Archbishop’s Programme
July
1-4 Jubilarians at
Mokama
5 Installation
at Barh
SIGNIS,
Patna
6 Inauguration
at Chakaram
12 CRI at Gaya
16 AM Carmel Jwala Mass
22-25 RBC Meeting at
Ranchi
August
2 Fairfield Mass
4 Recollection and Vianney
Feast
15 Independence Day
23-24 Msgr. Eugene Joseph
Episcopal
Ordination at Varanasi
25 Archdiocesan pastoral
Council
26 Celebration of Consecrated
Life
27 Archdiocesan Day, Jubilee
Archbishop’s Europe visit
Archbishop
William D’Souza, S.J. landed in Rome on 25th May 2015. He was invited by the
Superior General of the Josephites of Murialdo for the breakfast-chat on 26th
May. Then rushed to the office of the Propaganda Fide where he met the General
Secretaries of the Holy Childhood, St. Peter the Apostle, and the Propagation
of the Faith; and finally he also met Mons. Protasio Rwamba, the President of
the Pontifical Mission Societies. In the afternoon he also visited the Peter
Clever Sisters to thank them for their support in the past. Having had an invitation
from Fr. Manuel Cortés, the Superior General of the Society of Mary
(Marianists) for dinner on the same day, he spent few hours with the Superior
General along with few of the Marianists who had worked in Patna Archdiocese.
27th
May was a special day for our Archbishop as he met Pope Francis for the first
time at the General Audience which takes place every Wednesday. As soon as the
General Audience had ended, he went to the office of the Italian Bishops’
Conference where he had an appointment with Mrs. Lucia, the responsible person
for the projects. In the afternoon, he visited the Jesuit organization Gruppo
India and interacted with Mr. Marco Petrini, the Director, and Mrs. Liliana
Norcia.
Archbishop
began the morning of 28th May with an immense joy of concelebrating
the Holy Eucharist with Pope Francis in the chapel of St. Martha, and of
spending few minutes sharing with him about Patna Archdiocese. It was a
wonderful moment when the Pope sent his apostolic blessing to the people of
Patna through our Archbishop. He, then also met H.E. Cardinal Filoni, the
Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples at 12 pm., in
his office near Spanish Steps. He
visited the Generalate community of the Sisters of the Notre Dame in the
evening and dinned with them. He also visited the Superior General of the CJ
Sisters and her Councilors on 29th May, and had lunch with them.
Finally before his departure for north Italy on 30th morning, he met
the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. In the evening, having had
reached the parish of Caerano, near Padova, he celebrated the Holy Mass there.
On 31st morning visited Sr. Amelia who had been his great benefactor
for many years. Then he left for Pavia to meet some of his personal friends and
benefactors.
On
2nd June, he flew from Milan to Madrid with his project proposals to
Manos Unidas. The community of the Work of the Church were very generous to
accommodate him in the house during his three days stay in Madrid and to
accompany him on his pilgrimage to Avila (on 4th June) on the
occasion of the 5th Birth Centenary of St. Teresa of Avila. He left
Madrid for Zurich on 5th in order to meet the Jesuit Missions
Procurator. Ingenbohl, the place of the Generalate of the Holy Cross Sisters,
being closer to Zurich, he could make a short visit there, and could meet the
Superior General and her Councilors, one of whom is Sr. Elsit from Patna
Province, and had lunch with them on 6th June.
The
same night he left for Vienna where he was accommodated by the Jeusits for two
nights. On 7th June, he visited the Generalate of the Sisters of the
Queen of the Apostles, and had lunch with them. On 8th morning he
met Dr. Othmar Kolar of MISSIO in Vienna and then went to meet Eva
Wallensteiner of DKA regarding certain project proposals of the Archdiocese. At
the request of the staff of MISSIO, he celebrated the Holy Eucharist for them
in the evening at the MISSIO chapel. On 9th June, he proceeded to
Lambach where he had an appointment with MIVA, Austria organization which helps
for purchasing of vehicles for pastoral needs. On the same day, he travelled to
Landshut in Germany to stay with the family of Agnes and Reinhard Krisch who
brought him to MISSIO Office in Munich on 10th June. Having met Mrs.
