Vatican City, 11 February 2013: The Holy
Father, at the end of day's consistory for causes for canonization, announced
his resignation from ministry as Bishop of Rome to the College of Cardinals.
Following is the Holy Father's complete declaration, which he read in Latin: "I
have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but
also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the
Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come
to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer
suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that
this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not
only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in
today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep
relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter
and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength
which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have
had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to
me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full
freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of
Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way,
that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of
Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff
will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is."
"Dear Brothers, I thank you most
sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my
ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy
Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his
holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal
solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to
also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life
dedicated to prayer."
MESSAGE OF BISHOP FELIX TOPPO, S.J.
My
dear Brothers and Sisters,
One
hundred and seventeen (117) bishops of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India
(CCBI), gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of Health, Vailankanni, Feb 5-10,
2013 for the XXV Plenary Assembly and to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the Conference. The main topic of our deliberations was
the “Pastoral Plan for the Church in India”, considered as a milestone in the
onward journey of the Conference. Several ecclesial events made our Plenary
Assembly more meaningful: - the Promulgation of the Year of Faith by Pope
Benedict XVI on the Golden Jubilee of the inauguration of the Second
Vatican Council and the 20th Anniversary of the promulgation
of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), as also the Golden
Jubilee of the declaration of the Shrine of Our Lady of Health at Veilankanni
as a minor Basilica.
In the final Message to the faithful
in India the Bishops said, “We fervently pray that all sections of the People
of God be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit and walk in newness of life.
We appeal to you, lay people, to be conscious of the dignity of your lay
vocation and never forget your call to be witnesses to Christ in an
increasingly secularized world of today. We appeal to you, beloved children, to
open your hearts always to Jesus Christ our loving Saviour who blesses
children, and wants everyone to be childlike. We appeal to you, young people,
to make Jesus Christ your Friend, and know that he is the answer to your life-questions.
We appeal to you, men and women in consecrated life, to never diminish in zeal
for the Kingdom of God and loyalty to the Church. We appeal to you, dear
priests, our beloved coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord, never to cease in
your efforts to conform to Christ, the Priest, Prophet and Shepherd.”
+Felix Toppo, S.J.
Bishop of Jamshedpur
GAUDALUPE CHURCH, TELCO: SENIOR
CITIZENS DAY
With
the initiative of Fr. Leo D’Souza, a day was celebrated in honor of senior
citizens of the parish in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Telco. To thank and
glorify the Lord Holy Eucharist was celebrated with all the parishioners. The
prayers of thanksgiving were offered to God for their selfless services and
exemplary life in the parish. This was
the occasion to show spiritual solidarity with all the senior citizen
throughout the world. Fr. Emile Coelho was the Chief guest who presided over
the Mass. Fr. Dincher and Fr. Manu Parapuram were present to grace the
occasion. Rita and Betty (Canadians) who are at Vianney Niwas with the
candidates were the guests of honor. The parishioners organized some
entertainment programmes to cheer the hearts of senior citizens. At the end of
the programme all present shared a delicious meal. Thanks to Frs. Benedict and
Leo for their love and concern that they have shown towards them.
GOLMURI : ST. JOSEPH’S CATHEDRAL
Priestly
Ordination:
The Salesian province of Guahati was blessed by another young energetic priest
Fr. Pradeep Ekka SDB who was ordained by Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J. on Sunday the
3rd February, 2013 at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Golmuri. His vice
provincial and rector along with some of his guests from Belgium were present
to grace the occasion. The Ordination ceremony was coloured by varieties of
liturgical dances and meaningful singing during the Holy Eucharist. At the end
of the Mass all present on the occasion congratulated and wish new life to the Newly
Ordained priest, and gave honour to the Bishop, guest priests, religious and
faithful for inspiring and guiding Fr. Pradeep Ekka in his priestly vocation.
The Parish Priest, Fr. Camille Hembrom
gave the vote of thanks and welcomed all to share the joy with snacks and tea. The
parishioners and relatives joined together in the traditional rhythmic dance. The
companions of Fr. Pradeep from Belgium also joined with cheerful dancing
crowed.
Retreats: For a better
preparation of the lent a retreat was held at Gyandeep and Mercy chapel from
15th to 17 and 22nd to 24th Feb. Many people benefited from this renewal
program.
