Monsignor Masondole: "In Africa there is no shame in saying 'I am a Christian'."Natalio Paganelli is a Xaverian missionary, of Italian origin, who was ordained a priest in 1980. He spent 22 years in Mexico as a missionary, a time he remembers with great affection because he was "very much appreciated", as he himself says. After a period in London, in 2005 he arrived in Sierra Leone, where he stayed until 2023. In this interview, he tells us with his Italian and Mexican accent about his time in Sierra Leone and how his phase as bishop in the diocese of Makeni was a time of transition to leave the diocese in the hands of a local bishop.
How did you get to Sierra Leone, and what was your work there?
I always had in my heart the desire for Africa. I entered the Xaverian seminary at the age of eleven, after primary school, and Africa was always in my mind, from what I had read and seen in some movies. After my assignment in Mexico, I arrived in Sierra Leone on August 15, 2005.
In 2012, to my surprise, I was asked to be the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Makeni. Why? The diocese of Makeni was founded by the Xaverians in 1950 as a mission, as a diocese in 1962, although the first evangelization was done by the "Holy Ghost Fathers", the "spiritans fathers", but with sporadic presences, there was no religious community of priests constantly present.
When the Xaverians arrived, they used a very interesting strategy. Since there were almost no schools in the north of the country, they began to found them, first primary, then secondary. Through the schools, evangelization entered many families.
The north of the country is Muslim, Catholics are the 5 %, but so far, which has started a little, there has been nothing of fundamentalist presence. It can work well, and at present the diocese of Makeni has about 400 primary schools, 100 secondary schools, 3 vocational schools, and, since 2005, the first private university in the country, with many faculties.
The first bishops were foreigners, until a local priest, but from another diocese, Monsignor Henry Aruna, who was of Mendé ethnicity, was appointed as bishop of Makeni in 2012.
There was a very strong reaction in the diocese of Makeni, where the Temné majority, the second group, the Limba, and the third group, the Loko, did not accept the appointment. It was not possible to make the announcement in the diocese nor, a year later, the ordination. Then the Holy See chose me, not because they knew me, in fact they did not know me in Rome, but because I was the superior of the Xaverians. I think they chose the superior of the congregation that had founded the diocese, to try to settle the matter. It was hoped that in a short time things would be resolved, but it was not possible. After 3 years, Pope Francis decided to change the bishop-elect of Makeni. He sent him as auxiliary to his diocese, and shortly after he became bishop, because the resident bishop died.
He appointed me apostolic administrator with episcopal character, in order to be able to serve as bishop. I spent eight years as apostolic administrator and bishop. My task was to prepare the way for a local priest to be ordained bishop, which we accomplished on May 13 of last year, 2023, with Bishop Bob John Hassan Koroma, who was my vicar general during the eight years of my service. On May 14, 2023, he took possession of the diocese.
The 13th was chosen because it is the day of Fatima and the diocese and the cathedral are dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. That day Bishop Henry Aruna came to concelebrate at the ordination of the new bishop, and he was received with great applause, because what happened was not something against him, against his person, because he had been a teacher in the seminary of many of our priests, and secretary of the Episcopal Conference for almost ten years, he had done a great service. It was an ethnic issue.
Interestingly, the new bishop is a convert, coming from a Muslim family.
Yes, both of his parents were Muslims. He is Limba, which is the second ethnic group in the diocese, but he speaks Temne, the language of the first group, because he grew up in Makeni. His mother was widowed very early and he was taken in by an aunt, his father's sister, who was a Christian and in fact has a son who is a priest, a little older than Bishop Bob John. He received his Christian education from the aunt, who was a nurse, a very generous and very wise woman. It is usual that when children go to live with other relatives, they take on the religion of the family. But when he was studying in Rome, his mother converted without his intervention, and practically the whole family are Catholics now.
The bishop has a very good academic preparation. In Rome, he studied at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and then did a doctorate in Biblical Theology at the Gregorian University. He did extraordinary service as a professor in the seminary, and was pastor in two parishes in the diocese, including the cathedral.
Is there any difficulty in converting to another religion in the country?
Most of the priests are sons of Muslims. Why? Because of the schools. Most of them, attending our schools, which are very prestigious, thank God, come into contact with Christianity, with the priests, and at a certain point they ask for baptism and take a catechumenal course in the school itself. Generally, there is no opposition from the parents. In fact, we say that there is very good religious tolerance in Sierra Leone. This is one of the most beautiful things that we can export to the world, not only diamonds, gold, other minerals.
We must grow in mutual respect, and it is the most beautiful thing, the important thing is to be coherent with the faith that one professes, and faith always proposes good things, all religions. In 18 years I have never had a single problem with my Muslim brothers. The only strong problem I had was with the Muslim tribal chiefs, because they wanted Catholic schools in every village, but I could not build a Catholic school in every village, it was impossible, because 400 was a very big number.
