Please click here to read the latest newsletter from Fr. John Fortune in Ewuaso Kedong Parish, Kenya.
The Provincial of the Gentili Province, Fr. Joseph O’Reilly, visited our Missions in Tanzania and Kenya during February 2018, and was very impressed by the good work that is being done there. Below are a small sample of photographs taken during his trip.
Newly-constructed water tanks at Mombo will provide fresh, clean water for all the local community. We were assisted in this project by The Little Way Association.
The Rosminians are hoping to build two new secondary schools near Dar Es Salaam. The first step to achieving this aim is to collect water
Children arriving at Rosmini Pre- and Primary School, Lushoto
Children enjoying their mid-morning break. They are well wrapped up, as not everywhere in Africa is warm!
All the small children come for their daily blessing
The carpentry shop at St. Patrick’s Technical School
The workshop at St. Patrick’s Technical School, which also trains mechanics
Pictured is Fr. John Fortune from Marino, Dublin. Until recently, there had been a drought in the region for two years and so Fr. John has been feeding 530 families fortnightly.
The new operating theatre at Kwalukonge, which caters for many Masai and other local tribes
Rosmini High School in Saruji is now one of the top schools in Tanzania, ranked eleventh out of nearly four thousand schools in the country for their O-Level results. The school was founded by Fr. Tony Mitchell from Ballyroan, Co. Galway just twenty years ago.
The beautiful setting for our Novitiate at Lushoto
The Maria Margarita Centre helps children in families where there are cases of leprosy
The Rosminian school, Grace Dieu Manor School in Leicestershire, underwent a Regulatory Compliance Inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in November 2017. The quality and standards of Grace Dieu’s Early Years provision was rated as “Outstanding” in every category of the Inspection. The same report showed the School to have met all the standards required within the Regulatory Compliance Inspection. You can read the report in full here.
For more information on Grace Dieu Manor School, please visit their website.
Click below to read an update on life in Kenya from Rosminian Fr. John Fortune
Click here to read the obituary of Bishop Antonio Riboldi of Acerra, who died on 10th December 2017. Bishop Riboldi, a Rosminian, was one of the Catholic Church’s leading opponents of the Sicilian Mafia.
On the 8th of September 2016, Glencomeragh Retreat Centre was transferred to the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. It will be run by the Holy Family Mission as a house of prayer for young adults.
Waterford Lismore Diocese
Fr. Joseph O’Reilly presents the key of Glencomeragh to Bishop Cullinan.
The publication today of the Review of Safeguarding Practice in the Rosminians, by the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSCCCI), is an opportunity to restate our absolute commitment to safeguarding children now and into the future. We take this opportunity to thank the members of NBSCCCI, who carried out this independent review.
We Rosminians acknowledge our failures in the past, which regrettably contributed to the suffering caused to many children and families. We take this opportunity to again unreservedly apologise to all those who were abused while in our care. We commit ourselves to working with former residents and supporting them as best we can in the continuing healing process.
The review published today rightly highlights our failings in the past. It covers complaints reported from 1975 to date, and includes allegations dating back some 70 years to the 1940’s. The Review acknowledges the work we have done in more recent years, in doing all that is possible to safeguard children. We note that in its Review the National Board recognizes the work undertaken by the Rosminians in relation to safeguarding. The Review states that :
Our safeguarding practices were assessed across 48 criteria within the 7 Standards devised by the NBSCCCI. We are encouraged to note that in respect of 44 of the 48 criteria against which we were measured, our practices fully met the NBSCCCI criteria. In respect of the remaining 4 criteria, all were met partially. The Review by the NBSCCCI makes 5 recommendations (listed below). Implementation of these 5 Recommendations has already begun, and they are scheduled to be fully implemented by the end of this year. We are determined to ensure that our past failures will not be repeated and that the protection of children will continue to be an absolute priority.
We are grateful to the National Board for their work and their support. We also greatly appreciate all of those, especially survivors, who have helped us to improve our Safeguarding. We will continue to welcome all contributions to this important and valuable commitment to the wellbeing of children. We continue to strive to create communities that are safe and which respect the dignity of every person at every stage of their lives. A copy of our Safeguarding policy is available on our website: www.rosminians.ie. We again ask anyone who was abused while in our care to report to the authorities and make contact with our designated person on 01-6877014.
We also ask those who were abused to consider contacting the independent and confidential helpline, Towards Healing:
The Towards Healing Helpline is open, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 11am to 8pm – and on Friday from 11am to 6pm.
Freephone 0800 0963315 (Northern Ireland and UK)
Freephone 1800 303416 (Rep of Ireland)
Hearing impaired Text Line Number – 085 8022859.
Recommendations:
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For media contact: Young Communications – 087 2471520
Fr. O’Reilly is a native of Kingscourt, Co. Cavan. He attended secondary school in St. Michael’s Omeath, Co. Louth from 1972-77. Fr. O’Reilly was ordained a priest in 1985 and has worked in St. Joseph’s School for the Blind, Dublin and St. Joseph’s Ferryhouse, Clonmel.
