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ET No. 21 For Private Circulation Only December 2010
May the Heart of Jesus Live in the Hearts of All Peoples
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A Word from our Visitator General...General Visitation: A dialogue with Cultures
Probably some of you have different understanding
of visitation, may be as visitater General coming andlooking, what happens here, a little bit of control, a
little bit of correction etc. Probably something of it
should also happen.
But we understand in the Generalate the visitation
more as a dialogue between the generalate and the
provinces, to understand how to answer to the
challenges of today as good religious and good
missionaries. It is not easy.
Therefore, focus of this General Visitation is
emphasized towards the religious life and missionary
service in the light of the last
two General Chapters. For
whole of of ASPAC zone
the same focus is
formulated because we are
looking in the society for
new ways, methods,
expressions of our religious
life and missionary service.
And the largest number of
confreres is in ASPACZone. Indian confreres are second largest group in
the Society of the Divine Word. So your contribution,your partnership in this dialogue is very importantand essential. I am very happy to be in the EasternIndian Province because Eastern Province in the pasthas taken many missionary initiatives. Sometimeschallenged by cultures, other contexts etc. but youare not discouraged even in some attacks and
persecutions. You go ahead in the Spirit of servicetrying to find new ways in spite of difficulties and
problems. So therefore I am here to be inspired byyour missionary service, by your religious life. Ofcourse, always taking the focus of evangelization, weare inspired by cultures, but also challenging cultures.So may be in some cases I would also raise somequestions of new challenges, but in the spirit ofdialogue. And I hope this visitation you also understandin this spirit.Therefore we can be enriched, we canenrich the Society of the Divine Word, and also
through the Society the Church and the Whole World.
A Tribute to Mother TeresaJharsuguda, August 26, 2010: If not as much as
that of Mother Teresa, at least one percent of what
she did if each one of us could do towards the needy
in our life time, the world would be a better place to
live in, said the main speaker and the chief guest Mr.
Tapas Rai Chaudhry, the former Municipal Chairman
of Jharsuguda, on the occasion of Mother Teresa Birth
Centenary Celebrations, August 26, 2010 at UtkalJyoti Premises.
The Celebration was organized by the INE
Province in collaboration with St. Arnold Vikas
Sanchar, the Communication Centre of the Province
and the CRI Jharsuguda. A life size plaque of Mother
Teresa also was erected at the Road Junction close
to Shanti Bhavan indicating Mother Teresa Road to
popularize her name and the Cox Colony road which
was named after her by the Municipal authorities in
2005, the year of her beatification.
The Celebration began with a floral tribute to
Mother Teresa by dignitaries from various religions.
Fr. Joseph Topno,SVD, the Provincial Superior of
INE, welcomed the guests and introduced the
occasion. Prayerful songs and dances were performed
by different religious communities of Jharsuguda. Fr.
Sunil Damor screened a collection of various video
clips captured during the life time of Mother Teresa.
Fr. Sundar Tandi as the Master of Ceremony and Fr.
Christopher Kerketta saw the smooth running of the
stage show. ET News Desk
SAVS Celebrates 44th India (World)Communications Day 2010
Jharsuguda, 14 Nov. 2010: New Media should
be used to connect people and strengthen human
relations and not to increase distance and individualism
said Fr. Sunil Damor,SVD, the Regional Secretary
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for Social Communications, addressing the Parishioners
of Jharsuguda, on the occasion of 44th World
Communication Day Celebration (in India celebrated
as India Communications Day) on 14 November,
2010. He also highlighted how our Holy Father Pope
Benedict the XVI keeps in touch with millions of young
people through the New Media like Youtube etc. He
Mentioned that the Holy Father wants his priests,
religious and lay leaders to discover new possibilities
for carrying out their ministry to and for the Word of
God through the New Media.
On this occasion St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar,the
Regional Communication Centre of Orissa organized
song and dance competitions for the Parishioners inwhich many youth and children tried their talents with
lot of enthusiasm. The winners were awarded to
encourage their talents. The evening was marked with
a melodious Orchestra. Professional singers like Ms.
Rita, Ms. Seema, Mr. Sameer etc. captured the
audience with their sweet voice.
Samblapur, 17 Nov.2010: Mother Teresa
Communicating Gods Love was the theme of the
44th World Communications day celebrated at
Regional level along with the Birth Centenary ofMother Teresa, at St. Josephs School premises
Sambalpur, organized by St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar,
the Regional Communication Centre of Orissa and
Signis-Odisha, on 17th November 2010.
