“You are the hope of this 2000-year-old Church of ours: being young in faith, you must be like the first Christians and radiate enthusiasm and courage…You will also be a leaven of missionary spirit for the older Churches.” Saint John Paul II
In Africa, the number of Catholics is growing faster than the Muslim population. The Catholic Church is also growing at a faster rate than other Christian denominations: since 1980 Africa’s Catholic population has more than tripled to 200 million. But, above all, the growth and enthusiasm of the faith in Africa is a beacon of hope for the continent and the world at large.
Many people know early in life what they want to be. At the age of five, Jean-Thierry Ebogo from Cameroon was already sure that he wanted to be a priest. For him, being a priest was nothing less than “being Jesus.”
Will you give to help these Holy Spirit Fathers better serve and develop this poor region of Ethiopia? We are sure they will gratefully remember you in their prayers.
On Sundays, catechists often have to travel many hours on foot to reach villages where there is no priest to celebrate Holy Mass. That way they can at least pray with the local people and instruct them in the Catholic Faith.
These young men are being intensively accompanied, intellectually, spiritually and morally, along their path to the priesthood. Will you help sponsor the training of these future priests?
Many of the people in the Apostolic Vicariate of Jimma-Bonga have never heard of Christ. Situated in the southwest of Ethiopia, it is an area of primary evangelization.