Animation for Pastoral Plan Animators

 By Althea Phillips

Father Franklin makes a point» Around 40 members of 6 commissions attended the programme.

Kolkata -The Archdiocesan Pastoral Core Team (APPCoT) conducted an animation programme for six of the archdiocesan Pastoral Plan commissions on May 2, 2015 at Archbishop House, Kolkata. The day started at 10 a.m., with an opening prayer by Archbishop of Calcutta, Thomas D’Souza followed by a hymn led by Father Dominic Gomes, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Calcutta.

Fr.Franklin Menezes began with a short introduction on the order of the day's proceedings. The first speaker of the day was Eugene Gonsalves, AICU president, who dwelt on Vatican II: Mission and Life of Laity. He threw light on the essential role of the laity where they were critical participants in fulfilling the mission of the Church. Both the priests and the laity work together to form the mystical Body of Christ.

Fr. Jyoti, the second speaker, stressed on Jesus the liberator and  activist, where he spoke about his mission to bring justice to the poor farmers in Delhi. We need to proclaim the good news and condemn the bad news, he pointed out.

Mr. Steven Gonsalves of Seva Kendra Calcutta, who spoke on the process of pastoral animation, stressed on the  goals and the role  of the animators through the 12 commissions. He threw light on AIRPIEN – Awareness, Issues, Resources, Prioritization, Implementation, Evaluation and the Next Step, as a means of professionally going forward.

Fr. Franklin Menezes then provided a framework for the pastoral plans of each of the commissions. He then spoke about Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and its seven key themes, the light and shadow situations, the setting of goals and finally the action plan.

The floor was then thrown open for questions and clarifications.

Fr. Dominic Gomes also previewed the schedule for animating at the parish level, at all deaneries of the archdiocese. This process would begin in June and by July, all deaneries would be animated by facilitators from the Commissions present.

The closing prayer by Dr. Goswami was followed by a delicious lunch for all the participants.

Interactive Session held at Don Bosco School, Park Circus

By Isaac Harold Gomes

Kolkata - On Saturday 25 April 2015, Christian parents of Don Bosco School, Park Circus had an interactive session (9.15- 11.15 a.m.) with the school authorities. This is a very good annual exercise meant to improve communication and the bonding between the two stakeholders of Value Education. The event assumed greater significance in the Bicentenary Year of the birth of Don Bosco, a friend of the youth.

Fr. Bikash Mondal, Vice Principal, began by welcoming all parents and dignitaries viz. Fr. Vincent Lobo, Fr. Gregory Monteiro, Fr. Babu Das, the Parish Priests of Christ the King, Our Lady of Vailankanni Church and Fatima Shrine respectively.  Fr M.C. Jose of Auxilium Parish,  Sam Mathews (Senior School Coordinator) and Mrs Fernando (Junior School Coordinator) were also present.
After the lighting of lamps, Fr Bikash set the tone with a Power Point presentation on The meaning of Christianity and Effective Parenting.

Fr.Joseph Pathickal – Rector and Principal, highlighted Don Bosco’s life, exhorted parents to instill self-esteem in their children and to make “Do as I do” the slogan to imbibe good habits. He said Prayer was the best form of communication and requested parents to conduct short family prayers regularly.

Fr Vincent Lobo emphasised on Faith Formation for,without it all the worldly gains would be meaningless. He urged well-to-do families to sponsor the education of at least one poor child in one’s parish. 

Fr Babu remarked many parents neglected their children’s Christian upbringing though they spared no pains in sending their children to different coaching classes. He urged parents to teach love, humility and forgiveness. 

Fr Monteiro said Christian means Christ is in us.  We must always thank God and inculcate faith in our children especially during the first five years.  He asked parents to appreciate their children’s good work without winking at their weaknesses.

The programme ended with a short question-answer session.

