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Provincial House
PROVINCIAL HOUSE NEWS
Regional Superior bids farewell to Kolkata province
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Kolkata: Rev. Fr. P. Biju Michael, Regional Councillor for South Asia, left for Delhi after a long stay in Provincial House since the conclusion of the extraordinary visitation on 5 June. The extraordinary visitation of the Salesian Province of Kolkata began on 5 March with the welcoming of the Regional by the Salesians, staff and students of DB SERVE at Nitika Don Bosco.
Fr. Biju visited most of the communities in North Bengal, Bihar, Bangladesh and Nepal. Due to the second wave of the COVID 19 pandemic he had to skip the visitation of many communities in central Bengal comprising of Nadia, Mursidabad, Birbhum and Dumka districts. He met the remaining Salesians online and made it a point to make quick visits to some of the unvisited communities and to spend some time with them.
Though he concluded his visit on 5 June with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at Don Bosco Nitika Chapel, he had to stay at Provincial house for another month due to COVID restrictions. During this lockdown period the councillor had been attending all the online meetings with the General Council in Rome as well as holding SPCSA Council meetings.
Kolkata: The First PreCapitular commission meeting for the upcoming Provincial Chapter 2022 was held online on 4 July 2021.
Ten of the 14 members of the commission were present. After words of welcome the moderator, Fr. Tomy Augustine, Rector of Salesian College Sonada, presented the letter of Fr. Stefano Martoglio, the Vicar of the Rector Major, convoking the Provincial Chapter.
He gave an overview of the task of the chapter in the light of the letter of the Vicar of the Rector Major, and the recommendations of the Extra-ordinary visitor, Fr. Biju Michael.
A work schedule for the pre-capitular commission was presented and approved. The eight important challenges proposed by the Rector Major in the GC28 Post Chapter Reflection were allotted to Precapitular members to study and draw up a text for reflection at the personal and community levels. The moderator also presented the guidelines for the preparation of the study document and questions for reflection. In the discussions and sharing of views that followed, the members of the commission sought further clarification on the understanding of the three sections titled, recognizing, interpreting and choosing.
The text of the GC28 Post Chapter Reflection was shared with the members of the commission for study and reflection. With these the first online meeting of the pre-capitular commission came to a close.
Kolkata: Kolkata, Sep. 21. Salesian News Asia Pacific, which started as a podcast during the first wave of Covid-19 on May 24, 2020, has launched its first YouTube version on September 19, 2021, marking its 70th uninterrupted episode.
The launch of the YouTube version of the podcast took place during the Calcutta Salesian Provincial Team Visit - Provincial, Vice Provincial and Economer, at Salesian College Siliguri residence on Sunday, September 19, 2021.
The podcast produced for Boscom South Asia by Radio Salesian 90.8FM - The Voice of the Hills - was established in 2016 at Salesian College Sonada in Darjeeling.
Christened ‘’Sunday Salesian News,’’ the YouTube version of the Salesian News podcast covers Salesian family news summaries of South Asia and East Asia Oceania regions.
A 30 plus reporters cover the news from 26 Salesian provinces spread out in 29 countries of the two regions. Father CM Paul does the podcast script, and Radio Journalist Bryan Kerr of Radio Salesian hosts the show. The video version is prepared by the program director of Salesian TV, Mr Bruno Thapa, in Darjeeling.
Vicar of the Rector Major appoints
Salesian Historical Institute
Kolkata: Fr. Jacob Iruppakkaattu, the Secretary of the Salesian Province of Kolakata, is appointed as an external collaborator of the Salesian Historical Institute (ISS) in Rome by the vicar of Rector Major Fr. Stefano Martoglio on 17 August 2021.
Fr. IC Jacob will render his help at the headquarters in the area of historical documentation and archiving of important documents, while carrying out his normal responsibilities as Secretary of the Province.
5 new Rectors attend Rector’s course in Bangalore
8 participate at Salesian School of Social Communication, South Asia
Kolkata: 5 newly appointed rectors of the Salesian province of Kolkata attended the New Rector’s course at Don Bosco Renewal Centre from 5-18 September 2021.
Fr. Ajay Sardar from Don Bosco Azimganj, Fr. Shanti Soren from Don Bosco Joypur, Fr. Sunil Lakra from Don Bosco Diamond Harbour, Fr. Charles Murmu from Don Bosco Mirik and Fr. Eugine Kujur from Nepal were the 5 rectors who participated in the course.
Kolkata: The General Councillor for Social Communication, Father Gildasio Mendes, inaugurated and declared open online the Salesian School of Social Communication (SSSC) on September 24, 2021. Introducing the vision and objectives of the year-long programme, Father Mendes highlighted September 24 as a historically significant day for the Salesian order.
The Salesian School of Social Communication, an initiative of the Social Communication Department of the Congregation, Rome, envisages training all those involved in the social communication apostolate, keeping in mind the priorities of the Church and Congregation. It aims at preparing the participants to communicate from the Salesian Eight members from Salesian province of Kolkata participated in this yearlong formation course on social communication. Fr. CM Paul, Fr. Nirmal Toppo & Fr. Arvind Khalkho represented the Social Communication Commission of the Province, Sr. Rosy, FMA represented the Salesian family, Ms, Shruti Chettri, represented the Higher education sector, Mr. Mrinal Rai, represented the youth department and two brothers Birendra Kerketta and Ankur Boiragi, represented brothers in formation.
Rector’s & Parish Priest’s Meet 2021
Kolkata, Sept. 27: The Two-phased meetings of the North and South Bengal Rectors, Persons incharge and Parish Priests completed today, with 27 confreres from South Bengal, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Raiganj and Dumka, here at Don Bosco Nitika.
Don Bosco School Siliguri hosted the meeting of the Rectors and Parish Priests of North Bengal, Bihar, Sikkim and Nepal, on 21 September, with a total of 19 participants.
The 7-hour meeting commenced at 9.00 AM with a short prayer by Fr. Sunil Kerketta, the Vice Provincial and ended by 4.00 PM with the concluding prayer by Fr. Joseph Pauria, the Provincial. During the meeting the Provincial, presented the recommendations of the Rector Major after the completion of the Extraordinary Visitation of the province by the Regional of South Asia, Fr. Biju Michael. Fr. Jijo John, the Economer, dealt with Rectors’ role in ‘Transparency in Financial matters’ and Vice Provincial dealt with concerns of each zone, based on the recommendations of the extraordinary visitor.
The confreres participated in the discussions actively and interacted spontaneously and spiritedly. The highlight of the meeting was: ‘Salesian Rector is the One Stop Shop.’
