The history of our Congo mission begins for the Company in 1958, at a difficult political time for the country, which delays its realization. The independence of the Belgian Congo has been realized in an uneasy environment. There are fears for the safety of the missionaries and their future is not clear. The four missionaries have finished their preparation in Belgium and are already in La Loma (Madrid), where they end the year 1960 waiting patiently to be called. Finally, in September 1961, they depart by plane to Leo as the sisters are referred to as the country’s capital. Intswen, mission of the Diocese of Idiofa, the first mission of the Company in Africa, arrived on November 26, 1961. The missionaries begin work in the dispensary and the school, shortly afterwards they also start social work. THE REVOLUTION DESTROYS THE NEWLY BEGUN WORK IN INTSWEN, IDIOFA (1964): The press brings alarming news about a rebellion in Congo and points our region as one of the most affected. On February 3 arrives the first letter from Congo, telling the last days of the mission and leaves us distressed, THE DEPARTURE. We cried and experienced their distress. Encouraged by the acquaintances and the letters of Mons. Toussaint, it was decided to return to Leo (Kinshasa) while they waited to be able to return to the diocese of Idiofa and meanwhile see the possibility of having a mission place in Leo that could be at the same time house to welcome the sisters who come from the interior and the procurator house. In May 1965, great news, they would go to Mwilambongo, one of the largest missions in the diocese. The first tasks in the mission will be to give life, to open horizons, to create hope, to heal, to accompany, to teach, under the impulse of the love of the Heart of Jesus. New missions keep coming … and new mission places … DIOCESE OF KINSHASA
DIOCESE OF IDIOFA
The community carries out various services by giving classes in schools, sewing workshops, health support, a boarding school for young people, parish ministry and young people taking the first steps in vocational discernment.