Pedro Opeka

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Pedro Opeka

Father Pedro Opeka (born June 29, 1948 in Buenos Aires , Argentina ) is a Catholic missionary .

life and work

He was born in a suburb of Buenos Aires to a Slovenian family of emigrants. After an apprenticeship as a bricklayer with his father, he decided at the age of fifteen to become a priest and attended the local seminary of the Lazarists . At the age of twenty he continued his education in Ljubljana , his parents' home in what was then the Republic of Yugoslavia . Two years later he went to Madagascar for the first time , worked as a bricklayer in parishes of the Lazarists and then decided to become a missionary to Paris to finish his theology studies. From Paris, he made connections with the Taizé community and traveled to Europe. He was ordained a priest on September 28, 1975 in Buenos Aires and was then assigned to a parish in Vangaindrano in southeast Madagascar.

Antananarivo

In 1989 he was entrusted with the management of a seminary in Antananarivo , the capital of Madagascar. There his commitment to the homeless and " garbage children " began in the slums on the outskirts of the city. In the same year he founded the humanitarian association Akamasoa ("good friends" in Malagasy) and with the support of this association set up five settlement centers in the vicinity of Antananarivo consisting of a total of seventeen villages, in which over 20,000 people now live around 60% children under 15 years of age. In the Akamasoa schools, more than 12,500 schoolchildren are cared for and provided with a warm meal every day; 10,000 kg of rice have to be made available for this plate of rice alone.

His association now maintains 72 schools, three middle schools and one grammar school with a total of 280 permanent teachers. Over 3,000 one-story brick houses have been built in 17 years, 40 doctors work in Akamasoa and in other villages across the country supported by the association. He operates the largest football stadium in the country and owns the most modern hospital in Madagascar. Pedro Opeka is also committed to environmental protection, for example through reforestation in the over-exploited land.

Several books and documentaries have been published about his life, and a German translation of his autobiography was published in February 2007. In 2005, like Mother Teresa before , he was awarded the World Service Medal . In October 2007 he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French government .

In the German-speaking area, the Akamasoa community is primarily supported by: the Kiwanis Service Klub Austria ("Kärntner Dorf" in Akamasoa with 88 houses and a hospital), the Kiwanis Foundation International, the Munich association "Madagascar und wir eV" and the schools the city of Wunstorf near Hanover.

Awards

For his achievements and 40 years of work in the crisis areas, Pedro Opeka was honored by the Madagascar und Wir eV association . In 2005 he received the World Service Medal from Kiwanis International , which was presented to him in Hawaii. In 2007 he was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by the French President for his tireless efforts .

In 2009 he received the highest possible national award in Slovenia . 2010 he was given by Pope Benedict XVI. awarded the Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan Human Rights Prize. In 2011 he received the Great Order of Merit of the Republic of Madagascar . In 2012 he received the gold medal of the "Ligue Universelle du Bien Public" from the President of the French region "Vendée", Mme. Jacqueline Roy.

Publications about Pedro Opeka

  • Pedro Opeka ("Père Pedro"), in collaboration with Carole Escaravage and Grégory Rung: Combattant de l'Esperance: autobiographie d'un insurgé . JC Lattès, Paris 2005, ISBN 2-7096-2718-3 ; German adaptation by Gérard Turbanisch: Fighters of Hope - How I gave the children of Madagascar a future , Ullstein, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-550-07893-4 .
  • Anne Facérias & Daniel Facérias (eds.): Abbé Pierre - Père Pedro, Pour un monde de justice et de paix . Presses de la renaissance, Paris 2004, ISBN 2-7509-0044-1 (interviews and conversations with Abbé Pierre )
  • Denise Gault, "Père Pedro ou les collines du courage", 1994, 186 pages, Albin Michel publishing house, French
  • Alain Scherrer, "Père Pedro de Manantenasoa", 1997, Amphora Verlag, ISBN 2-86739-084-2 , French
  • Pedro Opeka and Abbé Pierre, "Pour un monde de justice et de paix", 2004, Presses de la renaissance, ISBN 2-7509-0044-1 , 224 pages, French
  • Let's do it for the kids, music CD from the Kiwanis Education Program, available from the Marco Polo Help Foundation, www.marco-polo.cc
  • Père Pedro - Journal de combat, éditions JC Lattès 2008
  • L. de Gebhardt - Père Pedro - Au service des pauvres de Madagascar, éditions Salvator 2014
  • P.Lunel and Rijasolo - Akamasoa - Rèves d'enfants - 25 ans d'action du Père Pedro, éditions du Rocher 2014
  • P. Lunel and Père Pedro - Père Pedro - prophète des bidonvilles, éditions du Rocher 2013

literature

  • Carole Escaravage & Grégory Rung: La force de l'engagement: en (-) quête de héros. Presses de la renaissance, Paris 2007, ISBN 978-2-7509-0031-1 .
  • Akamasoa 1989-2006 . Imprimerie St. Paul Fianrantsoa, ​​Antananarivo 2006
  • Aimé Ravalimanana: Dix ans d'action humanitaire . Antananarivo 1999 (only available through the Akamasoa Association)
  • Alain Scherrer: Le père Pedro de Manantenasoa: debout, encore et quand même . Éditions du Puits fleuri, Héricy 1996, ISBN 2-86739-084-2 .
  • Denise Gault (in collaboration with Pedro Opeka): Père Pedro ou Les collines du courage . Albin Michel, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-226-06921-6 .

Documentaries

  • Help for Akamasoa , ZDF , aspekte , March 30, 2007, video, 7:00 min.
  • Apostle of the Garbage People , 28 min., Director: Mirko Bogataj, 2002, winner of the 12th Čadca International Film Festival
  • A house on the hills , production: Steylmedien, Bayerisches Fernsehen , 1996
  • Père Pedro - the youngest of my brothers , Communauté du Chemin Neuf for netforgod.tv, 2012

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Opeka, Pedro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION catholic missionary
DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Buenos Aires