{"id":6492,"date":"2026-08-27T06:25:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T06:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/?p=6492"},"modified":"2026-09-02T12:12:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:12:06","slug":"guinea-bissau-imams-daughter-professes-as-catholic-sister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/guinea-bissau-imams-daughter-professes-as-catholic-sister\/","title":{"rendered":"Guinea-Bissau: Imam\u2019s Daughter Professes as Catholic Sister"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Credit: Radio Sol Mansi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A daughter of a Bissau-Guinean imam has made her first profession as a Catholic Religious Sister, describing the milestone as a response to God\u2019s call and a moment of \u201cjoy, emotion and profound gratitude.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By Jo\u00e3o Vissesse<\/a> *<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aicha Settimia Cant\u00e9, 27, made her temporary profession on August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary<\/a>, in the Congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Spirit<\/a> (CDS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The celebration took place in the Catholic Diocese of Bissau<\/u><\/a> and was presided over by the Bishop emeritus of Bissau, Jos\u00e9 C\u00e2mnate Na Bissign<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbove all, I want to give thanks to God for calling me, choosing me and sustaining me until this moment,\u201d Sr. Aicha said in her thanksgiving speech, adding that her heart \u201coverflows with joy, emotion and profound gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sr. Aicha\u2019s religious vocation has particular significance because she comes from a Muslim family background. She is the daughter of an imam and is originally from Safim. She was baptized at Our Lady of Grace Farim Parish of Bissau Diocese and received Confirmation at St. Anne Mansoa Parish before embarking on her journey in Consecrated life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her profession highlights the coexistence of different religious traditions in Guinea-Bissau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My vocation was strengthened<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her address during the August 15 Eucharistic celebration, Sr. Aicha thanked Bishop Na Bissign for presiding over the celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you very much for accepting to preside over this celebration, which is so meaningful to me. Your presence made this day even more beautiful and full of meaning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also expressed gratitude to the Superior and Sisters of her religious congregation for their accompaniment throughout her formation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sr. Aicha also acknowledged the formators who accompanied her through her formation, including during her study of French, Postulancy and Novitiate, saying their teachings, advice and gestures of love helped her grow as a Christian woman and Religious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She Aicha further thanked those who accompanied her spiritually and helped her discern her vocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVocation is a Divine mission\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his homily, Bishop Na Bissign urged the young Religious to embrace her vocation as a mission of faith and dedication to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasized that responding to God’s call requires determination, a generous response, and a willingness to serve, noting that God continues to call men and women to participate in His plan for humanity despite the challenges facing young people today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Bishop, a vocation should not be understood simply as an individual choice detached from mission, but as a response to God’s plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a Divine Mission,\u201d he said, emphasizing the responsibility of those who place themselves at the service of God and humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishop Na Bissign also described faith as essential for navigating life and overcoming its challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose who do not have faith in God find themselves completely disoriented,\u201d he said, urging those responding to God’s call to keep their relationship with Him at the center of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also highlighted prayer and thanksgiving as essential elements of the Christian journey and called for a permanent relationship with God amid personal and social challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018In the heart of the Church, I will be love\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The temporary profession was celebrated under the motto attributed to St. Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of the Child Jesus, \u201cIn the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishop Na Bissign presented the Virgin Mary as a model of response to God’s call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMary is the complete response to God,\u201d he said, adding that she represents \u201cthe ark of the new covenant\u201d because of her willingness to receive and fulfill God’s will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Catholic Bishop also highlighted the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church’s mission, describing the Spirit as \u201cthe principal companion of the Church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attacks on social media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sr. Aicha’s religious profession also attracted offensive comments, personal attacks and hate speech on social media, particularly because of her father’s identity as an imam and her decision to embrace Catholic Religious life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation prompted the National Confederation of Islamic Youth in Guinea-Bissau to condemn the attacks and defend freedom of conscience and religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organization expressed \u201cdeep concern over the wave of offensive comments, personal attacks and hate speech\u201d that circulated on social media following news of Sr. Aicha’s religious choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Islamic youth organization recalled the Quranic teaching that \u201cthere is no compulsion in religion,\u201d and called for the Islamic faith to be expressed through peace, mercy, justice, tolerance, wisdom and respect for human dignity rather than insults, humiliation, threats or persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRespecting someone’s choice does not necessarily mean agreeing with it,\u201d the organization said, stressing that disagreement over religious choices does not justify attacks on another person’s dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group also warned that freedom of expression should not be confused with the freedom to defame, insult, incite hatred or provoke religious conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It called for a Guinea-Bissau in which Muslims, Christians and people of other convictions can live \u201cwith respect, fraternity and dignity,\u201d describing the episode as an opportunity for reflection and dialogue rather than further division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Jo\u00e3o Vissesse is an Angolan Journalist with a passion and rich experience in Catholic Church Communication and Media Apostolate. This information was obtained directly from ACIAFRICA.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A daughter of a Bissau-Guinean imam has made her first profession as a Catholic Religious Sister, describing the milestone as a response to God\u2019s call and a moment of \u201cjoy, emotion and profound gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[250,6,504,505,4,16],"tags":[506,507],"class_list":["post-6492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church","category-featured","category-guinea-bissau","category-imam","category-news","category-spirituality","tag-congregation-of-the-sisters-of-the-divine-spirit","tag-national-confederation-of-islamic-youth"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6492"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6610,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6492\/revisions\/6610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}