SUNDERNAGAR :
PREISTS RETREAT
In preparation for the joyful
celebration of Easter, a five days retreat (18-22 February) for priests was
organized at Catholic Charities, Sundernagar. Fr. Anil Dev, IMS a renowned
retreat preacher from Matri Dham, Varanasi guided the priests with his
inspiring talks which helped the priests to meditate and spend the fruitful
time with the Lord. He encouraged them to be united with Vine to bear the
fruits. 24 priests from the diocese participated in this retreat and profited
from it.
BURIGORA
:
Every village in Burigora mission got
the chance to spend a day in recollection as a part of Year of Faith and lent
activities. The faithful of the village had the opportunity for the celebration
of the sacrament of reconciliation and Eucharist. To show solidarity with the
devout of Saraswati Mata on 16th February, 2013 quiz, singing and
dance competition was organized. Many people participated and enjoyed the
programme. Congratulation to Fr. Sanjay Kujur and group!
KUMADUBI,
TALDANGA : LOYOLA SCHOOL
While the 2013 ISC & ICSE batch
students were busy with their MOCK tests and preparation for the finals the
rest of the school was drowned in a patriotic fervor. This year the REPUBLIC DAY has gone down in
records with the performance of the children in the tableau. The theme was
‘WOMAN’. The great women leaders in various fields were shown and then female
infanticide – dowry – eve teasing depicted the darker side of the society. But
finally the mother image of the country and how and why we all must respect and
honour her was the final sentence that was driven into the minds of all.
The serious mood continued as the ISC
exam is postponed this year. As the month of February set in the boards and the
annual exams began. (Rita Sen)
BISTUPUR
: ST.MARY’S ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL
St. Mary’s English school had its sports
day on the 12th of January 2013.The chief guest was Mr. Charles
Borromeo & the guest of honor was Fr. Augustine Ezhakunnel. Both of them
appreciated & applauded the students for their fantastic performance .On
the 30th of January we had the Graduation night for the outgoing
students of std. XII. The chief guest was Mrs. Nerurkar, she enlightened the
students to dream high in order to succeed in life. It was very solemn &
prayerful ceremony afterwards we had delicious dinner everyone enjoyed it. On 9th
February the school bid adieu to Mr. Peterlake & Miss Rajendra somlok. The
management, staff & the students acknowledged & appreciated their
contribution to St. Mary’s family. On 11th &12th of
February we had the orientation given by the former Provincial of Sisters of
St. Joseph of Tarbes Sr. Euphrasia. She gave lot of insight to the teachers
with regard to class room management as well as positive self esteem. All the
teachers were enriched energized & sharpened their self image in order to
become an effective teacher. Thanks to Fr. David Vincent the principal of the
school for organizing such an inspiring class for the teachers. (Sr. Mariam,
SJT)
MANGO : ST. JOSEPH'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The construction
works on the college building is going on and hope to finish it very soon. Our 4th batch students are all in Mercy Hospital for their
internship, all the students are happy with the practical training they are
getting in the hospital. The Sisters as well as the nurses are very kind and
helpful to the students in every way possible. We are very grateful to Mercy
Hospital Sisters especially Sr. Elsy Joseph - Nursing Superintendent and to Sr.
Jessy - Hospital Administrator for their support and collaboration.
Forms are being given
out for the next batch; those interested may please come to the College office
on week days (Monday to Friday) from 9 am to 5 pm. At the moment we are conducting only two courses. Diploma/Certificate
course in Health Assistant (DHA/CHA) and Diploma, in Desk Top Publishing (DTP).
This is a one year
programme. In Health Assistant course the basics of nursing are taught,
students learn all the nursing procedures and are able to assist the nurses in
the hospitals or clinics. In DTP the students learn the basics of Computers and Windows, Page Maker, Corel
Draw, Photo Shop. These arc the core subjects but besides these we also teach
them Conversational English, Life coping skills, Communications Skills, Basic
Computer and Yoga. The students learn not just a trade but also to be a useful
citizen.
Our humble request to
all the parish priests, please help us to help your parishioners especially
those who are not able to go ahead with their studies for some reason or
another to come and join St. Joseph's Community College and we will help them
to learn one trade and make themselves useful. (Sr. Miriam, PDDM)
MANGO : UPASANA / JESU
BHAWAN
Fr.
