St Daniel Comboni was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop who served as a missionary in Africa.
He was the founder of both the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and the Comboni Missionary Sisters.
He was born on March 15 1831 at Limone sul Garda, Italy, and died on October 10 1881 at the age of 50 in Khartoum, Sudan.
We celebrate his feast day on October 10 every year in the Catholic Church.
St Daniel Comboni is the Patron Saint of
- Missionaries
- Aid workers
- Comboni Missionary Sisters
- Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus
| St Daniel Comboni Biography | |
|---|---|
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| Date of Birth | March 15 1831 |
| Place of Birth | Limone sul Garda, Italy |
| Profession | Bishop |
| Place of Work | Khartoum, Sudan |
| Date of Death | October 10 1881 |
| Place of Death | Khartoum, Sudan |
| Feast Day | October 10 |
| Beatification | By Pope John Paul II on March 17 1996 in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City |
| Canonization | By Pope John Paul II on October 5 2003 in Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City |
| Patron Saint of |
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St Daniel Comboni Life History
St Daniel Comboni was educated at Father Mazza’s Institute in Verona, Italy, studying theology, medicine, and several languages.
He was ordained on December 31 1854 in the diocese of Verona, Italy by Blessed John Nepomuk von Tschiderer.
He went as a missionary to Sudan in 1857, but returned home in 1859 due to ill health. In Italy, he taught at Mazza’s Institute from 1861 to 1864.
He wrote about the need for aid in Africa, and that the aid should be used to “Save Africa Through Africa”, treating Africans as adults in need of a hand, not children in need of guidance as was common in European thought of the day.
St Daniel Comboni travelled to France, Spain, England, Germany, and Austria on fund-raising missions.
In 1867 at Verona, he founded the Istituto delle Missioni per la Nigrizia for priests and brothers, and the Istituto delle Pie Madri for women who were called to work in Africa; they became known as the Comboni Missionaries, and in 1894 became the Congregation of the Sons of the Sacred Heart.
He opened similar institutions in Cairo, Egypt, to acclimatize missionaries to Central Africa. St Daniel Comboni wrote to the 1st Vatican Council in 1870 on the need for Church’s involvement in African conversion.
He was appointed as the Pro-vicar Apostolic of Central Africa in 1872 covering Nubia, Egyptian Sudan, and the territory south to the Lakes (nearly 100,000,000 people). He became the titular bishop of Claudiopolis, and later the Bishop of Khartoum in 1877.
He founded missions in El-Obeid (Kordofan), Khartoum, Berber, Delen, and Malbes.
He helped suppress the slave trade in the region. He contributed materials for scientific works about the region, and its geography.
Many works on several dialects were based in large part on Daniel’s notes about the languages.
He spoke six European languages, Arabic, and several central African dialects. The Comboni Family continues their work today with priests, brothers, and sisters ministering in hospitals, schools, and orphanages in 41 countries.
Saint Daniel Comboni Feast Day Quote:
“The missionaries will have to understand that they are stones hid under the earth, which will perhaps never come to light, but which will become part of the foundations of a vast, new building”
Other Catholic Saints whose Feast Days are in October
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