In 1967, at the age of 30, the priest of the Spanish Institute of Foreign Missions Vicente Berenguer embarked for Mozambique, on a boat trip that would last 21 days and that was the prelude to half a century dedicated to the mission in the African country that is now has been recognized by the King of Spain, Felipe VI.
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his coronation, the monarch has awarded the Civil Merit medal to 19 Spanish citizens, among whom is the Valencian missionary, who is now 87 years old.
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Born in the town of Teulada in Alicante (Spain) in 1937, in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, it was not until 7 years ago that he settled in Spain when he became an octogenarian after carrying out enormous missionary work, especially in the educational field. which has provided schooling to some 60,000 children in the African country.
Upon arriving in Mozambique he was assigned to the Tete district, in the north of the country, and from there to Changara, in the interior. He soon became a supporter of the independence of the country, then a Portuguese colony. This position forced him to leave the country in April 1973, until the Carnation Revolution occurred in Portugal a year later.
With the arrival of independence, a communist regime was implemented that nationalized hospitals and schools, the majority owned by the Catholic Church. The missionary remained in the country as a teacher and director of an industrial and commercial school and a parish priest.
Starting in 1977, the missionary had to carry out his mission in the midst of a civil war that lasted for three decades until 1992.
His involvement in the educational field made him an important collaborator of the Ministry of Education for more than a decade, without ceasing to attend to his work as a parish priest.
In the last years of his mission in the country, he was appointed parish priest of the Church of San José in Ressaano García, a town on the border with South Africa through which thousands of Mozambicans passed who aspired to cross the border in search of a better future.
There he provided water to the population, rebuilt the Primary School, created the Secondary School in addition to other facilities such as a sports space or a multipurpose cultural hall, plus a boarding school for 90 students from rural areas.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.