In one tiny corner of Africa it is still the norm for a Muslim “big fish” to send his followers to be treated by a Catholic monk. Moussa Aboubakar Hassouni Kiota is the spiritual leader of the Muslim confraternity of Tijaniyya, Great Caliph of Kiota, a city in southern Niger. Brother Fiorenzo Priuli is a doctor and a member of the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God (also known as Fatebenefratelli) order, who has lived and worked in the Saint-Jean de Dieu hospital in Tanguiéta, in northern Benin, for over forty years. There are 700 kilometres between them. But that is not far to go if you know that at the end of your journey of hope you will find a well-equipped hospital with friendly staff that doesn’t judge you by your religion. This is what leads hundreds of sick people from Kiota to frequently undertake the journey to reach the missionary doctor based in Tanguiéta.
This unique story appears in the latest issue of bi-monthly magazine Africa, published by the White Fathers. And it is all the more interesting given the current mistrust between Muslim and Christians, which ISIS has contributed to. “Muslim patients began their pilgrimage approximately 30 years ago. A sick man arrived here from Kiota and recovered here in this hospital. When he returned home, he told the great Marabout all about it and he started sending me more patients on a regular basis. Each of them arrives with a written message summarizing their ailment and placing the patient under my care. The letters end with the promise of prayers being said for the doctor,” Brother Priuli explains. Here is an example: “Dear Florent, I am placing this patient under your care. We will be praying for you in the mosque this Friday.” “All patients turn up with a letter of accompaniment which the caliph asks some trusted individual to write,” Brother Priuli continues.
Africa magazine says the monk “lights up” when he speaks of this “unusual” friendship, which was set in stone after a face-to-face meeting. “I will never forget the day I visited the Caliph of Kiota,” Brother Priuli says. “I made a very discreet appearance but was welcomed like a President! The Caliph had got thousands of people involved. All of my patients! I never expected to receive such a warm welcome.”
One need only take one look at Niger’s healthcare facilities to understand why sick people try to get treatment elsewhere. Sometimes the Caliph gives a helping hand, but more often people organise it all themselves, using public transport or sharing cars. The monk-doctor always welcomes the sick pilgrims with a big smile when they arrive in Tanguiéta. This in itself is amazing when one looks at how busy the man is, working from dusk till dawn, always running from one operating theatre to another, juggling medical appointments and dealing with administrative problems and numerous last minute glitches. “Our attention to the sick is an important element which makes us stand out here: we are a Catholic hospital in a part of the world where there are many different people, cultures and religions,” he stressed.
When the Saint-Jean de Dieu hospital was first built it had sixty beds. Now it is a reference point for the entire region and has 290 beds, but patients almost always number more than 300. Some of them have to “camp out” on the veranda. Almost 10,000 patients pass through here each year. Some of them come from far afield and often from neighbouring countries: Burkina Faso, Togo and Nigeria, in addition to Niger.
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/benin-benin-benin-36631/Maybe we should pray for the conversion of this grand caliph.
Topic: Bringing Christ to Africa (Read 2728 times)