Branka Begic in MISSIO, he left for Nürnberg to meet the Jesuit Missions
Procurator on 11th June. On 13th morning took train from
Nürnberg in order to go to Waldniel, the place of Fr. George Panna who had
arranged for his two days of accommodation there. Fr. Panna also accompanied
Archbishop on 15th June to meet various funding agencies in Aachen,
namely Missio, Kindermissionswerk and Misereor. 16th June being a
free day, Fr. Panna brought Archbishop to Cologne for the sightseeing.
Archbishop’s health was very fit to climb the 533 steps of the tower of
Cathedral of Cologne. Again Fr. Panna accompanied Archbishop to Frankfurt on 17th
June to the Jesuit community there, where Fr. Bernd Günther, S.J., had
organized a small meeting with some of parishioners of the Jesuit parish there.
Then Dr. Claus brought Archbishop from Frankfurt to his place, Runkel, on 18th
June. He was a guest there till 21st June. During his stay in
Runkel, Archbishop also met the families of Dr. Christoph and Mr. Hans Escher.
On 22nd, Dr. Claus and his wife, Andrea, accompanied Archbishop to
Königstein to meet Véronique Vogel, In-charge for Asia Desk at Aid to the
Church in Need. Having met Mrs. Vogel, Dr. Claus was kind enough to bring
Archbishop to Heuchlingen which was Archbishop’s final phase of Europe visit.
During his 5 days of stay in Erika and Alois Waidmann’s family at Heuchlingen,
he also visited the Mayor of Aalen town who had twice in the past partially
supported two projects of Patna. Archbishop also met the Fr. Bernhard Weiss,
the Parish Priest of Heuchlingen and concelebrated the Holy Eucharist with him.
The ASHA group in Heuchlingen had organized a fund raising event on 24th
June on the occasion of Archbishop’s arrival. The relentless service of the
volunteers of ASHA and their creative ways and efforts of raising funds for the
support of our poor children in Patna Archdiocese are praiseworthy. On 26th
June, Archbishop visited Christine Pfisterer in her parish, Rechberg, where he
concelebrated the Holy Eucharist with the Parish Priest, Fr. Stegmaier. Finally
on 27th June noon, Jutta and Thomas Klotz accompanied Archbishop to
the Munich airport from where he left for India at 10.25 pm. On 28th
June, at 20.45 (IST), the Archbishop landed Jai Prakash International Airport,
Patna. The Samachar expresses its gratitude Fr. Gyan Prakash, who accompanied
the Archbishop all through the journey. Thanks to Rev. Dr. G. Panna for his
hospitality. Big thanks to our Archbishop for making all the efforts to meet
and request financial aid from the Benefactors, and Agencies.
BRBC
meeting at Archbishop’s House, Patna: The first meeting of Bihar Bishops and
Regional Secretaries took place at Archbishops House, Patna on the 29th
April, 2015. The meeting was presided over by Archbishop William D Souza, S.J,
the Chairman of Bihar Regional Bishops’ Council, and Bishop Sebastian
Kallupura, the Secretary General of the BRBC. Since it was the first meeting of
the Region, Bishop Sebastian Kallupura explained the meaning, roles and
functioning of Ecclesiastical units in India. He called upon all the Regional
Secretaries to be vibrant in their ministries. Later discussions were held on
topics like; The Region response towards Earthquake victims in Nepal
& India, Organization of Bihar Regional Secretariat, setting up of
various Commissions at Diocesan levels, role of Navjyoti Niketan & Ravi
Bharati, Regional PRO, restructuring of CCI at Regional Level and preparation
for July & November meetings. The floor decided that each Diocese will
mobilize its resources and collect it in the form of cash. And after pooling
together all the resources send it through Caritas to its Nepal Unit.
Archbishop William thanked all the participants for their active participation
and called upon all to maintain the same spirit in the coming years.
