Missionary priests from Tanzania to serve at Ottawa parish |
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Written by BY MICHAEL HOHENBRINK, Special to the Chronicle
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 19:00 |
OTTAWA—A new face has joined Ottawa SS. Peter & Paul. Father Alfons Minja, of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood and a former pastor in Tanzania’s largest ciy, has been assigned associate pastor here.
It is a unique turn of events for a man who is familiar with foreign missionaries in his own country, to now be one himself.
“In Africa, we’re used to missionaries coming from abroad to evangelize,” says the Tanzanian-born priest.
In July, Fr. Minja is to be joined by another Missionaries of the Precious Blood priest, Father Matthew Jozefiak, who has been named pastor of SS. Peter & Paul. The priests are taking the place of Missionaries of the Precious Blood Fathers Thomas Hemm and Timothy Knepper, current pastor and associate.
Fr. Minja arrived in Ottawa in early March, just in time to catch the last rampages of winter. The weather is different from what he is used to, but the coming of spring has helped.
“[It’s] not so bad,” says Fr. Minja. “The weather is changing and becoming warmer and warmer.”
Language is still something he is getting used to, especially the change from the formal British English he studied in Tanzania to the colloquial American speech he finds here.
“I’m trying my best to get by with English and picking up the accent of this area,” he says.
Fr. Minja sees both similarities and difference with what he knew. In Tanzania, Christianity has far more interaction on the small group level. Here, large groups are the norm. Some things, though, are refreshingly the same.
“They’re so into the church,” says Fr. Minja about his new flock.
Food has not been much of an adjustment, and he has already had the opportunity to meet some local families. Fr. Minja, with five brothers and five sisters, is used to big families.
Fr. Minja is missed in Tanzania. He shows a cassock he was given as a gift when he left. Embroidered on it in Swahili is “Kaa Nasi Bwana,” equivalent to “Lord, stay with us” (Lk 24:29).
Still, the adjustment could be far more difficult.
“The people have been so kind to me,” he says. “I don’t think it will be so difficult.”
Currently, Fr. Minja is settling in for the long haul in his new home. “We were told we are going to be [in Ottawa] for maybe four years,” says Fr. Minja.
Also from Tanzania, Precious Blood Father Benedict Magabe is to be associate pastor of the cluster of parishes in and around St. Henry, Ohio. Their arrival breaks new ground for the order.
“This is a new interchange for us [where] we have Missionaries priests come to us [in the U. S.],” says Father Kenneth Schnipke, vice provincial for the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.
Yet, the move is in keeping with the spirit of the community.
“We’re an international community,” Fr. Schnipke says. “We try to recognize we’re all one group.”
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Last Updated on Monday, 22 September 2008 09:12 |
