Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Antananarivo(Agenzia Fides)- The Catholic Bishops of Madagascar have expressed serious perplexity after the expulsion of Jesuit missionary Fr. Sylvain Urfer, on 12 May. A Bishops' Conference statement issued on 21 May says: “The manner in which Fr Sylvain Urfer was expelled created surprise and angered and hurt Catholic Christians all over the island; he was give 48 hours notice as if he was a threat to public order; with no dialogue or sign of respect with representatives of the Catholic hierarchy”.
“It is normal for the Malagasy nation to guard her sovereignty” the Bishops say “but every individual has the same rights proper to the human person ”.
“The mission of the Church is to announce the Gospel and help to promote development in Madagascar” the Bishops affirm. “The missionaries make their contribution and we are grateful to them. The Church's priorities are the promotion of justice and peace and preference to helping the poor. This is why the Church wishes to make herself heard - through missionaries foreign or native - whenever the cause of the rights of the poor is threatened by acts of violence or thirst for hegemony. The Church's path is one of evangelisation, a prophetic path, with no intention of interfering in affairs of the state”.
The expelled missionary Fr. Urfer came to Madagascar in 1974. He has a diploma from the Paris Institute for Political Studies. At the beginning of his mission he taught in the large Catholic schools in Antananarivo: Saint Michel and Saint Antoine. From 1980 to 2005 he was parish priest at Anosibe, one of the poorest districts of the capital. He was totally dedicated to pastoral and social assistance in the parish through the Anosybe Development Association (ADA): and this earned him the name of “priest for the poor”.
At the same time is he in charge of the Faith and Justice Centre which he opened in 1989. The centre has also a publishing house. Fr Urfer has published various works on the nation's problems such as “Hope and Doubt” (2002); “Sweet and Bitter” (2003). He is an active member of the Public Life Monitoring Service SEFAFI which issues regular reports on the political, economic and social situation in Madagascar. These reports are sometimes critical but they also offer solutions to the difficulties in question. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 24/5/2007 righe 36 parole 429)
