read. For many years a major concern for our Congregation was the formation of our members in this field of missionary animation. It is not easy to find missionaries willing to work in the media, most prefer direct evangelisation or pastoral. However we now have a group of people who have experience in various countries. Once our missionaries realise the impact of missionary publications they forget all their envy of those working in other fields of missionary work. It is true that one day lay missionaries may work in this field but at the moment we have only priests and brothers directing our involvement in the media. I doubt the situation will change in the new future.

The Church’s only mission is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but the means of this mission can vary. In these 50 years what elements have characterised Esquila Misional and which have changed? What about the future?
Constant and indispensable elements of Esquila Misional are: testimony from missionaries, formation for the people of God with regard to their missionary responsibility. Elements which have changed with time could be: at times in its life Esquila Misional had a more African connotation, other times it was more indigenous, or is emphasised the Comboni character, or on the contrary the Comboni character was put in the background. For the future, although I have just taken up position of editor, I think we could focus on the great themes that the Pope calls in Redemptoris missio the new forums for mission. We could open sections on difficult subjects, women’s role in the mission, the protection of the environment, social justice, culture, art…

Some say this is not a good time for Catholic print media and that they are outdone by other means of communication. What is your opinion?
It is true we cannot compete with other print media for circulation or number of readers, but we can have impact when we focus on special issues which we can present with more competence than other media. For example Nigrizia and Mundo Negro are points of reference for problems in Africa. There are other aspects we can deal with successfully from a religious point of view which other media cannot deal with. In these year we have gained appreciative readers. Ordinary people help us with their contributions and prayers, but we have also earned readers who know they find in our publications information that they cannot find elsewhere. SL (Fides Service 1/10/2003 EM lines 38 Words: 478)


Comboni Missionary Publications
Nigrizia
(1883,Verona) - monthly
Comboni Mission
(1946, Dublin, Ireland) – three monthly
Alem Mar
(1956, Lisbon, Portugal) - monthly
Esquila Misional
(1953, Mexico) - monthly
Mundo Negro
(1960, Madrid, Spain) - monthly
Kontinente
(in collaboration with other institutes 1965, Cologne, Germany) - monthly
Sem Fronteiras
(1972, San Paolo Brazil) - monthly
World Mission
(1989, Manila, Philippines) - monthly
Worldwide (1990, Pretoria South Africa) – two monthly
New People
(1990 Nairobi, Kenya) - two monthly
Sin Fronteras
(1979, Bogota) - monthly
Mision Sin Fronteiras
(1979, Lima, Peru) - monthly
Mijonarze Kombonianne (1998, Warsaw) – two monthly
Afriquespoir
(1998, Kinshasa) – three monthly
Leadership
(1962, Gulu) two monthly (owned by the diocese but published by the Comboni missionaries)

Comboni publications for children and young people
Piccolo missionario/Piemme
(1927, Verona) - monthly
Aguiluchos
(1957, Madrid) - monthly
Audacia
1966, Lisbon) - monthly
Aguiluchos
(1966, Messico) - monthly
Aguiluchos
(1978, Lima) - monthly
Zikomo
(in Chichewa) (1989, Lunzu - Malawi) – three monthly
(S.L.) (Fides Service 1/10/2003 - lines 27; words 149)


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