Belvy Delphane Diandaga is a priest of the Diocese of Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo. He was born in the same city of Brazzaville in 1985 and is currently in Rome pursuing a degree in Philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, thanks to a scholarship granted by CARF - Centro Academico Romano Foundation. He tells us his story, which, as he himself says, is a love story.
"The story of a vocation is above all a beautiful story of love, as well as a work of God's mercy which, despite our limits and weaknesses, makes us sharers in the great ministry of his Son. And this work in us is a true privilege that God grants us," he says.
Belvy Delphane Diandaga was born into a family of religious disparity: her father is Catholic and her mother is Protestant, so she had the opportunity to choose between one or the other vision of the Christian faith.
But even as a child, he was a regular at Sunday Mass. "Even without having any real knowledge of it, it was a moment of happiness for me, because it was a moment of encounter with the other faithful, a communal moment. It was precisely when I was four years old that I began to express the desire to accompany my father to Sunday Mass and this, as I grew up, had a great influence on me," says Fr.
Already at this age he could perceive the signs of his inclination towards the Catholic faith. "Being from a family with mixed religious traditions, with an evangelical (Protestant) mother, I had the possibility of embracing one or the other tradition. But it was towards the Catholic faith that I oriented myself at the age of seven, when I went to enroll in the courses of initiation to Christian life (catechesis) without telling my father, who would soon, however, notice and encourage me."
During this period of initiation, he had taken the initiative to join the scouting movement with his cousin, and then that of the altar boys, "even without feeling at this precise moment the desire to become a priest, because my dream was to become a priest," he said. army officer or even a magistrate, to defend the oppressed and fight injustice in my country".
Belvy Delphane Diandaga is a priest of the Diocese of Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo.
He was born into a family of different religions: his father is Catholic and his mother is Protestant, so he had the opportunity to choose between one or the other vision of the Christian faith.
But even as a child, he was a regular at Sunday Mass. "Even without having any real knowledge of it, it was a moment of happiness for me, because it was a moment of encounter with the other faithful, a communal moment. It was precisely when I was four years old that I began to express the desire to accompany my father to Sunday Mass and this, as I grew up, had a great influence on me," says Fr.
"It was at the end of my high school studies that I somehow realized that the Lord was calling me to his service. It was on the occasion of the priestly ordination of a priest of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity that this desire became clearer. I could not describe what happened that day, but I can say in general that this wonderful encounter with Christ transformed my whole life. As St. Augustine said, "no one can meet Christ and remain the same".
Belvy has it clear: the motto of his life, then, is a word of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:10): "by the grace of God I am what I am, and the grace that He gave me was not unfruitful" (1 Cor 15:10).
"After feeling God's call, I was quick to talk about it with my father one day when we were returning from my parish choir rehearsals. We were both participating in these songs of praise to God through liturgical animation, especially at Mass, which was for me a strong moment of encounter with Christ: a moment of ecstasy, in which my heart was filled with joy.
"Later, no doubt, he would discover, like seminarian and through the theological studies that the Eucharist is the sacrament of sacramentsIt is the center of all Catholic Christian spirituality because it is the sacrament where Christ is totally present. And more and more, I became aware of the sublimity and nobility of the priesthood.. Because Jesus, calling me into his mystery, wanted to make me a minister of the Eucharist, and this is simply a grace.
For this reason, moreover, my word of life taken from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 15:10) describes this same dimension of grace: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and the grace he has given me was not unfruitful". So I constantly give thanks to God for the gift of a priestly vocation. and at the same time I thank all those who have made possible the materialization of this grace and those who help me to live this vocation with dignity.
"The story of a vocation is above all a beautiful story of love, as well as a work of God's mercy which, despite our limits and weaknesses, makes us sharers in the great ministry of his Son. And this work in us is a true privilege that God grants us."
More than ninety percent of Congo's population is Christian, and Catholics are represent about 52%. However, Belvy alert: "The evangelical (Protestant) confession is increasingly advancing in our country. For that reason, it is increasingly necessary to have well-trained priests, in good cultural environments, to work in the Catholic Church. not only in the formation of the clergy and the people of God, but also in evangelization and in the apostolate with the poor and those who are spiritually and materially indigent".
For this very reason, after completing his canonical training in philosophy and then in theology, once ordained a priest he had decided to return to the École Normale Supérieure to continue his studies of philosophy there....
"But who could have imagined that, in our diocese, so poor in resources, we could have the opportunity to train a priest abroad.However, two years later, my bishop considered it appropriate for me to go to Rome, to the Pontifical University of Santa Croce, because it was considered necessary for a priest to be formed in an academic and multicultural environment suitable for integral formation and development, and then return to work in the diocese," he says with enthusiasm.
"So, thanks to a scholarship from CARF - Centro Academico Romano Foundation, the dream came true and today I am about to finish my Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy. I cannot express in words the gratitude to my benefactors of CARF for all they have done for me: I can only commend them every day, so that God may fill them with grace and blessings."
Gerardo Ferrara
BA in History and Political Science, specializing in the Middle East.
Responsible for the student body of the University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
