The Eastern Province welcomed Fr. Jaroslav Jasso, CM, fundraiser for the Congregation of the Mission’s General Curia in Rome, this summer as he traveled across the Congregation to raise awareness and support for Vincentian work in a place thousands of miles away: Madagascar.
On the island country off Africa’s east coast, there is both a need of Vincentians’ service to the marginalized and people hearing God calling them to the religious life. However, Vincentians currently don’t have adequate space to meet these spiritual formation needs. Fr. Jasso’s travels aim to change that with a new seminary in Madagascar.
“I’m trying to explain the situation in Madagascar: 33 million people, horrible poverty, but on the other hand, this richness of vocations and spiritual life,” Fr. Jasso said.
Among other members of the Congregation, Fr. Jasso wrote to Bishop David O’Connell, CM, of the Diocese of Trenton, requesting advice and connections to this end. Bishop O’Connell responded and welcomed him to visit the diocese’s 30 parishes. Using the Eastern Province’s home of Philadelphia as his base, Fr. Jasso did just that throughout this past summer. The Eastern Province is also home to the Vincentian Solidarity Office, which supports projects across the entire Congregation of the Mission. The office is helping Fr. Jasso make the new seminary a reality.
Madagascar’s needs
As Fr. Jasso appealed on behalf of this mission across the parishes, he emphasized the Vincentians’ current need in Madagascar: an adequate seminary for Vincentian formation. Madagascar’s current facilities are overcrowded as over 100 seminarians are discerning their vocation. With about $3 million, the Vincentians could build a sufficient structure with dormitories, a chapel, classrooms, dining space, and meeting areas. As Fr. Jasso’s time in Philadelphia concluded, he is approximately halfway to meeting this goal.
Vincentian history in Madagascar
The Congregation of the Mission’s relationship with Madagascar dates back nearly its entire history. St. Vincent de Paul directed the Vincentians to the island in 1648. Yet after a few decades, this presence ended.
The relationship re-ignited in 2019.
As Fr. Jasso’s term as Provincial of Slovakia was ending in June 2019, the Superior General requested Fr. Jasso join him alongside Pope Francis on a visit Madagascar that September.
“I’m sitting in the plane with him, flying from Paris to Antananarivo for the first time in my life … and I was praying Breviary, and it was this very interesting moment,” Fr. Jasso said. “Maybe this has happened to you: You receive this grace of God.”
At that moment, the voice inside him invited Fr. Jasso to give himself to the mission.
After the 10-day visit with the delegation, Fr. Jasso returned to Slovakia. The calling to return to Madagascar was still clear and persistent. Fr. Jasso wrote a letter to the Superior General, requesting his skills be used to serve the poorest missions. Fr. Jasso was invited to discuss the matter in Rome, and it was decided he would return to Madagascar.
Initially, his work centered around providing basic housing and education services in addition to the spiritual component of Masses, sacraments, and such. This work began in the capital city of Antananarivo and spread to the south.
While the economic needs were always clear, so was the strength of people’s spirituality.
Over the past two years now, Fr. Jasso has now been tasked with creating spaces to foster this spirituality for people discerning their call to religious life.
A united, worldwide congregation
The Congregation of the Mission is active in over 100 countries. The Eastern Province is among nearly 50 provinces and one of three in the United States. With this vastness comes uniqueness. Every province has its own strengths. When working together, the remarkable can occur.
In the case of Madagascar, the financial strength of other provinces can empower it to sustain communities, realize its spiritual potential, and create a core piece of the next generation of Vincentians to serve tomorrow’s marginalized wherever they may be.
“It’s crucial to have good, holy priests, future missionaries. It seems to me that this can be a connection point for the whole Vincentian family,” Fr. Jasso said.