During the past few days Croatian has been the ‘local’ language in our friary in Kivumu. Fra Lovro Gavran, the Provincial of the Bosnian Franciscan Province (called ‘Bosna Srebrena’ in Croatian), fra Tomo Anđić, the Guardian of the Podsused Franciscan Monastery (Zagreb, Croatia), and fra Ilija Krezo, another member of the Province serving in Frankfurt, Germany, have come to pay us a fraternal visit.

The Provincial has come to familiarize himself with our work in Rwanda, but the main purpose of their visit is surely the commemoration of the tragic death of our brother, fra Vjeko Ćurić, who, at the age of 41, was murdered on January 31st, 1998, in front of the Holy Family Church in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

This visit means a great deal to me. First of all, because of fra Vjeko, for it demonstrates that his sacrifice, life and work, are not forgotten. And then, also for all of us who continue to serve the people. We will show the Provincial what we are doing, how we are doing it, how much we have already achieved, and what our plans for the future are.

I’m happy to get a chance to talk with fra Tomo Anđić about the times we spent together in Africa. You see, fra Tomo lived in Africa as a missionary for 17 years, and then returned to Croatia in 2003. It was with him that I shared my first missionary days in Uganda. Those of you who have read the book “Our guy in Africa” (“Naš čo’ek u Africi”) know what I’m talking about.

To my brothers I wish a warm welcome to our Kivumu friary, and I hope that their stay will be ‘African-y’ pleasant!

Translated by: Branimir Mlakić
Edited by: Valerie Kae Ken

Photo Gallery