Major Seminarians’ Get-together: The Patna Archdiocese
Major Seminarians’ get-together was held in St. Mary’s Minor Seminary, Chakaram
from 24th to 26th May, 2015. Fr. Prem Prakash, the Vicar
General with Fr. Satya Prakash and Br. Jayakumar and Sanjay had organized the
get-together. The get-together began with an ice-breaking session in which the
brothers were divided into four groups. Rev. Fr. Devasia T. Chirayil, the
golden Jubilarian, mentioned that we have to accept, accommodate and face the
world. On the second day, Fr. Peter Ladis spoke on the legal matters. Second
session was taken by Fr. Anup Pius, the Principal of St. Joseph’s School,
Nawada. On 26th May, all the brothers along with Frs. Prem, Satya
and Kuldeep had gone to Rajgir, Nalanda and Harnaut Parish for a day of outing.
Thanks to Fr. Jose Edavazhy, the Parish Priest of Harnaut for providing a
delicious lunch. A special thanks to Fr. Prem for organizing the get-together
for Patna major Seminarians.
Pilgrimage
to Vailankanni Shrine from Gaya Parish: together with Frs. Andrews Thambi and
Andrews Raja, a group of 80 pilgrims from Gaya parish started their journey to
Vailankanni via Chennai from Patna Junction on 4th June, 2015. In
Chennai, Fr. Andrews Raja had arranged buses for pilgrims to visit St. Thomas
Mount, Little Mount and St. Thomas Cathedral. From Chennai the group reached to Vailankanni
and stayed there for two days to have Dharshan of Vailankanni Mata, spending
time in prayers, attending Masses, participating in rosary procession and devotedly
praying to Mother of Jesus. The pilgrims started their journey back to Patna on
8, June and reached to Gaya safely on 12 June, 2015. Congratulations to Fr.
Andrews Thambi for his leadership and interest for motivating so many people.
FSAG Sister at
Basauni:
Basauni Parish welcomed the Sisters of St.
Aloysius de Gonzaga from Puducherry. Two Gonzaga Sisters arrived Patna on 20th
June to work in the Vineyard of Lord at Basauni, and two more will join the
community at the end of this month. On 21st June, Rev. Fr. Prem
Prakash the Vicar General of Patna Archdiocese accompanied them along with
Sr. L.C. Maria, the former Superior General of the Congregation, and Fr.
Christuraj. Rev. Fr. Jose Chirackal had made all the arrangements for the
Sisters. They were welcomed by the people of Basauni with traditional dance and
custom. The Sisters were led in a procession on the Feast of St. Aloysius
Gonzaga for the Eucharistic Celebration. Rev. Fr. Prem presided over the
Eucharistic Celebration. Fr. Christuraj gave message based on the Gospel. Frs.
Augustine and Kuldeep were present. Congratulations to Fr. Jose, the Parish
Priest for making all the necessary arrangement for their stay and welcoming
the Sisters. We wish the Sisters a fruitful ministry and render our prayers and
support.
Bihar AICUF Women Commission Camp: Patna Youth Commission organized a four days of Bihar AICUF
Women Commission Camp for the College going girls on the theme “Women a mere word or more” from 26-29th
June, 2015, at youth center Chakkaram. College
girls from Patna Women's College, St. Xavier College, Barh and other parishes
of Patna as well as from Muzaffarpur and Purnea dioceses took part in the camp.
There were 80 participants. Rev. Fr. Prem Prakash, the
Vicar General offered the inaugural Mass and also was the chief guest for the
inaugural ceremony. Different topic like social analysis on women, women
empowerment, women and their rights, women and media, women and health were
taken by the expert resource persons. Fr. Jose
Vadassery S.J the provincial was the chief guest for the concluding
programme. He distributed the certificates to all the participants.
Congratulations to Fr. Sabu, the Youth Director, Fr. Asit Lakra and team
members.
Golden Jubilee: The
Archbishop enters into to the 50th golden year of his religious
life. He along with six batch mates from Patna and Delhi Provinces met in
Mokama from 1-4th of July. They spent in fruitful sharing, prayer
and reflection. The communities at Jyoti Bhavan and Catholic Church Mokama
extended warm hospitality. The Jubilarions are extremely grateful to Frs.
