By THA SC

       Bang Nok Khwaek, Samut Songkhram, Thailand, 9 May 2022 -- In the morning of 6 May 2022, Fr. Angel Fernandez Artime, the Rector Major, together with the Provincials of the EAO Region and their Councils numbering about 50 persons, visited the Our Lady of the Nativity Cathedral of Ratchaburi Diocese to retrace the mission of the first Salesian missionaries to Thailand. This is where the Salesians began their mission in Thailand on 27 August 1927.

       The Rector Major and the confreres took the boat to see the way of life of the Thai people who lived on the banks of the canal and see the floating market. The boat took everyone along the canal that the missionaries used to travel in the past.

       They offered the Holy Mass at the cathedral presided by Bishop John Bosco Panya Kritcharoen. He felt so happy to welcome the Rector Major and the Salesian confreres. He always treasured being an alumnus of Don Bosco. As a youth, he received education from the Salesians.

       After the Holy Mass, all present prayed at the tomb of Bishop Gaetano Pasotti, the pioneer of Ratchaburi Diocese. They visited also the seminary which became the formation house of the Salesians and the diocesan seminarians especially during the second world war.

       The visit to these historical places of the Salesians in Thailand enkindled in us our gratitude to the missionaries who have pioneered the Salesian missions with their hard work and patience. And without them there would be none of us today.

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