First religious profession for four novices in Gitega

The novices with the bishop and Father Sergio

Last August 30, in the year of the Jubilee of Hope, was a day of joy and celebration for the Congregation of the Fathers of Christian Doctrine in Gitega, Burundi. Four novices, Viator, Innocent, Diomède, and Romain—surrounded by their parents, friends, and our brothers from various communities—made their first religious profession.During the Mass, presided over by Monsignor Bonaventura Nahimana, Archbishop of Gitega, the novices made their first profession in the Congregation before Father Sergio La Pegna, Superior General, who was visiting the Doctrinaries Communities in Burundi, accompanied by Father Andrea Marchini, representing Italy, and Father Silvio Luis Dos Santos, from Brazil. Also present were the brothers from Tanzania and many men and women religious who had come to join to thanking the Lord for the gift of our newly professed.
In his homily, the archbishop thanked the professed for having responded positively to the Lord’s call, which had matured through prayer, listening to the Word of God, and in silence, like the prophet Elijah, as recalled in the first reading of the liturgy. The bishop invited them to collaborate so that the Gospel may be known and the Kingdom of God may come to all.
The Superior General, Father La Pegna, thanked all those present—especially the newly professed and their parents—and asked them to pray for the Congregation’s mission.
The feast ended joyfully with a shared lunch.
On Sunday, August 31, 2025, during Lauds, two postulants, Stève Trésor and Divin, entered the novitiate.
Father Sergio, Superior General, before welcoming them to begin their journey toward religious consecration, which will follow their novitiate experience, reminded them and the assembled community of the demands of this new stage, according to the Constitutions and the Congregation’s new formation plan, the Ratio Formationis. It is a time of prayer and study, a time of preparation for the commitment of religious life and the charism of the Doctrinaries, a time of experiencing fraternal life in community.