Mr. Arun Pujari, the vice-chancellor of Sambalpur
University and the chief guest of the day highlighted
the new media as the source of vast knowledge. The
chief speaker of the day and a senior journalist Mr.
Bhagbat Prasad Nanda, stressed the Role of Media
in building the Nation in the spirit of selfless service
like that of Mother Teresa. Rt. Rev. Lucas
Kerketta,SVD, Bishop of Sambalpur, Rt. Rev. John
Barwa, SVD, Bishop of Rourkela, Rev. Fr. Joseph
Topno,SVD, Provincial Superior of India East, Rev.
Sr. Suma, M.C., the Regional Superior of the
Missionaries of Charity, Mr. Ajit Kumar Nayak, the
Secretary of the Sambalpur Press Club, Fr. Roy, the
Deputy Secretary of Orissa Bishops Council, andheads of various other religious communities were themain guests for the day.
The Day was marked by a special tribute to MotherTeresa and a variety Song Dance program performed
by St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar, Jharsuguda, Utkal Vani,Balasore and St. Marys Kala Vikas, Rourkela. A biggathering from all walks of life participated in the
program. Fr. Alphonce Toppo, the Secretary ofSignis-Odisha introduced the occasion and the guestsof the day while Fr. Sunil Damor,SVD the Regional
Secretary of the Commission for Social Communications,welcomed each guest with a bouquet of flowers.
It was a unique day for the Catholic Church of
Orissa, to highlight the life and service of Mother
Teresa and the role and importance given to media
by the Universal Catholic Church. The event was
widely reported by the Regional press and TV
channels.
ET News Desk
100 Years of Christian Presencein Puri
Puri, considered being the abode of Lord
Jaganath, and one of the most holy city for our Hindu
brethren, celebrated 100 years of Christian presence.
The Catholic Community has traveled for hundred
years through thick and thin and given witness.
Today there is still more urgency to give witness ofour faith to unite all people in peace, harmony and
integrity, said Rt. Rev. Raphael Cheenath, the
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SCHOOLS ANNUAL DAY
CELEBRATIONS 2010
Annual day is a long awaited occasion by children
in any of the schools. Come the months of November-
December and begins the round of Annual Day
Celebrations in all our schools.
I appreciate the bold step of the Divine Word
Society for establishing an English medium school
away from the city surrounded by the tribal villages
and I am sure St. Arnolds School, Jhartarang will
cater immensely to the education of the tribals and the
poor, said the chief guest, Mr. Sarada Prasad Nayak,
minister of state for food supplies & consumer
welfare. He was speaking on the occasion of the 3rd
Annual Day Celebration of St. Arnolds School,
Jhartarang, Rourkela, on 5th December, 2010. It was
the day of the children and the parents as the duo had
a wide smile on their faces. Parents looked overjoyed
seeing their children on the stage, in shining costumes,
dancing to the tune of variety of music and singing
along harmoniously with melodious instrumentals
played by their teachers.
The two hour long program consisted of varietysongs, dances and skit performance blending together
east and west. Amidst the big applause of parents andaudience the children conveyed the message very loudand clear, Nourish Love and Flourish Peace. The
show was indeed superb spreading the message ofpeace and harmony in our multi-religious andmulti-cultural society. The School has the strength of
1278 students with 55 full-fledged staff within the shortspan of three years of its existence. And it was not aneasy job to prepare 672 students to perform perfectly
on the stage.
Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, speaking
during the solemn celebration at the Catholic Church
premises on 12 December, 2010. Mr. Surendra
Kumar Mohanty, a well known personality in Puri, who
has seen the Christian Community from his childhooddays, addressing the audience on the occasion said,
In hundred years one gets old, but here it has
happened just the opposite. The Christian Community
in 100 years has become so young and vibrant.
During the British rule French and Spanish
Missionaries took care of the pastoral needs of the
British Soldiers. In 1905 Govt. had given a little place
for the Catholic Community in Puri and Missionaries
from Cuttack and Khurda looked after the pastoral
needs of this community. In 1910 Catholic Communitywas established in Puri and in 1911 a small residence
for the priest was built. The records show that Mr.