Are there many vocations in Sierra Leone?
Sierra Leone does not have an exaggerated number of vocations, but right now we have more than a hundred priests in the four dioceses. Makeni has 45 priests, not a very high number, but consistent and destined to increase. It is not like in Europe, where those who arrive are fewer than those who leave.
In Makeni, especially the number of priests is growing, but religious vocations, especially women's vocations, are a little less. That is more complicated, because in their culture women are not very highly regarded, so it is more difficult for them to think about consecrated life. There are some, but not a high number. So we should grow there, because also the presence of religious sisters in the parishes is very useful. It was one of my objectives, and I succeeded, out of 26 parishes, to put religious communities in ten, thank God.
How does one approach evangelization in a country where Catholics make up approximately 5 % of the population?
We use the school as an instrument of evangelization, with great respect. Then there is also charity: the diocese has a hospital where everyone is cared for, recovering a minimum so that the hospital does not collapse, and the sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta serve the poorest, those who nobody wants, those who are in desperate situations.
And when there are very difficult situations, the Church always intervenes. For example, with Ebola. I lived through the two years of Ebola, 2013-2015, which were very, very painful for us. We lost, I estimate, 1,500 people in the diocese. But what we suffered the most was not being able to assist them, not being able to talk to them, not being able to bury them in a dignified way. It was a drama for the country and for us, and there we saw a lot of solidarity. I like to mention that all the houses that were in quarantine received help from all those who were outside, Muslims, Christians, there was no difference.
Also, in the villages where the harvest was in danger, the families who were not in quarantine went to work the "milpas", the fields of those who were in quarantine, so that they could save the harvest. We have seen marvelous things that are the fruit of evangelization. Then, personal contact is also very important. I give an example: in some parishes, after Easter, the house is blessed with the water that was blessed at the Easter Vigil, and also the Muslims want us to bless their house. For them, every blessing comes from God. It is a very beautiful thing, they participate with us in Christmas and there are families who invite the neighbors. And they, on the last day of Ramadan, invite Christians to eat with them.
There is a good relationship. In the official government meetings, also when the parliament session opens, there is a Christian prayer and a Muslim prayer. And in the schools, in the parents' meetings, too. There is a reciprocal acceptance, otherwise it would be a serious problem. Most marriages in our diocese are mixed, between Catholics and Muslims. They say that love solves many problems and creates a lot of unity, and it is true. St. Paul said it, and we see it every day in a concrete way. Vocations come mostly from the schools, yes. Or from the sons of Christian families who are altar boys, as many of us were.
What pastoral difficulties are encountered in the diocese?
This is a very personal opinion, but I believe that we must help to deepen the roots of faith. There is still a somewhat superficial faith, it has only been 70 years, practically, since evangelization began. We are in the first generation of Christians, we cannot expect the Gospel to have entered deeply into the hearts and minds of Christians. We have very good Christians, very good testimonies, but there is still a lack of them. Especially, in my opinion, there is still a need to deepen the moral aspect. For example, polygamy is very widespread due to the cultural context, and moving to a monogamous family is not easy.
Another pastoral challenge for the bishop, in my opinion, is to help couples celebrate Christian marriage. They get married when they already have children and see that everything works. Meanwhile, in Europe, they don't get married at all anymore, many don't even get married civilly. In Sierra Leone they take it seriously, more than we do, they know that they cannot remarry afterwards, and this scares them, because if there is a divorce and they find another partner... And they find one, he immediately, and she a little less quickly, but for them living without a partner is impossible, there is no concept of singles as among us, which is increasing in Europe. This is another very strong challenge.
There are cultural issues, for example, there is a case of a young seminarian whose parents were both Muslims, and his father had three wives. The children of one of the wives were all Catholics, because the grandmother was Catholic, and she loved the Church very much, in fact she donated the land to build the chapel in the village.
The oldest son decided to become a Xaverian seminarian, and is currently working in Mexico. He went to tell his mother that he wanted to be a priest, his father had already died. And the mother said: "Yes, of course, but first you must have a son. You give him to me, and you go away." Because in their culture, for the eldest son not to have children is a dishonor. It's something they don't understand. The eldest has to contribute with children to the family, so that the family continues and doesn't end. The son didn't do it, of course.
However, the challenge that seems to me to be the main one is for faith to help break down tribal barriers. This is a very, very big problem in Sierra Leone. Not only because of the case of the Bishop of Makeni, who was not accepted because he belonged to another ethnic group. But in politics it is the same, there is now a serious political tension in Sierra Leone.
This tribal division, to me, is what weakens the country. Sierra Leone is a rich country with a people in misery. For me this is the strongest commitment of the bishops: to work to destroy the tribal barriers.
