Hajja Salesjana July-September 2019

31 H AJJA S ALESJANA By 1926 the Salesian missionaries had continuous, stable and solid presences in those settlements among the Xavante and Bororo peoples. Our works, such as Sangradouro, St. Mark, and Meruri have been strengthened right up till the present. When the Xavante Indians arrived at the Sangradouro settlement – where they were welcomed by the Salesians and the Bororos (even if they had been enemies throughout their history) – they numbered about 900 members. Today, thanks to the protection given them and today’s respect for cultures, in addition to formation to enable them to work with and begin relations with organizations and governments, they now number 30,000. The people of Meruri welcomed us in their traditional style. Certainly, you can see this from the pictures. I used as much of the time as possible to meet with all the missionaries who live among these peoples at present: 18 Salesians of Don Bosco and 8 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians were there along with two religious sisters from the Congregation of St. Laura (known as the “Lauritas”), Colombian sisters with whom we work very harmoniously for the good of these native peoples, our brothers and sisters. The following morning we experienced two events of great historical significance. The first: 40 Xavante boys and girls came to join the Bororo people for the day because we were there. Never before had the Bororos and the Xavantes come together like this. The BoiBororos and Xavante youths made possible what the adults never had been able to do before in their history: we met together, chatted and entertained various questions; they did their traditional dances; we celebrated the Eucharist; and we had all our meals together – a few hundred persons. The second significant event was that we celebrated the Eucharist in the very place where Salesian Father Rudolph Lukembein, a German missionary, and an Indian, Simao Cristino, were assassinated by osfacendeiros i.e., powerful landowners who were upset because the Salesians defended the native peoples and their rights to the land. On July 15, 1976, these landowners came to the settlement and, after a short argument, shot Fr. Rudolph. Simao, the indigenous man, went to defend him, and he, too, was executed. On the day of my visit, I was able to greet, speak with, and enjoy the presence of an elderly man who also had been stabbed then but managed to survive. He was there in the morning for our Eucharist, a humble presence. The cause for the beatification and canonization of these two martyrs is now underway; both are now “Servants of God.” It was very moving for me to be there where the Bororos live and to meet with the Bororo and Xavante youths who had asked to be together for this occasion. I also was moved to meet with the missionaries who share life day-to-day with these peoples and to celebrate our faith there where the martyrs met their deaths only because they sought to help better the life of these peoples and who had their lives stripped away from them only because they sought to defend them.