By Novice Aldrich Cabral for BISMumbai

On 6 January 2023, Fr Oscar Tuscano SDB visited the STI community, Nashik, and had an hour-long conference and sharing with the novices.

Fr Tuscano is a missionary to Albania, and during the holidays, he visited Nashik. As a cleric and student, he was sent to the mission in 2004, and has been in the mission for 18 years now. Fr Oscar took the chance of sharing with the novices stories from his inspiring life – especially his choice to become a missionary and the mission place he works at.

Fr Tuscano shared about his missionary call. He narrated his story, telling the novices how that he had written his application to the Rector Major expressing his desire to go to the missions while still a student of philosophy. While the Rector Major accepted his application, he told him to complete his studies first as he was still a student. After the completion of his studies, his rector announced that Fr Tuscano would be going to Albania for the missions. The community members were quite surprised at the news. To add to the surprise, no one knew where Albania is located, not even he himself.

Fr Tuscano did his Philosophy and Theology in Rome. His mission place in Albania is a Muslim populated area. The people over there, Muslims and Christians, claim and profess their faiths only through words but not much through their life and action. They follow the cycle of revenge - an eye for an eye. Hatred is passed on from generation to generation. Fr Tuscano shared about how bad the situation was when he first went to Albania which was still reeling after the effects of communism. The political situation has undergone a vast change now. The people are poor but their standard of living is high. However, people do find it difficult to be cordial or to accept a priest or religious.

The novices were happy to meet and interact with him; they were inspired by the missionary call that Fr Tuscano had at a very young age, and by the courage he had to choose, accept, and fulfil his call to the missions.