The MSOLA and the development of
African religious congregations

The Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa had the joy of accompanying twenty two of these new congregations up to the time when they became autonomous. They saw that such a responsibility was in line with the orientation given by the Founder:
"Transform Africa by the Africans who have become Christians and Apostles", as the role of the missionary is to be an initiator.

It was only after many years, when they considered that the local Churches were strong enough, that the MSOLA accepted Africans vocations, women who wanted to be missionaries... ready to leave their country to bring the Good News abroad.

It is the year 1894 in Villa Maria (Uganda)

A group of young Ugandan girls who presented themselves at the opening of the Seminary in 1893. They had never seen religious sisters, and no exterior influence had prompted them. They had to await the arrival of sisters before being able to realise their desire.

They became the nucleus of the second Religious Congregation in Central Africa: the Bannabikira.

By 1999, the small plant which gave its first shoots in 1924, had become a great tree. The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (SIC), celebrated 75 years of existence. Today they number 266 professed Sisters and 48 novices living in 53 communities. They work in four countries: Niger, Togo, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

In 1999, the Sisters of the Annunciation of Bobo Dioulasso (SAB), celebrated 50 years of existence as a congregation. They work in four countries (Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso), number 193 professed sisters living in 42 communities. Sr. Claire Griffon (MSOLA, presently in France), as co-foundress who guided the Congregation until it became autonomous in 1968, was invited to the celebration.

In 1999, the Sisters of Our Lady of the Lake (NDL) became autonomous when they elected their first general council. They are working in three dioceses in Burkina Faso; they now have 49 professed sisters living in 9 communities, and have 9 novices. Sr. Blandine Ouedraogo, the first elected superior general, expressed warm thanks to the 22 Sisters of Our Lady of Africa who have worked in Baam over the years.

The desire to do " God's work"
AFRICAN CONGREGATIONS AND
MISSIONARY SISTERS OF OUR LADY OF AFRICA

The foundation of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, and the many African congregations that were founded or inspired by the Missionaries of Africa (Fathers and Sisters) had their foundation on the conviction of Cardinal Lavigerie on the fundamental importance of women apostles. Besides the fact that in the missions of North Africa, which were near, it was only women who could enter into the family circle, he saw the role of women as educators, essential to the transformation of any society.

Can we conclude from this, that in Africa, feminine religious life was the result of a missionary strategy? Certain documents of Pius XI might lead us to suppose so, but this was certainly not the case. The movement was spontaneous. The most outstanding example was that of a group of young Ugandan girls who presented themselves at the opening of the Seminary in 1893, to be "seminarians". They had never seen religious sisters, and no exterior influence had prompted them. They had to await the arrival of sisters before being able to realise their desire. They became the nucleus of the second Religious Congregation in Central Africa: the Bannabikira.

Similar stories are told about the birth of most of the Congregations. At the time, many Bishops preferred to postpone such a responsibility. They thought that the local society was not yet ready for this revolutionary lifestyle.

After the first experiences in Tanzania and Uganda, the foundations multiplied between 1920 and 1960 in Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, Ghana, Kenya and Mali. When the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception were founded at Ouagadougou in Burkino Faso, in the thirties, the Bannabikira of Uganda had already elected their first Superior General. The process of becoming autonomous was always delicate. It was rare that this development, although foreseen and desired by all, was accomplished without pain. There was bound to be friction between the older sisters who were sometimes overly prudent, and the younger ones who were impatient for change, while their formators hesitated between the two.

The congregations grew and spread and sometimes they were divided because of distances, different languages and the multiplication of dioceses. Their charisms became clearer and more diversified. At the beginning the general aim was to serve by helping the women, teaching catechism and nursing the sick, bur later we see specific apostolic activities emerging.

One congregation is directed towards the rural population which, although the most numerous, is difficult to reach because it is so dispersed. Another devotes itself to the poorest of the poor: the elderly and the handicapped whom the society can no longer care for. Another deals mostly with the service of the Word of God.

A few Congregations remain regional but most of them have spread to other dioceses, or are engaged in the mission "ad extra" and go beyond their national borders. We find Tanzanians in Burundi, Burkinabe in Niger, Malawians in Zambia, etc. In Chad, the Beneterezia of Burundi have by their presence awakened apostolic vocations which might in the future become a Chadian Congregation.

But all this is only the exterior manifestation of the presence of these women in a society which they uplift because they have dedicated their lives to it. By their sensitivity and by their very being, women are open to life, and to people. Although they can understand intellectual problems as well as men do, theylook at them in a different way. At the beginning in Uganda, Bishop Streicher noted with honesty and perhaps with a little astonishment, that those women who had come to learn how to spread the Good News, assimilated the doctrine just as well as the men did, and he added, "They have more tact and skill in persuading and converting".

The African Religious Sisters are like the yeast in that vast dough which represents Africa. They are gently kneading this dough so that it may receive the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit.

This picture may seem idealistic, but it is the ideal to which we aspire. There are weaknesses and failings, but are these not the reality in everything that is human and even in the Church where sin is present? The miracle of salvation is that through our human actions, which are often imperfect, God sees the faith of His Church and the work of the Spirit.

For us, these 4000 sisters living in 22 African Congregations, (without forgetting all the other Congregations on the Continent) are a joyful sign of hope for the future. They are like little branches, very fragile but full of sap which bring forth many buds. Is it not true that it is always in lowliness and humility that the Kingdom is built?

Sr. Marie-Josée Dor, MSOLA