Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rajshahi (Agenzia Fides) - "Our people live today in jubilation, what we celebrate is a true Jubilee. We thank the Lord for the gifts he has given to our church, we thank the Holy Father for sending us Cardinal Fernando Filoni": His Exc. Mgr. Gervas Rozario expresses his joy, as he tells Agenzia Fides how the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the diocese is being lived in Rajshahi, where the Prefect of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide has arrived.
"There is great enthusiasm, priests, nuns and lay people have worked hard in the various commissions to prepare for the event, especially for the Jubilee Mass to be held tomorrow, 11 September. We are happy to have Cardinal Filoni and the Apostolic Nuncio, Mgr. George Kocherry among us".
Today the Cardinal visited a hospice for the sick in Rajshahi run by the Missionaries of Charity, a shelter for disabled run by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a center of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Sisters of Mary child.
The Bishop explains: "In the Jubilee we remember the origins of our young Church: in 1971, the year of independence of Bangladesh, there were no Catholics in Rajshahi. Then gradually, thanks to the missionaries and social works, the Catholic presence grew, the first schools were born, we had the first conversions. But, beyond the figures, we thank God because catechesis, evangelization, charity are rooted in the territory".
Pastoral work is now focused on the family: "This pastoral year, the first after the Jubilee, will have the theme 'Mercy within the family'," explains Mgr. Rozario. Among the pastoral priorities there is also the permanent formation of priests and evangelization. "This - notes the Bishop - has been going on among tribal communities and goes hand in hand with the work of promotion and human development: the newly baptized, in fact, come from poor communities, in need of material and spiritual help, and the Church takes charge of these people".
Mgr. Rozario explains that "evangelization also means development of the person" and contribute "to the common good and the growth of the whole society". For this reason the Church, immersed in a country with a Muslim majority, is also active in interreligious dialogue". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 10/09/2015)
