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Today’s missionary hero is a 19th century missionary who gave his life to Africa. In fact, his motto was, “Africa, or death!” His name was Daniel Comboni.
Daniel was born on March 15, 1831 in Italy into a poor family. He was the fourth of eight children, the only one that survived into adulthood.
When he was 12-years old, he was sent away to school. There, he studied medicine and languages and prepared to become a priest. Daniel had a great facility for languages, so in school, he learned French, English, and Arabic. Later in life, he would also learn many African languages and dialects.
On January 6, 1849, Daniel made a vow that he would become a missionary to Africa after reading a book on the Japanese martyrs. He was ordained a priest on New Year’s Eve, 1854, and in 1857, he left for Africa with four other priests.
On January 8, 1858, Fr. Daniel reached Khartoum in Sudan. His assignment was to liberate enslaved boys and girls. In addition to encountering an inhospitable climate, he suffered the loss of 3 companion priests. He also suffered from malaria.
Fr. Daniel felt that it was important to get Europe and the whole Catholic Church educated about the plight of the poor in Africa. As a result, he made trips to Europe to beg for money and to educate the people about conditions he found in Sudan.
On June 1, 1867, he established the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (for priests and Brothers), and in 1872, he founded the Comboni Missionary Sisters.
In August of 1877, Fr. Daniel was consecrated a bishop and served as the Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa. In this position, he was better able to help his thriving new congregations.
On October 10, 1881, Bishop Daniel died in Khartoum during the cholera epidemic. His final words were, “I am dying, but my work will not die.”
On October 5, 2003, Pope St. John Paul II canonized Daniel Comboni. St. Daniel Comboni’s feast day is October 10.
Today, Comboni missionaries are found in many nations of the Africa, Europe, Central America, South America, Asia, and the Middle East.