KRISHNAGAR MEDIA FEST 2015

- SIGNIS Bengal

Krishnagar, Nadia - The Krishnagar Media Fest 2015, the first of its kind in the vernacular in Bengal, was successfully organised by the Regional Commission for Social Commission, Bengal-Sikkim Region in active collaboration with SIGNIS Bengal.  The two-and-a-half days residential programme was held at Sanjeevani, Krishnagar, from 13th to 15th April, 2015.   A total of 55 participants, including priests, religious sisters and students from the diocese of Asansol, Baruipur and Krishnagar attended this fun-filled learning experience.

Fr. Devraj Fernandes speaks on Creative Education

The Festival was inaugurated by the Chairman of RCSC, Bishop Joseph Suren Gomes, Bishop of Krishnnagar, who invigorated the participants to take an active role in the world of Communication and Media.  Fr. Robin Gomes, Regional President, SIGNIS Bengal, in his welcome speech, stressed on the need for integrating Communication and New Media in our personal and pastoral life, especially in the backdrop of present environments. Fr. Prolay Boidya, Secretary to the Commission, also addressed the participants and encouraged them to take full advantage of the opportunity.

One of the groups in the Meme-making Challenge

The Media Fest aimed to update the participants with the challenges and opportunities offered by Social Communication Media of our times.  Some of the major topics covered were :
-    New Media – Challenges and Opportunities
-    Creative Media in Education
-    Media Convergence
-    Developing Communication and Public Speaking Skills
-    Applications of Media : Internet, Editing, etc.

The resource persons and animators for the various sessions included Fr. Robin Gomes, Fr. Devraj  Fernandez, Mr. Farrell Shah, Mr. Alexis Badal Gomes and Mr. Lawrence K. Gomes.

The highlight of the Fest was a Prak-Nabobarsho Adda on the evening of 14th April – a cultural programme to ring in the Bengali New Year, with performances by the participants themselves.
 

Communication with a dance!

The Media Fest concluded with an evaluation session, where the participants were divided into six groups to draw up an action plan for activating Communication cells and activities in their respective parishes and dioceses.  All participants were awarded Certificates for their valuable contribution to the success of the Media Fest.

New Media session group work

Fr. Vincent Aind, the new Bishop of Bagdogra

Kolkata - The Holy Father, Pope Francis has appointed Fr. Vincent Aind  as new Bishop for the Diocese of Bagdogra.  This  was made public in Rome on Tuesday, 7 April, 2015, at about 15:30 hours, Indian Standard Time.

Rev. Fr. Vincent Aind was born on 30th January, 1955 at Kalchini, West Bengal, Diocese of Jalpaiguri. Since 2007  Fr. Vincent was serving as the  Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Morning Star Regional Seminary and  Principal of the Morning Star College (BA Section) where he was a student as a seminarian. He is a Consultant and Member of the Diocesan Council for  Economic Affairs of the Diocese of Jalpaiguri and Regional Secretary of the Commission of the Clergy, Religious and Seminarians of the  Regional Episcopal Conference of West Bengal. He is also the Member, Executive Committee & Editorial Team of the  Association of Christian Philosophers of India (ACPI)

He has  B.A. Eco. Hons from St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling, M.A. in English from North Bengal University, B.Th. from St. Joseph’s Seminary Mangalore and  Doctorate  from  Gregorian University, Rome.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Jalpaiguri in April 1984. He speaks and writes English, Hindi, Nepali, Bengali, Sadri, Mundari, Italian and also reads French.
 
As a ordained priest he has served the diocese of Jalpaiguri in different capacities. He was the  Asst. Parish priest of Christ the King parish, Damanpur, and was also the Parish priest of St. Lucy’s church of the same diocese. After obtaining a doctorate in Rome he was at the Morning Star Regional Seminary as Professor of Philosophy,  Spiritual Director and Rector.