Thomas Olikathotty, Andrews Raja, Anselem and Bro. Sanjay.
New Parish Priest at Barh:
on 5th July, Fr. Andrews Thambi was installed as the Parish Priest
of Barh, by Archbishop William D’souza, S.J., in the presence of Jesuits Golden
Jubilarians Priests, Sisters and faithful. Earlier he was given a warm farewell
by the faithful of Gaya, who reached him to Barh. On his arrival, he was led in
a procession o the Church by the School Band. The Samachar wishes Fr. Andrews
Thambi a fruitful ministry.
Meanwhile Fr. Mariam Lal, has taken charge of
Gandharmatt. On 12th July, Fr. Anthony Osta will be installed as
parish priest of Gaya. Wishes to all the pastors, may the Good Shepherd help us
to care for the faithful.
Reminder Please:
A Day of
Recollection: On
the occasion of the Feast of John Mary Vianney, the Patron Saint of the
Priests, a day of Recollection for all the Archdiocesan clergy, and parish
priests is organized on 4th August, 2015, at Archbishop’s House,
Bankpur, Patna. You are requested to
celebrate the Feast of St. John Mary Vianney on 2nd August, 2015
(Sunday), in your respective Parishes with the faithful, and the Sunday
Collection to be sent to the Priests’ Fund.
Patna
Archdiocesan Pastoral Council: The Patna Archdiocesan Pastoral Council
Meeting will take place at Novjyoti Niketan, Patna, on 25th and 26th
August, 2015. Detailed information will be sent by Rev. Fr. Andrews Thambi, the
Secretary of Patna Archdiocesan Pastoral Council.
Archdiocesan
days: The
‘Archdiocesan days’ will be held at Novjyoti Niketan, Patna on 27 August, 2015,
soon after the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council Meeting. May I request you to send
your agenda and suggestions to Rev. Fr. Jose Edavazhy, the President of CDPI
(Patna) by 15th August, 2015. On the same day there will be Sacerdotal
Silver Jubilee celebration of Frs. Anup Pius, Rakesh Roshan and Joachim Thakur.
Silver Jubilee celebration will begin with Thanksgiving Mass at St. Joseph’s
Pro-Cathedral, Bankipur, Patna, at 5 pm.
Archdiocesan
Clergy Annual Retreat: This year the annual retreat for the clergy of
Patna Archdiocese is scheduled to be held in Sewa Dham, Buxar from 20th
September to 25th September, 2015. Please contact Fr. Vicar General
at the earliest for travel arrangement.
Recollection for
the Brothers in Regency: The Recollection for the Regents will eb held at
Minor Seminary Chakaram om 28-29th August, 2015. The Regents are
expected to attend Brothers those who are doing Regency, for them recollection
is scheduled to be held on 28th -29th August, 2015, at
Minor seminary, Chakaram, Patna. Kindly send them for recollection on time.
Patna
Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, Mokama: Three months training for men Catechists
will be held at Patna Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, Jyoti Bhawan, Mokama from 1st
August to 30th October, 2015. Registration fee Rs. 700.00 and for
board and lodge for three months Rs. 1800.00.Total amount can be paid on the day of arrival. For more information
you can contact Rev. Fr. Thomas Olikathotty on mob: 09431056086, the Director of
Patna Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, Jyoti Bhawan, Mokama.
RIP:
Sr. Mala, SND, died on 15th
June, 2015. Fr. Prem Prakash, the Vicar General presided over the funeral Mass
at Notre Dame Chapel, Patliputra on 16th June at 9 am, and her
mortal remains were laid to rest in Notre Dame Cemetery, Patliputra.
Sr. Ann Roberta,
SCN,
died on 27th June, 2015, at Mokama. Bishop Sebastian Kallupura, Bishop
of Buxar Diocese presided over the funeral Mass at Mokama on 28th
June at 3pm and the funeral service was done by Fr. Prem Prakash (V.G.). She
was laid to rest at the Mokama Parish Cemetery.
