Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
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Bora Bora (Agenzia Fides) - "In the parish church, where people have been meeting for 30 years, gestures and signs that invite unity find meaning, becoming a proclamation of hope. To proclaim the Gospel," Father Sandro Lafranconi of the Society of African Missions (SMA), parish priest of the parish of St. Peter Celestine in Bora Bora, told Fides on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the church's consecration, which was celebrated yesterday, Sunday, May 3rd.
"The parents of the local families collected white stones from the coral reef, smoothed by the incessant waves of the ocean. They gave them to their children to inscribe two dates: 1995 - 2025: Thirty years since the consecration of the parish church in Bora Bora by the then Archbishop of Papeete, Michel Coppenrath."
"During the solemn Mass," Father Sandro continued, "these stones with this inscription were placed at the foot of the altar near the offertory and, at the end of the celebration, during the hymn of thanksgiving, the children distributed them to all who had celebrated this day with us," the Italian missionary reported.
"These coral pebbles and these dates," the missionary emphasizes, "speak of the Living Stones that are our young people, our children, but also of us, who are witnesses for them to a time of foundation they do not know. Yet there is still much to do! When you put your hand to the plow, it is not to look back, but to fix your gaze on the horizon of the Risen One, which, like the rising sun, opens anew every morning, for a new day." (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 5/5/2025)