The Diocese of Bagdogra (1997), suffragan of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, has an area of ​​1,200 square kilometers and a population of 1,015,000 inhabitants, of which 54,301 are Catholics. There are 19 parishes, served by 58 priests (28 diocesan and 30 religious), 34 religious brothers, 151 nuns and 15 seminarians.

The Diocese of Bagdogra was  vacant since March 12, 2011, following the transfer of Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of Calcutta.

With text from Vatican Radio/CBCI. Photos courtesy Isaac Harold Gomes.

CBCI hosts Communication Leaders’ Meet at Kolkata

Kolkata -The Annual Communication Leaders’ Meet, organised by the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India (CBCI) was  held at Nitika, Don Bosco, Kolkata, 23-25 March, 2015. The leaders chose to study the theme: Social Communications in the Church in India: Appraisal and Challenges, this year.

Sessions at the meet, by some of India's best Catholic communicators,  dealt with Communication Spirituality  (Fr. Sebastian V.), Public Relations and Strategies to Deal with Media (Fr. Savarimuthu Shekhar), Social Communication  and Current Scenario: Challenges and Strategies  (Fr. Cedric Prakash), Finance, Budgeting, Resource Mobilisation, Management (Bishop  Salvadore), Social Communication, New Evangelisation and Pastoral Efficacy (Bishop Chacko),  New Media and Internet (Farrell Shah),  Catholic Press (Fr. Alfonso Elengikal) and SIGNIS (Sunil Lucas).

National Communications Secretary, and Director of a national media training and research institute, NISCORT, Fr. George Plathottam talked on Formation of Clergy and Religious for the task of Communication.

Reports on Communication ministry in the various regions were also read out, interspersed between sessions. 

VG condemns fundamentalist forces on televison

Kolkata - On March 25, Fr. Dominic Gomes, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Calcutta was a panelist at a talk show on popular Bengali television channel, ABP Ananda, which was aired at 9:00 p.m.

The discussion revolved around the nuns of St. Capitaneo Higher Secondary School for Girls at Champaguri in Nagrakata block, Jalpaiguri, who had received five threat letters and a phone call, between March 11 and 21.

The other panelists were Professors Partha Pratim Biswas and Sunil Chattopadhyay, and Mr. Ashim Sarkar, BJP State General-Secretary.

 You can watch a video of the full programme here »
 24min 20 sec.| Contributed by Isaac Harold Gomes

Cardinal Cleemis, CBCI delegation visits Ranaghat

Kolkata - His Eminence Baselios Cardinal Cleemis, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum, today visited the Jesus and Mary School, Ranaghat, leading a delegation of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India (CBCI) of which he is President. The Cardinal was accompanied by Dy. Secretary General of CBCI, Fr. Joseph Chinnayyan. The CBCI represents the 169 Catholic Dioceses all over India.

The visit was to express solidarity of the Catholic Church in India with the sisters of Jesus and Mary School, Ranaghat. The group also visited the sister who is recuperating at the sub-divisional hospital, Ranaghat.

His Eminence, along with Bishop Joseph Gomes, Bishop of Krishnagar, Fr. Dominic Gomes, Vicar General Calcutta Archdiocese, Fr. Panneer Selvam, Dy. Secretary - BRBC and Fr. Moloy D'Costa, Regional Secretary for Education also called on the Hon'ble Chief Minister, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, to express gratitude for ordering a CBI probe into the incident. They also conveyed the concerns of the Christian community in the country.

The CBCI said it "is humbled by the spirit of forgiveness and love shown by the sisters of Jesus and Mary Convent, Ranaghat, even in the face of such grave aggressions against them." They also clarified that His Eminence Baselios Cardinal Cleemis, was solely representing the Indian Bishop's Conference (CBCI) and not the Vatican, as was rumored in certain sections of the media.

The Cardinal also addressed a press conference at the Archbishop's House, Calcutta, and interacted briefly with the media. Video of the press conference is available on the Archdiocese homepage (Click on Video 2).
 

The Cardinal at the Press Conference

Interacting with Media in Calcutta