By Fr. Lanfranco M. Fedrigotti, SDB
Kowloon, Hong Kong, 17 January 2017 -- The casket with the precious Don Bosco Relic given by the Rector Major to CIN in the name of EAO Region was moved from its provisional site in Mary Help of Christians Parish in Tang King Po School, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Was it stolen? No. It was taken away by a truck to be shipped to Taipei, Taiwan.
The casket with the precious Relic had arrived in Hong Kong exactly 10 months ago on 17 March, 2016. Finally destined for the CIN (and EAO) Mother House that is Instituto Salesiano founded by St. Luigi Versiglia in Macau, the casket is provisionally placed in Mary Help of Christians Parish, under the care of the Salesian Community, in particular of the Rector Fr. Peter Pong Ping Fai, the Parish Priest Fr. Francis Che Ka Yin, and the two elderly Brothers of the community, Br. John Baptist Chu Sek Yan and Br. Aloysius Tam Chai Kei.
The official placement of the Don Bosco Relic casket had taken place in the Mary Help of Christians Church last year, just before the beginning of the 2016 Provincial Chapter. It was the afternoon of Easter Sunday 2016. The date was chosen in commemoration of the Canonization of St. John Bosco on Easter Sunday 1934 and of the 170th Anniversary of the taking of possession by Don Bosco of the “Tettoia Pinardi” on Easter Sunday 1846.
Now, why is the casket with the Relic leaving Kowloon and going to Taipei? It does so to be present at the celebrations for the Golden Jubilee of St. John Bosco Parish in Taipei (1967-2017). The celebrations will begin soon and will last until Easter. So in the following three months, if you want to make a pilgrimage to the EAO Region Don Bosco Relic, please, do not go to 16 Tin Kwong Road, Tang King Po School, Kowloon, Hong Kong (where the Relic will return after Easter), but to St. John Bosco Parish in Taipei at this address: 123 & 125 Minsheng East Road, Section 3, Taipei, Taiwan. Thank you! God bless!
