Father Highton teaches Malawi children the Sign of the Cross/ Video screen grab [Dominus Estudios/ Youtube]
CV NEWS FEED // Fr. Federico Highton, an Argentinian missionary who has brought Christ to some of the most remote corners of the world, encouraged college students to engage in the “spiritual conquest of the whole world for Jesus Christ.”
In a talk given at Thomas Aquinas College in Northfield, Massachusetts, Fr. Highton explained the Omnes Gentes Project, which is a missionary project approved by Pope Francis that brings Catholicism to some of the most remote corners of the world, and supports Christians in Muslim-majority areas.
Fr. Highton has brought the Catholic faith to the sub-Saharan African country Malawi, the depths of the Amazon rainforests, and remote locations in the Himalayas. He described his missionary trip to the Alu ethnic group in the Himalayan mountains in the Southeastern Asian country Laos.
“There is one of the most neglected areas of the world,” Father Highton related. “There are no Christians there.”
He added that members of his mission group were “the first people to preach about Jesus Christ, to preach the name of Jesus to these people. They didn’t know the name.”
The missionaries communicated with the Alu people through Chinese; however, not all of the Alu people speak Chinese. The Alu language does not have an alphabet, so the missionaries asked a linguist from Thailand to create an alphabet, making translation between Chinese and Alu easier.
Fr. Highton shared that the “shaman,” the leader of the folk religion in the village, is planning on converting to Christianity. The change took place when Fr. Highton gave him Chinese images of Jesus.
“The Shaman is very happy with Jesus now; he will be baptized. He’s willing to renounce paganism to become Catholic,” Fr. Highton said.
Many of the 2,000 villagers attended when Fr. Highton celebrated the Easter Vigil Mass according to the Roman Catholic rite used before 1955. The entire village came for the Easter breakfast after the Mass.
“After the meal, the chief was very happy, everybody was very happy. And he [the chief] said, ‘Thank you, Jesus.’”
At the end of his talk, Father Highton told the students, “We don’t want your help, we want your engagement.” He encouraged the students to engage with the Omnes Gentes Project through prayer and donations.
He also invited single men to apply to volunteer with the mission, but warned them that they must be absolutely dedicated to serving Christ.
“This is not a joke, you know,” he said. He added, “If somebody wants to come to these missions, he should be ready to die for Jesus. Otherwise, we will not admit him.”
Father Highton finished with a quote from Blessed Paolo Manna, who founded the Pontifical Missionary Union: “The salvation of the world will be brought about in proportion to our zeal.”