Remo Anthony was the first baptized Catholic of Puri
in 1949. Gradually the Catholic Community grew and
various Religious communities like C.M. Missionaries,
Sisters Adorers, Missionaries of Charity both Brothers
and Sisters etc. C.M Fathers took care of the
Community till 1975. And it was in 1975 that the
Parish was given to SVDs and Fr. Marian Zelazek
was the first SVD to step in Puri. Fr. Marian did not
limit himself to Catholics but spread his arms to serve
all types of people specially the lepers, poor and the
marginalized. He too began the dialogue and research
centre for the rich and the elite group so that no
section of society is left neglected.
The Community has grown steadily though mainly
migrants from other parts of India. Today Puri parish
consists of 60 families with the Hindi saying coming
true Chota Parivar, Sukhi Parivar. After Fr. Marian
Zelazek, Fr. Thomas R.A., Fr. Peter Vattakeril, Fr.
Mathew Poovanpuzha and Fr. Luke Veliaparambilhave served the Catholic Community of Puri as
Parish priests though the list of co-pastors goes long.
Presently Fr. Luke with his co-pastor Fr. Birender is
doing his best to keep the small Catholic Community
as vibrant as possible. It was their hard work that
made the 100 years come alive on 12 December,
2010.
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No doubt, the whole credit goes to Fr. K.C.
Thomas the principal, Fr. Symporian Kujur, Fr. Tomy
Geogre and the entire staff for their hard work
nourishing the little ones with the values of love, peace
and harmony for a better tomorrow.Another SVD School, St. Pauls School Hamirpur,
Rourkela celebrated the annual day on 16th of
November, 2010 with equal festivity. St. Lawrence
School, Tentloi celebrated Silver Jubilee Cum annual
day on 19th December and St. Arnolds School
Bhubaneswar on 21 December.
ET News Desk
INE Gold and Silver Men
1. Bro. Joseph Kerketta (Golden Jubilee)
2. Archbishop Raphael Cheenath (Archiepiscopate
Silver Jubilee)
3. Bp. John Barwa (Silver Jubilee)
4. Fr. Joseph Antony (Silver Jubilee)
5. Fr. Baptist DSouza (Silver Jubilee)
6. Fr. Francis Pereira (Silver Jubilee)
7. Fr. Francis Soreng (Silver Jubilee) and
8. Fr. Rudolf Crasta (Silver Jubilee).
Bro. Joseph Kerketta was born of Mr. MorisKerketta and Mrs. Veronica Dungdung, on 30 June
1932 at Samlaimunda-
Darupisa in Sundargarh
District. After having
finished his Secondary
School he joined the Society
of the Divine Word on 3rd
July 1957 and made his first
vows on 8 September 1960.
He made his final vows on 8 September 1966. He wasfirst appointed to INC where he served from 1962
to 1976 in different capacities like hostel incharge
and teacher at Dhani, teacher at Rajeswar Vidhyalaya
Mhow, and again Headmaster at Dhani. In 1976 he
was transferred to INE and became hostel incharge
at Gaibira till 1982. He was later made director of
Brother Formation house at Bagdehi and brothers
coordinator for India till 1991. After being relieved of
duties he still remains staff member at Brother
Formation house and dedicates his time in conducting
awareness programs and writing a lot on tribal
awareness and conscientization.
Archbishop Raphael Cheenathwas born on 29
December 1934 of late Mr. Francis and Theresa at
Manalur in Trichur diocese of Kerala State. After
having completed his high
school he joined SVD atPalda in 1953. he made his
first vows in Khurda on 31
May 1957. He completed
his philosophical and
theological studies at Pune
from 1957 to 1963. He took his final vows in 1963
and was ordained a priest on 21 September 1963.
From 1964 to 1972 he served in various places in
various capacities like Rector of St. Johns
Seminary Changnachery, Asst. Rector of PuneSeminary, Novice Master in Khurda and later as
provincial in 1972 for half a year. The same year he
was made as Consultor General of the Society of the
Divine Word in Rome. He stayed there till 1974. on
28 February was elected Bishop of Sambalpur and
consecrated as Bishop of Sambalpur on 18 May
1974. Later in 1979 he was transferred to Sambapur
as the Bishop of Sambalpur diocese and on 11
August he was made Archbishop of Cuttack
Bhubaneswar. All through his episcopate he has served
nationally and internationally in various capacities. In
1999 he celebrated his Episcopal Silver Jubilee and
this year he Celebrates Archiepiscopate Silver Jubilee.
