I (Fr. Eric Wagner, CR) departed from St. Louis, MO, USA on December 15, 2025 to visit the Resurrectionist House of Formation in Morogoro, Tanzania, East Africa. Br. Moses Katikiro Karimbula, CR, who serves as the director of aspirants at Morogoro, met me at Dar es Salaam international airport in the evening (local time) of December 16, 2025. Because of the late hour, we stayed a night at a hotel near the airport and traveled the next day, by train, to Morogoro. Fr. Jim Donohue, CR, who serves both as mission superior and rector, met Moses and I at the Morogoro train station and drove us to the seminary, which is in Tungi, an outlying area of Morogoro. The seminarians greeted me with the utmost warmth. There was even ice cream to celebrate the occasion!
The next day (December 18), I joined in the daily prayers of the community, which included lauds, rosary, and Mass – the regular Thursday schedule for the house. After breakfast, Jim provided a tour of the grounds and, as the rains rolled in, we discussed some of the events and aspects of my stay.
Since the aim of my visit is to respond to a General Chapter resolution bidding all sectors of the Congregation to send members to visit the mission’s House of Formation and offer formative international experiences for our Tanzanian seminarians, my first priority entails participating in the community’s daily life and prayer. The hope is to offer mutual enrichment through informal conversations and cultural exchange as well as formally organized formation experiences.
The first informal experience meant joining Jim for a pair of trips into Morogoro to purchase household supplies for the seminary. A rapidly growing town, Morogoro has a bustling ‘downtown’ with an array of various shops and markets. Our first stop was at a local poultry and fish vendor. The proprietor, Immanuel, is a former resurrectionist seminarian. He greeted Jim and me affectionately and we spoke for a time before heading to other vendors who deal variously in office and household supplies, beverages, dried goods, beef, and electronics. Jim has clearly befriended the clerks and shop owners. He kindly introduced me and each one offered a joyous greeting in return.
Prior to my arrival, Jim and I also organized some formal events. The first was a day of recollection, which I conducted at the House of Formation on Saturday, December 20. This day of prayer focused on the biblical concept of charism and the Resurrectionist charism in particular. All aspirants residing in the House of Formation, attended along with Br. Moses and Valentino, a seminarian in his second year of theology. Our other seminarians attended a day of recollection offered at the same time at Jordan University College (JUCO).
On Sunday, December 21, we celebrated the 4th Sunday of Advent with a Mass in Swahili at the House of Formation. Jim presided and preached. It was my first experience concelebrating Sunday liturgy in Swahili. Although I understood little, I was struck by the community’s joyous and fervent singing. Indeed, some of the brothers are so musically inclined and linguistically talented that we recorded ourselves singing Silent Night and O Come all Ye Faithful together in English, Swahili, German, and Latin. It was a delight!
Later the same day, Valentino generously volunteered to give me a tour of the Tungi area around the House of Formation. So, that afternoon, we set out for a walk. He provided an excellent introduction to the area, regaling me of the local history, customs, language, and culture. I cannot say that I picked up much Swahili, but it was not Valentino’s fault. He is an enthusiastic teacher! In any case, I will remember our visit to the old German colonial church, the local brick factory, and the now defunct colonial bridge, which, locals continue to traverse on foot but, for me, marked the limits of our trek.
On Monday, December 22, I joined the aspirants for a formation conference conducted by Br. Moses on religious life. Moses did a splendid job walking the young men through select paragraphs of a Vatican document and introducing them to key features of a religious vocation in the Church. On Tuesday, December 23, I led the aspirants in a formation conference on lectio divina. On both occasions I was struck by the thoughtful engagement of these young men. Their fervor gives me great hope for the future of the resurrectionist charism and mission in Tanzania.
A forthcoming event that Jim and I planned prior to my arrival is a lesson on sacraments at JUCO, which he and I will co-teach. Our seminarians study philosophy and theology at JUCO with students from a wide range of other religious orders. Despite already outsized demands as mission superior and rector, Jim graciously accepted JUCO’s request to teach a course and I am happy to join him in the classroom during my visit. It’s not every day that I get to teach with a fellow resurrectionist. I also hope to go for a hike with the seminarians in the nearby mountains and celebrate Mass at (or near) the top. A Q & A session on vocations and formation in Africa and North America is also in the works. But, for now, we are preparing to celebrate Christmas with much fervor!
Merry Christmas from our Mission in Tanzania!
Eric Wagner, CR
More to come on www.resurrectionists.ca
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