Don Bosco’s 10th Successor
on a maiden visit to Kolkata
RECTOR MAJOR REVEREND FATHER ANGEL FERNANDEZ ARTIME WILL BE IN KOLKATA FOR THE FIRST TIME TO ATTEND THE CONCLUSION OF THE YEAR-LONG BI-CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS OF DON BOSCO'S BIRTH. DURING THE 3-DAY FUNCTION (SEPT 26–28), TO BE ATTENDED BY 1900 DELEGATES, RECTOR MAJOR WOULD VISIT THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION HEADQUARTERS AT BELUR MATH, ASHALAYAM - HOME FOR STREET CHILDREN, DON BOSCO SCHOOL LILUAH AND THE MAIN FUNCTION AT NETAJI INDOOR STADIUM IN KOLKATA
Kolkata, 24th September 2015 : The 10th successor of St. John Bosco, popularly known as Don Bosco, Rev. Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime will make his maiden visit to India on 26th September 2015. Landing first in Kolkata, Rector Major Fernandez, a Spaniard who has worked in Argentina, will visit Don Bosco Ashalayam (Hope Home) in Howrah which marks 30 years of caring for street children and has 25 centres in Kolkata.
After interacting with children in Ashalayam, Fr Fernandez will visit a typical Salesian bicentenary initiative for the poorest of the poor at Bhagar garbage dumping area inhabited by some 500 families. Several initiatives have been launched there to empower the people and wean them away from scavenging in the garbage dump. From there he will move on to Don Bosco Self Employment & Research Institute at Mirpara near Liluah, imparting skill training to school dropouts.
Rector Major would inaugurate a mural by an alumnus depicting the mission, vision and spirit of Don Bosco at the Don Bosco School (DBS) Liluah in Howrah.
Rector Major will attend the South Asia Salesian Family Congress at Don Bosco Liluah which marks the concluding ceremony of Don Bosco’s 200th birthday with the theme: One Family, One Mission. Some 1,900 delegates representing 11 groups of the Salesian Family which includes fathers, brothers, sisters, alumni and lay groups of men and women will felicitate him. The worldwide Salesian family today has a total of 30 affiliated groups working for poor and marginalized youth.
“These centres in Howrah district which the successor of Don Bosco will visit on his first trip to India are significant, as Don Bosco started his work first with street children and taught them skills to earn their livelihood,” said Dr Nirmol Gomes, the Provincial of Don Bosco Kolkata which happens to be the first Indian Salesian province established in 1926. Currently there are 12 Don Bosco provinces in India and Sri Lanka including Kolkata.
The 10th successor of Don Bosco, will make a historic visit to the world headquarters of the Hindu religious order – Ram Krishna Mission monks at Belur Math near Liluah where he will interact with the order’s senior monks, Monday 28th September 2015.
Don Bosco dreamed of his flourishing works in Calcutta and India in 1886 before his death (1888) and Calcutta archdiocesan archives has Don Bosco’s letter to Archbishop of Calcutta who requested him to open a house there. “That dream has been realized and Don Bosco South Asia now runs 199 parishes and hostels, 243 schools, 50 Junior Colleges, 34 degree and post graduate colleges, 126 Tech & Vocational Training Centres, 58 Social Development Centres, 164 Youth Centres and the first Catholic University in India,” said Dr Gomes.
Rector Major, is accompanied by Fr. Ivo Coelho, the Indian born General Councillor for Formation, Fr. Maria Arokiam Kanaga, South Asia Regional Councillor, Fr. Guisseppe Casti, the World Delegate for Salesian Cooperators, Fr. Horacio Lopez, the Secretary of the Rector Major, and all 12 Salesian Provincials of South Asia including India and Sri Lanka.
The Grand Finale of the Bicentenary Celebration is scheduled to be held in Netaji Indoor Stadium on 28 September. Besides messages from civil and religious authorities, students from various institutes will present a cultural fiesta ending with a musical performance by alumni singers.
What started with one street urchin on 8th December 1841 in Turin, Italy, has today spread to 132 countries, with 30 affiliates (Salesian Family Groups) catering to some 15 million poor and marginalized youth through schools, colleges, youth centres, and vocational training schools.
Don Bosco Tech India, a network of 128 Vocational Training Centres in India, is the largest group after the Government of India in imparting technical education. DB Tech India has partnered with National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) since 2012 to train 2.2 million youth by 2022 through its network of 500 affiliate centres across India.
The Salesian Family groups in South Asia include:
1 Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB); 2 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA); 3 Salesian Co-operators (ASC); 4 Don Bosco Alumni (DBA); 5 Women Volunteers of Don Bosco (VDB); 6 The Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (MSMHC); 7 The Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA); 8 The Sisters of Mary Immaculate (SMI), 9.The Disciples – Secular Institute (Disciples); 10.The Sisters of Maria Auxiliatrix (SMA), and 11 Visitation Sisters of Don Bosco (VSDB).
–----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information please contact:
Fr C.M. Paul, SDB or Cell: 9007626301
Indian Press - Matters of India article
10,000 to attend Bosco Bicentenary
in Kolkata
Kolkata: The 11 congregations of the Salesian Family, across South Asia, are coming together for the bicentenary celebrations of Don Bosco. The three-day Salesian Family celebrations for the Bicentenary of Don Bosco’s Birth, in association with The Telegraph Young Metro, will be held at Don Bosco School, Liluah, and Netaji Indoor Stadium from September 26 to 28.
The program, to be inaugurated by West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, is expected to be attended by around 10,000 people, including the Salesian Family members, students, former students, teachers, parents and other guests. The first two days of the celebrations will see the 11 congregations of the Salesian Family, who follow Don Bosco’s methodology, showcase how his presence in their lives has influenced them and how they apply his views and teachings in their daily lives. The workshops will be held at Don Bosco, Liluah.
The final day has been set aside for the public celebration of the event. The head of the Don Bosco family, Father Angel Fernandez Artime, Salesian Rector Major, who lives in Rome, will grace the occasion and address the gathering at Netaji Indoor Stadium. Students of the Don Bosco schools will put up cultural performances, The Telegraph reported.
“This is a landmark year for us. It is a time for us to celebrate and explore how we have become sons and daughters of Don Bosco. There has been a three-year-long build-up to this event,” said Father Anil Kumar Toppo, assistant principal, Don Bosco School, Park Circus.
“The first year was for studying about Don Bosco. The second was spent on knowing his pedagogy, his educational principles. And the third year was all about his spirituality. This is the fourth year, the year of celebration. Our alumni association is working hard along with us to make the event a grand success. Students from as early as the batch of 1957 are involved in the event,” Father Toppo said.
John Bosco, affectionately known as Don Bosco, was the founder of the Religious Congregation of the Salesians of Don Bosco and also the wider Salesian Family or Salesian Movement, which includes other religious congregations and groups of lay collaborators. He started providing shelter to boys without a home and taught them to work, in the process developing his famous educational method, the Preventive System.
“It is the bicentenary of a great saint. He contributed immensely to the development of the world. We want to honor him in the most fitting way. One program has already been held in Tiruchirapalli, where 2,800 scouts and guides from all Don Bosco institutions had gathered. After Calcutta, the celebrations will move on to Delhi. This is the southeast Asian chapter of the celebrations,” said Father Joseph Pathickal, principal, Don Bosco School, Park Circus.