Most Rev. John Barwa was born of Cyril Barwa
and Carolina Ekka on 1 June 1955 at Rengali in
Sundargarh District. Of the 6 sisters and two brothers
he is the fourth child in the family. He joined the Society
of the Divine Word after
having completed Graduation
in 1976. The first vows he
made in 1978 and the final
vows in 1984. He was
ordained a priest on 14 April
1985. He served as Asst.
Parish Priest in
Singarmunda, Gaibira and
Asst. Director at RPC. Later he went to Rome for hisLicentiate in Liturgy. After returning from Rome he
became the Director of RPC from 1993 to 1999. Hewas elected vice provincial in 1997 and then
provincial in 1999 till 2005. Then he became parishpriest of Rajganpur for a year and was appointed asco-adjutor Bishop of Rourkela in 2006. He took upthe charge as Bishop of Rourkela in 2008.
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Fr. Joseph Anthonywas born on 4 March 1952 at
Vickramasingapuram in the diocese of Palayamkottai
in Tamil Nadu, in the family of Mr. A. Ignatius Muthu
and Mrs. Lourdu Mary. He
is the eldest of the three sonsonly in the family. He joined
the Society in 1977 after
Graduation and made his first
vows in 1979. After his
final vows in 1984 was
ordained a priest in 1985.
He has served as Asst. Parish Priest in Gaibira from
1985-1986, in Birmitrapur from 1986-89, as parish
priest in Thakurpali from 1989-1995, in Kiralaga from
1995-98. Later as Asst. Director of Upaya from
1998-2001, Asst. Parish Priest in Gopinathpur from2002-2005, in Phalsa from 2005-2006 and now Par-
ish Priest of Bhodra Parish from 2006 onward.
Fr. Baptist Michael DSouzais the 5th child of
Mr. Louis and Mrs. Alice from Balakuuje in
Mangalore. He was born
on 7 April 1956 and joined
the Society of the Divine
Word on 30 May 1969
after completing high
school. He pronounced thefirst vows in 1979 and the
final vows in 1984. He was
ordained a priest on 4 May
1985. He is hard core Ho Missionary because most of
his life has been with his dear Ho Tribals. He served
in Pallahara, Gopinathpur and again Pallahara from
1985 to 1994. Later he became parish priest of
Sundargarh from 1994 to 1996. From Sundargarh he
was elected the Provincial Superior of INE in 1996
for one term. Again he became the Parish Priest ofPallahara in 1999 and from 2009 he is the Parish priest
of Duburi in the Ho Mission.
Fr. Francis Pereirawas born in Kathavara of
Belvai Parish in Mangalore on 13 March 1956 in the
family of Mr. Ignatius Pereira
and Mrs. Lilly Pinto. After
having completed his M.E.
School he entered in the
Society of the Divine word at
Kirem on 30 May 1969. Hepronounced his first vows on
8 June 1979 and the final vows on 12 June 1984. He
was ordained a priest on 4 May 1985. He holds a
Licentiate in Theological Anthropology and Doctorate
in Tribal Theology and Sacred Theology. He has a
wide range of experience as pastor and a formator.
He served as Asst. Priest in Jolda, Sundargarh andSambalpur and as Parish Priest in Kiralaga. For two
years he was the province youth director and then Shanti
Bhavan Rector. From 1994 he has been in the Khristo
Jyoti Mohavidyaloyo, Sason in various capacities as
professor, dean, Rector and Resident staff. From 2002
he had been provincial councilor and vice provincial.
Till date he serves as dean and formator in Sason.
Fr. Francis Soreng,born on 16 June 1948 is the
5th child of Mr. Mathias Soreng and Mrs. Magdali
Kullu of Rajabasa-Dantatoli inSundargarh District. In 1972
after high school he joined the
Society of the Divine Word
at Jyoti Bhavan, Sambalpur.
He pronounced his first vows
in 1978 and final vows in
1984. He was ordained a
priest on 20 April 1985. He
has been a pastor all through his life and has a wide
range of experience as Asst. Priest at Birmitrapur, Jalda
etc. He has been a prish priest in many parishes like
Jhorabahal, Gaibira, Rajgangpur and Gomardihi. At
present he is the parish priest of Kiralaga Parish.
