Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Foya (Agenzia Fides) - "Our small presence, with Fr. Walter Maccalli (Fr. Pierluigi’s brother, kidnapped in Niger two years ago) in the parish of Foya, is important in order to accompany the whole Lofa county in faith", writes to Agenzia Fides in view of World Mission Day, Father Lorenzo Snider, priest of the Society for African Missions, a missionary in Liberia.
"Elections will be held soon in our communities. In December there will be elections for the Senate and, as often happens, this is the time of great promises, and in many cases it turns out to be the time of great lies", comments the priest. "Currently the road leading to Foya, seat of our parish, is constantly interrupted by trucks stuck in mud, even for days. The restrictions due to the Covid 19 pandemic have effects on the precarious local economy. In particular, the formal closure of the land borders with Guinea and Sierra Leone make trade transitions difficult, on which the economy of our district largely depends. Two days ago, however, we tasted the first rice of this year's harvest, which will continue until January. It is always a sign of hope and rebirth, remembering the words of the psalm: Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them. People here know what it means to earn bread (or rice)".
Father Snider, with optimism, underlines to Fides that communities are growing, as well as people's interest in the Gospel. "A few days ago we were in a village that could only be reached after walking for two hours. Here a school was built for their children. There are no schools within about twenty kilometers and at least 500 children are of school age in the same area. We feel, with simplicity and truth, the compassion of the Lord in front of the harvest, which abounds, with few workers. We are all missionary disciples, Pope Francis recalls. This invitation is translated into pastoral actions and missionary passion. Here in Foya, as everywhere, the poor and the simple understand".
"The lack of road networks - concludes the priest -, the endemic corruption and the scarcity of investors, do not allow this region to develop economically for now and Liberia remains one of the countries with the lowest human development index in the world. Our challenge, which is the same as the Gospel, is to accompany processes of fraternity, the challenge of living our faith in community and as a community, of letting our relationships be transformed by the power of Christ's resurrection, or, as Evangelii Gaudium says, the need to consider the social aspects of dogma". (LS/AP) (Agenzia Fides, 14/09/2020)
