austraLasia
1422
RM's month-long
swing through centenary celebrations in Asia and then on to South
Africa
COLOMBO: 1st February 2006
-- It began early this morning at Colombo airport, after 'skipping
out' on the dinner organised at the Pisana for the Feast of St. John
Bosco. There was no other way, of course. The Rector Major was due
in Sri Lanka to celebrate fifty years of Salesian presence there, from whence on
to India a few days later, on further to China. He will eventually end up
in South Africa for a Team Visit in that continent.
Meanwhile, austraLasia will endeavour to keep you informed of the highlights of
the centenary visits, and for the first two days, a half-centenary. The
first Salesian to arrive in Sri Lnaka was a French Salesian, Henri Remery by
name, working at the time in Madras. That was fifty years ago. Today Sri
Lanka has set a busy pace for the Rector Major. Early morning arrival at
Colombo airport, then a motorcade to the Provincial house on the coast.
The correspondent indicates that the RM was met by crowds of youngsters 'waving
Christian Nestorian flags'. That was an intriguing comment. Can
someone throw some light on this?
In the afternoon, the
Rector Major blessed a new multipurpose hall at the Provincial House. The
22 by 36 metre building was sponsored by the Banco di Credito Cooperativo di
Roma and was packed with 2,500 young people today all eager to meet the ninth
successor of Don Bosco. The construction was supervised by VIS, the
Rome-based Salesian Volunteer Service.
Amongst other
important parts of this ceremony was the distribution, by the Rector Major, of
boats, outboard motors and fishing nets to people afflicted by the Tsunami, many
of whom were gathered in the hall for the
occasion.
_____________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of
Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome.
For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml