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austraLasia #3487

  

Fr Dominic - man of steel
The gift of suffering  and union with God
Bro. Marc Will Lim sdb
 MAKATI: August 6, 2014 --  After almost a decade of enduring suffering on his bed of sickness, Fr Dominic Curto, SDB, returned to his Creator last August 1, 2014. He was 92 years old. Later, on August 3, his bier returned to Sta. Cruz, Laguna, the town he served as parish priest. It was a Sunday when the whole of the Philippines celebrated the feast of St John Marie Vianney, patron of parish priests. People of the barrios, oratorians, parish benefactors and those who collaborated with the Salesian works in Sta. Cruz came to pay their last respects.

Fr Dominic contributed much to the propagation of the Catholic faith in Sta. Cruz. The works he had begun in 1978 together with Fr John Andreu and Fr Rolando Fernandez proved to be worthwhile. But the greatness of his works was more than the structures he built, the latter evidenced by the many chapels, schools and the strongly-founded parish church. Actually, the most important thing he did was to lead some people back to being in communion with the Catholic Church after they had been led astray by  claims of miracles from another Christian sect. And this achievement has remained visible even since the Salesians left the place. Catholics are now the majority of the populace; it was the reverse when Fr Dominic first arrived in the town. 

The life of Fr Dominic Curto was indeed larger than life, as Fr Eli Cruz put it in his written eulogy, read by Fr Danny Torres at the burial mass last August 4 at Don Bosco Canlubang. He was indeed an adventurer as he journeyed through life in three remarkable places in the world, namely India, Bhutan and the Philippines. He was a true missionary. He was an evangelizer in action, a practical one, as he converted through doing good works and offering kind assistance. He was a builder. But, more than anything else, he was an initiator of a burning love for God.

He suffered much. His Salesian life brought much pain to his heart. Imprisonment in his early years was capped by sickness in his final years. The blows he received from unfortunate separations from his different works seemingly pointed to defeat. However, they were actually victories, for they were all done with love and the desire to conform to the holy will of God. This made him strong. This made him a true follower of Christ!

Fr Dominic has always been remembered for his constructions, practically built with little consideration to aesthetics, cement-laden and filled with a good number of steel bars! This external edifice may now be clearly understood as an interior spirituality, a life lived with God through sufferings endured and embraced with love.

“Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit, sit nomen Domini benedictum.” 
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THAT REMARKABLE MAN FROM SHANGRI-LA
The life story (ongoing) of Fr Dominic Curto SDB
austraLasia #711
 
ROME: 29th August (2003) --  Fr Dominic, indomitable missionary and raconteur, already celebrating 25 years in the Philippines with 9 years in Bhutan and 30 years in India as a warm-up! How could one encapsulate such a lifetime in a few words? The stories just tumble out of him after 'pranzo at the Pisana', and austraLasia could not resist seizing upon the remarkable interlude in Bhutan as a reporter's dream. I mean, to dream of Shangri-La is one thing; to meet one of those who takes his place in that royal kingdom's history is quite another. Let Fr Dominic tell his own story ...

"The Technical School was opened on request of the then Paro Penlop (1964), so as to train young lads in trades. The first Salesians in charge were the late Fr Philip Giraudo and Fr Giaime. A few years later, they were joined by Fr Dominic Curto and Bro. Gabriel Garniga. The King and Queen (now Queen Mother - Ashi Kesang Wanchuck) used to visit the school very often and showed their appreciation to the Fathers for their valuable educational system. The Fathers were told that Bhutanese lads understand  only the stick. We never used it!  “Fathers,” the Queen remarked in one of her frequent visits, (almost monthly). “I see that you have formed a family with your boys” – “Yes, the students are good boys”, Fr Philip answered. The Queen added: “It is your dedication and sacrifices that work.”

On another occasion, the Father was called to see the Queen at the Namseling Palace. She had two couples as guests: one from the U.S. and the other from Switzerland. She introduced the Father to the guests: “Here is Fr. N.N. who works very much for our poor Bhutanese youngsters. We feel very grateful to the Fathers. "

During the 7-day coronation feast of her son as king, the Queen Mother  and the new King often sat for hours chatting with  the Fathers while watching the Bhutanese dances.  At the last dinner, the Father took his plate and lined up for a self-serving with at least 150  foreign guests viz. Ambassadors, high officials of different Governments: viz. U.S., Switzerland, U.K, China, Australia etc. The Queen approached him and said,  “Father, you are my real brother who works much for my poor Bhutanese.” Next she took the plate from the Father and went to fill it  with the goodies of the dinner. “Father, you work a lot and have to eat,” she muttered.

She had the Father sit at her very table to eat. During the Queen’s travelling from Thimphu – Phuentsholing, a 6-hour drive, everybody had to stop by the side of the road, get out of the car and bow to the King and Queen as they passed by. But whenever she spotted a Father, she had the long car line wait. She would move out of her car, approach the Father and ask him whether he was okay. She would then call her attendant and order him to bring gifts (fruits or anything) to the Father: “Father you need them”, she would say.

In 1983, she invited Frs Philip and Dominic as royal guests to Thimphu. She had them put up at the Bhutan Hotel at her own expense. Often she enquired whether the Fathers were alright and warned the manager to comply with any request of theirs.

March 2000, Fr Dominic was invited by the Don Bosco Past Pupils to visit Bhutan. Besides the past pupils, the whole  family of Fr Kinley (Tshering) SJ. treated the priest as their real Father. Fr Kinley was a Buddhist lad, but endowed by God with special spiritual gifts. He was baptised in 1974. He wanted to die a martyr, and proclaimed before the King and his council that he was a Christian. After some trials and  discussions, the King allowed him to remain a Catholic but he bade him not to teach the Christian religion, because a Bhutanese, he said, has to be a Buddhist. The lad, then 17, told the king “Poen, I shall not preach in public, but in private, I’ll say what I feel.” After his baptism, Kinley ran a very profitable business in the country. He was the most outstanding and enlightened person in the Kingdom. After 10 years he left a very profitable career to become a Jesuit priest of the Darjeeling Province. Before entering the Jesuit novitiate, he came to Santa Cruz [Philippines, and the scene of Fr. Dominic's 25 years work in that province], to get acquainted with a Christian environment. From Kurseong he now visits Bhutan nearly every month and says Sunday Masses for the Christians who work there. Once, Fr Kinley’s mother told the Father: “Lobe” (teacher) whenever you enter my house, I feel the sun enters it.” This year, she said again: “Lobe” (teacher), kadingche La” (thank you) for having  made my son a Christian Lama.”    
 
It was time to take a break. I needed it more than Fr Dominic. Tomorrow he returns to the Philippines. Are the Salesians presently in Bhutan? Nepal, yes. Bhutan no, but Fr Dominic could not resist a comment there either. Let him conclude...
 
"Some of our past pupils have suggested me to start an association of the past pupils of Don Bosco. Sangey Tenzing, past pupil and now director of the whole of the Bhutan telecommunication system, suggested he would print the news on the weekly paper, “Kuensell”,  several times, so as to notify all the members to attend the meeting. What a wonderful idea!  Don Bosco will again enter Bhutan and guide the youth to be just what he wanted, i.e. 'honourable and useful citizens' of Bhutan and of heaven, God willing. Don Bosco loves the Bhutanese youth, who still follow their untainted, and simple Buddhist way of life."
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ADDITIONAL INFO
What wasn't printed in the interview at that time was that the Bhutanese lad who became a Catholic and then a priest was baptised by a Salesian. Fr Kinley tells the story himself: "I saw a crucifix the first time when I entered the school chapel," (it was a Cluny run school) he recalled, adding that what first impressed him "as a child from a Buddhist cultural background" was "why the man was crucified." 
Father Tshering said he wondered if "the man" had done something wrong. "This led me to find out more about the man and his mission." He joined catechism classes and "came to know the man on the cross was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born as a man to redeem us from sins." His search continued at Darjeeling´s Jesuit-managed St Joseph´s School. "Catechism inspired me to become a Catholic and I asked the Jesuits to baptise me, but they refused," Father Tshering said, so he approached Salesian priests then working in Bhutan´s Kharbandi village near the border with India.
Will Don Bosco enter Bhutan again, as Fr Dominic predicted? Salesian Archbishop Menamparil (now emeritus, of Guwahati) visited all Catholic families there in 2011. The country has become more open and democratic. But the future Salesian influence may be of a different nature. The technical school we built in the 1970s is now the Royal College of Science and Technology, part of the Royal Bhutan University. Two years ago ago, the Consul General of Bhutan in West Bengal and Assam, His Excellency, Dasho Tsering Wangda, inaugurated the fifth academic year of Assam Don Bosco University at its Azara Campus. DB University's Vice Chancellor, Fr Stephen Mavely sdb, expressed the University's desire to begin a vibrant collaboration with the Kingdom of Bhutan in the field of higher education.

Let's conclude this long but fascinating missionary tale with a comment by another, younger missionary:

"As a technical man I admired him, he was like a Da Vinci ... so many practical and 'village-technology type' approaches to the needs of mission life. Like for example, the lack of electricity (frequent power failures) in the convent, made him transform all the convent lightings into a 12V car-battery system... where even the fluorescent-white lamps were running as if there was an ordinary 220V system in place... this was 30 years ago!
He was such an enthusiastic person... I think my missionary vocation had received a nudge because of him too..."