ASWAN

the Church of the Immaculate Conception
 

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In 1894, looking for a more suitable place, the Comboni missionaries decided to leave the mission of Shellal (few kilometers from the high dam) for Assuan. Father Antonio Roveggio, nominated Apostolic Vicar of Central Africa on February 8^th 1895 and consecrated bishop on 21st April of the same year, did all that was necessary to acquire, on 13^th May 1896, the plot of land where the present mission is situated. Although construction work begun immediately, it was not until the Christmas of 1896 that the laying of the first stone of the church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception was done. The church is 13m high, 10m wide and 27m long. It was officially inaugurated on 15^th August 1897 in the presence of the Comboni missionary sisters, who up to this day are engaged with the fathers and brothers in health care and education in Egypt. It is in this church that for almost 60 years (1899-1957) the few bones which had been found in the tomb of Daniel Comboni after the mahdist revolution were kept.