He was also Provincial of the Rosminians in Ireland from 2003-10 at which time he was appointed to their College in Rome.
Fr. O’Reilly took up the position of Provincial in September 2014.
“Set in a valley between the Comeragh Mountains and Slievenamon this project’s refinement of making in a special place combines with its lean use of materials to create an architecture of memorable and elegant simplicity. Nestling on a hillside – offering a remarkable array of seasonal colour and scents enveloped by the rushing sounds of the waterfall and stream which is a tributary to the Suir – the scale and complexity of the Poustinia design is derived from its role as a hybrid of architecture and landscape which somehow succeeds in transcending both.”
So said the jury in deciding the winner of The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland’s (RIAI) Triennial Gold Medal for 2004-2006, presented in Dublin last month. Architects Tom Maher and Kevin Bates received the award from President Michael D. Higgins at a ceremony in the RIAI offices, 8 Merrion Square, on Friday, 8th November.
Built to a unique design and constructed and finished to the highest standard, the houses offer the visitor a never to be forgotten experience. Each Poustinia is centred around a sacred space, which invites you to connect with your inner self. This space is open to the elements, symbolizing the vulnerability at the centre of each human heart. At the same time the hermitages reach outward, to bring you closer to the wonders of God’s creation in beautiful natural surroundings.
A month after the presentation of the RIAI Gold Medal, Director of Glencomeragh House of Prayer, Fr. Paddy Pierce I.C., reflects on the event:
“When RTE’s correspondent Damian Tiernan arrived in Glencomeragh House on Friday morning, November 8th, we were excited about the events of the afternoon but had no idea that we had won the Gold Medal Award. We were under the impression that RTE had sent a rep to the four centres which had been short-listed for the award. It was only on reflection later in the day that I remembered the care and attention to detail that he had shown throughout his visit. When we arrived at the offices of the RIAI we were, once again, ‘hoodwinked’! We were told that a representative of each of the finalists would be taken to another room for a short interview but of course, as it turned out, we were the only ones interviewed.
“So, you can imagine the excitement when the winners were announced. We were ‘up against the giants’ as we had been told so it was all the more exciting to win. The hermitages had already won four major architectural and construction awards and this one was the icing on the cake. For an architect in Ireland no higher accolade can be achieved. The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, who presented the awards, was most complimentary in his remarks about the significance of the award going to such a project, one that would reach out to people in a different way than much of what happened during the years when the hermitages were constructed.
“We hope and pray that Glencomeragh House and the Hermitages will be there for many years to come and that people from every creed and race will continue to find peace and solace there.”
Accommodation at the hermitages in Glencomeragh is open to booking for all members of the public and groups. More information, including contact details and pricing, can be found here: http://www.glencomeragh.ie/Hermitages
To read more about the awards go to: http://www.riai.ie/index.php/news/article/the_riai_gold_medal_for_architecture_2004_2006_poustinia
November and early December saw the visit to Ireland by the Provincial of the Rosminian Fathers’ East Africa Province, Fr. Firmati Tarimo I.C.
The purpose of Fr. Tarimo’s visit was primarily to express gratitude for the support received from Ireland by East Africa over the years, and to pay his respects to the Rosminians that worked in Africa and have since gone to the Lord. Fr. Tarimo was pleased to meet with the families of some Rosminian brethren buried in Ireland, particularly those of the late Fr. Peter Kenny and Fr. Maurice Reen. He also visited and prayed over their graves and those of Br. Jim Kane and Fr. Tom Marley who died in recent months.
Additionally, the visit gave Fr. Tarimo the opportunity to visit Rosminian ministries around Ireland. Upon his return to Tanzania, Fr. Tarimo wrote of his visit to Rosminian communities in Cork, Clonmel, Glencomeragh, Kilcurry, and Dublin:
“In each community I was well received and made welcome. I was very happy to see the Spiritual works at the Glen, St. Oliver’s Parish and St. Brigid’s Parish. In the two parishes, I was impressed with the celebration of the month of November, dedicated to the Holy Souls. I believe this can be very enriching for the parishes here in the East Africa Province as well.
“Community life and care of the elderly brethren was another thing that caught my attention. I believe I saw true love among the brethren, especially in the administering of care for the elderly brethren.
The visit also presented the opportunity to reaffirm the continued bonds of love and solidarity between Ireland and East Africa now and into the future. In addition to meeting the brethren, Fr. Tarimo also met with supporters of the Rosminians that have been a rock of friendship over the years. Ireland has been a most valuable and willing source of support during the years of Rosminian ministry in East Africa. As the East African parishes and projects continue to develop and prosper in the years ahead, those bonds of love and solidarity will continue to be relevant, important, and cherished as much as ever before.