Dick McHugh, S.J. along with Fr. Giorgio Mennini, S.J. guided 29 participants
for the NLP (Basic) which concluded on the 6 Feb . Fr. Benedict Minj, Parish
Priest, Telco, participated and profited from the course along with 28 other
participants. Later on the 9th of February, 14 participants joined
for the NLP (Advance) Course which concluded on the 19th of February.
They all were very happy with their stay and food arrangements as well as the
course content wherein the sessions were intensely demanding and practical
skill development oriented. Many were happy with the Self discovery, Self Confidence,
Freedom experienced, along with the practical skills, help and support they
received from the mentors, Fathers Dick and Giorgio. They enjoyed the green
ambience of Upasana and Jesu Bhawan Campus. Fr. Jerry Kujur, helped by Br.Tony
and the Novitiate team, made sure that all left happy. On the 23rdof
February, 9 Diocesan Regents joined 8 Jesuit Regents, for their monthly
recollection, in Upasana. They were guided by Fr. Cyril Tigga, Director, Divya Bharati,
Chaibasa. Fr. Rajesh is helping the Novices for the Lenten Ministry in various
parishes of the Diocese and Jesuit Province during the
coming month. (Fr. George Anthony, S.J.)
CRI:
A BRIEF REPORT OF CRI CONVENTION
The CRI Annual Convention was held at
Jan Vikas Kendra, Sundernagar, Jamshedpur on 9th and 10th
of February, 2013. The theme of the convention was “Profession of Faith in the
context of the multi-cultural and social situations in our Diocese of
Jamshedpur”. The resource person was Fr. Francis Kurien, S.J. Provincial,
Hazaribagh Jesuit Province. The total number of participants was 84. The key
note address was delivered by Fr. Mike T. Raj, S.J. Provincial and Regional CRI
President encouraged the congregation
to look at our innovation as creative fidelity which is a call for dying to oneself
and rising again. We need to look into the way we live our community life. Fr
Mike further emphasized that if we want practice creative fidelity to our
vocation we have to shake off the inertia of upper middle class comfort and
strongly come to terms with raw reality of poverty and human right violations.
Our mission must shape our life style. Mission ought to shape our religious
life, not our religious life to shape our mission. Today we would rather look
for a mission which suits our convenient conviction and our comfort zone. He
challenged each one with a reflective question “Is there a desire to shape
one’s life according to the need of the mission?” A big question to ask all of
us religious.
Soon after the key note address, the
reports of three Deaneries of Chaibasa, Dhanbad/Purulia and Jamshedpur were
read out by the respective secretaries chaired by Fr Sunny Jacob S.J. The
session on follow up action taken was chaired by Fr. Hilary Lobo, S.J. the CRI
President who drew the attention of the audience to three major areas for
action plans decided by last year’s convention were 1) Learning the local
language 2) Faith formation in schools and colleges 3) Training in Mass Media. Except
for the third one, the other suggestions were implemented at the Deanery level.
The second day, 10th February
saw Fr. Kurien’s vibrant and enriching power point presentation on the theme of
the conference: the profession of faith
in the multi-religious and social context of Jamshedpur. After painting a
detailed account of multi-ethnic groups, Fr. Kurien went straight into the
theme of convention and the identity of the religious in the Church especially
the CRI. Our profession of faith, he stressed, should be a commitment to the Church
inspired by the experience of personal prayer and action, celebration and
reflection of doctrinal theology. The questions raised by him were very
reflective and pin-pointed: What according to you is the specific role of the
CRI, as distinct from the role of Religious in the Church? What specific
contribution can CRI offer to the Church of Jamshedpur? (Distinct from the
contributions already being made by individual Religious Congregations).
After some clarifications regarding his
presentation, Fr Kurien chaired the session for action plan to be taken in this
year of faith. He conducted a fruitful discussion about the identity of CRI and
how we can ‘get out of our box’ and work collectively as a group for church in
Jamshedpur. A youth commission of Sr. Gracy, SCN, Sr. Heleena JMJ and Fr Jotin,
OP was formed to work with Fr. Emile Coelho, S.J. who is already involved in
the ministry of unorganized university students.
In the business session, the annual accounts was presented by
Sr. Elsy Cherian, SCJM, Treasurer and
dates for the next year’s convention was fixed for 8th and 9th February
2014. The format of CRI directory was
handed out to collect the statistics of each community. After the Holy
Eucharist presided by Fr. Kurien and the
sumptuous meal served by Fr. Halan Bodra and his team, the delegates left with
true determination and motivation as a CRI Unit for the service of the Church
in Jamshedpur.
