This article looks at the first thirty years of the presence and implantation of the Salesian charism on the soil of North-East India. The first group of six FMA missionaries disembarked in this region on 8 December 1923. During the span of time under consideration, there were eight foundations of which seven were in the North-East and one in West Bengal.
The phase of implantation, expansion and initial consolidation of Salesian presence in India may be considered to be the period from 1906 to 1951/52, i.e. from the arrival of Salesians until the establishment of the two provinces of the North and the South. This paper proposes to study the ideals that led the Salesians during this period, the challenges they faced, their response to these challenges and the results they attained.
The achievements of the Salesians during their 22 years of work at Tanjore were certainly remarkable. When they reached that place, there was just a large parish with a miserably housed middle school catering to about 130 boys and an incipient orphanage with a handful of inmates. Continue reading “Joseph Thekedathu – “St Francis Xavier’s orphanage and industrial school at Tanjore, South India (1906-1928)”, in “L’Opera Salesiana dal 1880 al 1922. Esperienze particolari in Europa, Africa, Asia”.”
Recent studies conducted in India have shown that both perceived social support and spirituality contribute significantly to increasing life satisfaction of Indian college students. While perceived social support is a major source of subjective well-being for adolescents, offering them physical and emotional comfort and protection from stressful events, spirituality enhances their purpose in life, interconnectedness with others, profound inner life and transcending of ordinary experiences. Continue reading “Antonio Dellagiulia,Giuseppe Crea,Joseph Jeyaraj,Lorenzo Filosa,Robert Ramesh Babu – The significance of the association between spirituality, well-being and perceived social support of indian college students.”
On 25th January 2015, Don Bosco Navajeevan (A home for street children/Young at Risk) in Hyderabad received 230 young boys. They were rescued by the police who raided bangle-making units in the Old City in Hyderabad. The children, aged between 8 and 18, had been held as bonded labour.1 This is only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Mr. Satyarthi, the Nobel Prize laureate, says that the Indian cities have a lot more hidden child labourers working under near-slavery conditions. What is worse, the children did not quite appreciate their release from “child labour” and being sent to their home states: Bihar and West Bengal; many of them said that they would return to the same work later. Poverty has become ever more prevalent so as to acquire such a tragic dimension. What is appalling perhaps is society’s mindset where “Child labor is not a big crime” or a mindset which does not place children on a priority list. There is also the discrimination that “These are the children of the lower castes who really do not matter.”
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The theme of this reflection, entitled: “Encounter of the Salesian Charism: South Asian Context, is self-explanatory. Drawing out its implications, the topic can be articulated in three focal points, implied in the very title, that is, “Salesian charism,” “South Asia,” and finally, the issue of the “Encounter…”.
Continue reading “Dominic Veliath – Encounter of the salesian charism. South Asian context”
Il Santo Padre ebbe la bontà di ricevere don Rinaldi in udienza particolare il 14 gennaio ultimo scorso; e così profonda e gradita fu l’impressione che riportò da quel colloquio.
L’augusto Pontefice manifestò ancora una volta la grandissima benevolenza che nutre per la Società Salesiana, e l’altissimo concetto in cui tiene il Venerabile Padre e Fondatore. Si compiacque di ricordare alcuni particolari della sua personalità, e insistette sul pensiero già espresso nel magnifico discorso che tenne in occasione della lettura del Decreto sulla eroicità delle virtù di Don Bosco, vale a dire che troppo poco si conosce qual uomo di talento e di studio
egli fosse. Continue reading “Filippo Rinaldi – Udienza Pontificia – Missione di Krishnagar e Vicariato di Kimberley”
Claudio Eugenio Méderlet (1867-1934), nato in Lorena, dal 1928 è stato vescovo di Madras (Chennai) e primo vescovo salesiano in India.
Don Ricaldone comunica che le pratiche per la beatificazione del Servo di Dio Domenico Savio volgono al termine: anzi, potrebbe anche darsi che l’auspicata beatificazione avvenisse prima della Pasqua del prossimo anno 1950.
Questo articolo è una presentazione dello studio sui primi trent’anni (1923-1953) della presenza delle FMA e dell’impianto del carisma salesiano nel nord est dell’India. Il primo gruppo di sei missionarie giunse in questa regione l’8 dicembre 1923. Negli anni presi in considerazione, si contano otto fondazioni, delle quali sette sparse nelle diverse parti della regione del nord est ed una nello stato adiacente del West Bengal.
La figura di mons. Eugenio Méderlet – salesiano, missionario, arcivescovo di Madras – non è certo molto nota, soprattutto per il periodo precedente alla sua partenza per le missioni dell’India nel 1907.
Spesso si cita la riflessione attribuita a Don Bosco: “Voi compirete l’opera, che io incomincio; io abbozzo, voi stenderete i colori…”. Che cosa fecero i Salesiani, i Salesiani e i loro numerosi cooperatori e amici quando il loro fondatore scomparve? Si sono accontentati di mantenere i lavori lanciati da lui? Sono riusciti a svilupparli, a crearne di nuovi?.
Si avvicinano le Feste Natalizie e Don Ricaldone desidera giunga la sua parola di paterno affetto, di augurio, di benedizione. Gli preme invitare a innalzare lo sguardo al Cielo, perchè da esso scende tra armonie di pace, quel Gesù che a tutti porta amore e salvezza.
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