Fr. Rudolf Crastafrom the village Kannada
Kudru in Mangalore was born on 14 August 1956 in
the family of Mr. Rosario
Crasta and Mrs. Cecillia
Crasta. He joined the
Society of the Divine Word
after High School andpronounced the first vows in
1979. Later in 1984 he
pronounced the final vowsand was ordained a priest on 9 May 1985. He holdsM.A. in Anthropology. He was Asst. Priest atMadhupur for two years. In 1987 he became theSecretary to the Archbishop in Bhubaneswar. Laterin 1988 treasurer in the Archdiocese of Bhubaneswar.In 1998 he became the rector and procurator at St.Lawrence School Tentloi. From 2001 to 2003 he was
the spiritual director at Brother formation houseBagdehi. He was the Asst. priest in Gomardihi from2003 for a year and transferred to Sundargarh as Asst.
Priest where he continuous to serve till date.
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MISSIONARIES REJUVANATED
Our National Mission Secretary Fr. Dominic
Emmanuel has been time and again organizing
Seminars and workshops to re-strengthen our
missionaries. The Assistant parish priests had the
privilege to re-vitalize their missionary zeal in a
Seminar from January 21-25, 2010 at Atma Darshan,
Mumbai. Fr. Baptist, the Mission Secretary of INE
Province took lot of personal interest, contacted and
encouraged our confreres in the Province to attend
the seminar. As a result eleven of them from our
Province attended the seminar.
According to the participants the seminar and
Workshop was over all excellent. The evaluation
rating clearly indicated that the participants liked the
course and found it useful for the mission work in
parishes. They also recommended many such programs
in the future. They expressed that it is very useful
course for all age groups, for ongoing formation and
should be conducted not only at National level but
also at regional levels so that more can participate.
As an immediate follow up a four day seminar
Mission Accompaniment was conducted at
Ishopanthi Ashram, Puri, from March 9-12, 2010,for all the young Missionaries of INE who are
ordained and have taken final vows between the years
2000-2010. The Seminar was organized by the INE
Mission Secretary Fr. Baptist DSouza and Fr.
Frederick Santhumayor and Ronald Pereira guided
and led the young confreres into deeper reflection on
the life in the mission. Most of the confreres in the
above said group attended the seminar and renewed
their missionary zeal.
After getting the positive response from the
confreres as the felt need Fr. Dominic Emmanuel, the
National Mission Secretary has organized one more
such Seminar and workshop for all the SVD Parish
Priests and the heads of the Institutions, form January
25-27, 2011.
ET News Desk
A Jubilee Celebration With ADifference
I never even dreamt of seeing this day. I never
imagined that hopeless alcoholics who had lost name,
fame and family life would remain sober for as many
as 25 years, and one day would celebrate their jubilee.
Twenty-five years ago I had begun it just on a trial
basis. Therefore, today I stand before you I raise my
heart in thanksgiving to God, our Higher Power for
the gift of liberation from alcohol. It is your depth of
faith which has lifted you up from the abyss ofdarkness into his marvelous light. This is how I
addressed the gathering of 190 members of Maitri
Sangathan with their spouses who had gathered at
Kalunga for their Silver Jubilee.Maitri Sangathanis
the local version of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in
our Province.
Ever since I began this ministry among the
alcoholics in Jalda, diocese of Rourkela in 1985, I
carried it on for the last 25 years without any specific
appointment by the Society of the Divine Word for
this work, and without any project for funds from the
SVD or any funding agency. I tried this ministry along
with my other official appointments, of course with
the active support and encouragement of the Society.
The participants for awareness and healing
programmes paid for their boarding and lodging.
I adapted the recovery programme advocated by
the international fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous
(A.A.) to our situation here. We have 16 groups of
sober alcoholics in various parishes through which
around 250 men who were once hopeless alcoholicshave given up drinking and are living a sober life,
excluding those who have relapsed. We celebrated
this jubilee on the 25thand 26th of September at Nava
Jagriti, Kalunga, not in a normal way of any external
celebration, but in a different way.
First, in the name of the Jubilee, we had a gathering
of all the groups along with their spouses. It was a
family gathering of recovered alcoholics to thank the
Lord for the grace of new life, and for sharing their
experiences of spending so many sober years. Secondly,we organized a special Awareness Programme on the
problem of alcoholism and other behavioural
addictions to TV, mobile phone, computer, internet,
work, eating, etc., for all the Fathers, Brothers,
Sisters, and candidates, postulants, pre-novices and
novices of all the nine religious congregations and
Church institutions in Jharsuguda on the 13thand 14th
of November. Over 150 priests, religious and formees
of all congregations attended the programme.
