Annobon, Equatorial Guinea. The joint labour of the Claretian Missionaries has been officially recognised by the present Government of Equatorial Guinea in naming three Missionaries, Sons of the Heart of Mary, Knight Commanders of the Order of Independence.
We refer to Fathers Epifanio Doce (1887-1975) and Ramón Segú (1893-1976), posthumously, and to Fr. Pedro Nkogo, all three with a long missionary experience and work in
the island of Annobón, where the awarding ceremony took place on October 11, in the framework of the acts that were organised on the occasion of the celebration of the 42nd anniversary of the independence of Equatorial Guinea.
Fr. Inocencio Moiché, Major Superior, received the medal of Fr. Epifanio Doce, while Fr. Marcelo Ensema, Vicar of the Delegation, received the one awarded to Fr. Ramón Segú. Fathers Doce and Segú had spent the last y ears of their life in Annobón, and died in the full dictatorship of President Francisco Macías, totally isolated from the rest of their brothers of Congregation.
Fr. Nkogo, who has struggled as hard as any one and has experienced the most crucial moments of the country’s independence, is working in Annobón since 2003. He is the present Superior of the Claretian community and Pastor of the Heart of Mary Parish, whose church, newly reconstructed by the Guinean government, was reopened for worship last October 12, in the framework of the celebration of the National Feast of Equatorial Guinea.
