Rector Major of Salesians to attend Don Bosco’s bi-centenary celebrations in Kolkata
The three-day feast will start on Sept 26 and will continue till Sept 28, where it will culminate into a get together in Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium. 1900 delegates from 12 provinces (11 from India and 1 from Sri Lanka) are expected to attend the gala South Asian meet.
The Rector Major will arrive in Kolkata on the morning of Sept 26 and will visit the Don Bosco Ashalayam (Home with Hope), an institution in the nearby Howrah district, for the street children, initiated three decades ago.
He will next visit Bhagar, a dumping ground housing around 500 families, also located in Howrah and interact with them.
Father Gomes said, “Our aim is to help these families. If you see the condition they live in, you’ll shudder with fear. They have almost nothing and we would like to reach out to these people and offer them help and uplift them.”
Father Artime will also unveil a mural of Don Bosco in Don Bosco School Liluah on the same day.
On the third and final day, the head of the Salesians will visit the Ramkrishna Mission Math in Belur, near Kolkata. He will stop there for a small inter-religious dialogue with the monks of the RK Mission.
When asked about the support, if at all they have received from the State Government, Gomes said, “No. We have a large unit. Our alumnus came forward and helped us organize the whole event.”
Gomes cleared the air about the politicos attending the event.
“The Governor will attend the event on the first day in Don Bosco Liluah. Derek O’Brian [Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP] is expected as well.”
When asked if the Chief Minister of West Bengal was going to make an appearance, he said, “We had requested Mamata Didi, but as you know she is busy, so Amit Mitra, the Finance Minister will attend the event on the last day in Netaji Indoor Stadium.”
With over 11 working groups, the Salesians are one of the biggest functioning bodies in the world today.
The celebration named, ‘One Family, One Mission’ aims to carry forward the spirit and ethics with which St. John (Don) Bosco worked.
(Reporting By Sudipto Maity, Image By Subhodeep Sardar/IBNS.)
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