Fr. Hilary Lobo,S.J.
CRI President, Jamshedpur
CHAIBASA : ST.
XAVIER’S ENGLISH SCHOOL
The school reopened on 2nd of
January, 2013 after the winter break. We had a small prayer seeking god’s
blessing on everything that we have planned for this year.
Pre-board results were distributed on 11th
of January. A hearty farewell was given to the students of std X on 19th
of January. The students of std IX presented some cultural programs. It was a
heart rending moment for students as well as teachers as teary-eyed students
recounted some wonderful moments experienced in this school, some of them
lightened the mood by sharing some hilarious moments.
Parents’– teachers meets were held for
different classes on different days to discuss the problems faced by the
parents and teachers while dealing with the children. Parents were also
informed about the new syllabus and new fee-structure.
The founder of our school Fr. Cyril
Fernandes visited Chaibasa on 24th of January. We had been preparing
for a science exhibition for a while and we timed it on 25th of
January so that Fr. Cyril could be present for its inauguration. True to
expectation he managed to spare some time from his busy schedule and graced the
occasion by being present as our chief guest. The principal of S.P.G Boys
school, Chaibasa, Mr. Purushottam Sharma and the Professor of physics, Tata
College, Chaibasa, Dr. Sanjay Kumar Gorai judged the projects exhibited by our
students. Presence of such luminaries greatly influenced our young scientists.
The judges appreciated their projects and acknowledged their talent and hard
work. Such acknowledgements mean a lot to their budding talents.
We had a grand celebration on the
occasion of Republic Day on 26th January. Students performed
colourful dances, skit and songs. During the program Fr. Cyril released the
school magazine “ARTIFEX” (Creativity) the second Epoch. It’s a collection of
creative ideas bursting forth from our talented students minds. This school was
Fr. Cyril’s dream child and it was a moment of pride for him to see the school
standing tall and its students growing in stature in every sphere, he delivered
a small speech on the occasion which was quite touching and inspiring. All the
students lapsed into a kind of trance as he spoke about the humble beginning of
our school and about the time when he was oscillating between hope and despair
to complete his dream project of building this school, to keep it from coming
to a standstill. Through his speech he succeeded in conveying the message that
all the good in our life comes from god. Both the power to do good, and the
will to do it have a divine source. His philanthropic work that he did in India
and the things he is doing in America has motivated our students to think
beyond the words I and mine. They have been inspired to love others, less
privileged ones.
From 4th of February to 7th
of February we had teachers’ seminar in our school. Various methods of teaching
were discussed. Tips were given for better management of classes.
Annual exams commenced on 9th
of February and ended on 23rd of February. Thus our session 2012-13
has come to an end and we are gearing up for the new session 2013-14.
CHAIBASA : DIVYA
BHARATI
A Two Days training
program for catechists and lay leaders was organized on February 6 and 7,
2013. 35 participants from 12 parishes
including Sisters and brothers prepared themselves to preach Lenten retreat in
the Year of Faith in their respective areas. Thanks to all the Parish Priests
who sent their leaders for the program. Resource persons- Fr Edwin Coelho,
Dean, Fr. Kishore Lugun and Fr. Jerry shared their insights which were
appreciated very much by all the participants.
Lay leaders are assets
in our parishes. We need to prepare them with proper trainings. Here are the
opportunities at Navjyoti Niketan, Patna – 800010 (Ph. No. 0612 2262284/2277144).
1.
Vatican II Revisited (1st March pm to 4th pm) in Hindi – Rs. 100 for everything
2.
Evangelization Training (13th
April a.m. to 15th pm) in Hindi - Rs. 100 for everything
3.
Training of Lay Leaders for Faith
Formation Team- phase I (15th April pm to 19th pm)
Eng/Hin - Rs. 100 for everything.
4.
Catechism of the Catholic Church and
Faith Formation (19th April pm to 22 p m) Hindi – Rs. 100 for
everything. (Fr. Cyril Tigga, S.J.)
Birthdays (March)
Birthdays (March)
Date
|
Name
|
13
|
Chonhas Xalxo
|
14
|
Elvius Dungdung
|
21
|
Dilip Marandi
|
27
|
Raphael Monteiro
|
29
|
Hermon Tigga
|
31
|
Henry Sequeira
|
31
|
Nicholas Kerketta
|
