Fr Pedro Aguado visited the Piarist presence in Bobigny – Paris together with Fr Samson Ehemba, Provincial of the Pious Schools of West Africa, and the General Assistants for Europe and Africa.
The presence in France has existed for 30 years, in particular in the parish of Sainte Marthe in Pantin. For some years now, at the request of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Mgr Pascal Delannoy (current Bishop of Strasbourg), the Province of the Pious Schools of West Africa, to which this Piarist presence belongs, has agreed to the request to revitalise the three parishes of the city, Tous les Saints, Saint André and Notre Dame du Bon Secours, and to reside in a new two-seat community.
It was a good opportunity to get to know the Piarist reality in France, the work of our confreres and their pastoral and socio-educational projects. We were also able to exchange ideas and reflect on how we can grow in the Piarist mission.
The diocesan administrator of Saint Denis, Eugène Doussal, was kind enough to visit us and explain the origins and history of the church in Bobigny, which is very committed to the working class in a former industrial area of Paris, a growing, multicultural, low-income suburb with many social and educational challenges.