As we know, the rates of alcoholism/drug addiction
and other modern (behavioural) addictions to things
such as TV, film, mobile phone, computer, internet,
etc., are on the increase, affecting the mental and
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spiritual health of so many people in our families and
society. There are several similarities (and also
dissimilarities) between alcoholism and all other
addictions. When priests and religious come across
these people in their ministry, they are at a loss howto deal with them and how to counsel the families
who are affected by these addicts. Normally, they
scold, condemn, advise and sermonize these addicts
for their misbehavior and lovelessness. They need to
understand that it is a psycho-spiritual illness, and these
traditional methods will not change these people. Most
priests and religious think that addicts have no will
power or strong determination to give up drinking or
the uncontrolled use of drugs, mobile-phones, internet
and watching TV, but need to understand that they
have lost will power over the use of alcohol, drugs orTV, etc., though they have will power over other
matters.
This special programme for the clergy, religious
and the formees of nine religious congregations was
organized with the objective of making them aware
of the causes of alcoholism and other modern addictions,
and common factors among all these addictions; ways
of understanding and helping the addicts and their
families; and steps to be taken to prevent these
addictions.21 laymen (ex-addicts) gave testimonies about
their experience with alcohol and how they came out
of it and how they manage their lives now. Besides
understanding the problem of addicts, and coming to
know the recovery programme for them, the
participants benefited for their personal life also in
two ways: (1) If not to alcohol, clergy and religious
also can become victims of modern behavioural
addictions. This programme helped them to read
danger signals in their own behaviour. (2) Since the
recovery programme for the addicts is mainly a
spiritual programme, it can help priests and religious
to overcome their own personal weaknesses such as
anger, workoholism, tensions, resentment, etc.
Fr. Frederick Santhumayor, SVD
CHRISTMAS GATHERING & JUBILEE
CELEBRATIONS
The Combined Celebration of Christmas Gathering
and Jubilee of eight of our missionaries in the Provinceis scheduled for December 27, 2010 at Shanti
Bhavana, Jharsuguda.
As one SVD family in the Province we come
together on December 27, 2010 to acknowledge our
deepest gratitude to these confreres and to pray and
thank God for the gift of these zealous and committed
missionaries to the Province.
ET News Desk
Community Welfare SocietyDedicated for the upliftment of poor
As the year is coming to a close, I take this
opportunity to wish to share with you my last 35 years
of experience working among the slum dwellers in
collaboration with people of good will.
The presence of altruism in human being in some
shape or the other cannot be refuted; similarly, thereexists in the hearts of every human being a will to live
in brotherhood, a thirst for dignity, justice and peace
and to build a better humanity. However this altruism
or the desire to build a better world mostly remain
untapped and unexplored because every human
being does not get an opportunity to express his/her
inherent thoughts and put them into action at the right
time in the right environment. A platform or opportunity
is necessary to bring together such individuals.
It was this lacuna which was realized by Late
Bishop Westermann, SVD who initiated to fill this
vacuum by entrusting Fr. John Alapatt, SVD to work
out a strategy for Rourkela Steel City in Orissa. He
allowed him to buy a piece of land in Civil Township,
Rourkela and to construct a building for this purpose.
However in 1974 he left India and this work was
entrusted to Rt. Rev. Raphael Cheenath, SVD and
thus the Seva Sadan came into existence in 1975 to
work with people of goodwill, to create a ground for
human development encompassing peace, harmony
and mutual respect.
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Seva Sadan with the permission of Bishop
Cheenath, SVD sponsored the Community Welfare
Society (CWS) to work independently as a regis-
tered society by keeping its link with the Seva Sadan.
Community Welfare Society (CWS) thus, founded in1976 which has a strong belief that there are number
of good hearted human beings who if brought together
can give valuable service to humanity. The belief turned
into conviction over the last 35 years in which in-
dividuals from various walks of life, who were as-
sociated with CWS as office bearers, members, or
well wishers put their efforts to transform the life of
the poor slum dwellers of Rourkela urban area. Many
of these good hearted people are qualified Engineers,
Doctors, Educationists, Industrialists, Administrators,Lawyers, Social Activists, Priests, Nuns and so on
who render their selfless service at different stages. It
has been successful in bringing about attitudinal
changes through their participation and makes them
feel the quality of better life. The members and the
beneficiaries enabled the CWS to take up the initial
stage activities such as digging well, laying slum roads
and drainages, housing for poor industrial workers
living in the slums, schools for slum children, creches
(Day Care Centre) providing primary health care,
establishing vocational centers such as exercise note
book manufacturing unit and tailoring Centers etc.
Since 2002 our focus has been shifted to human
resources development. As a result we formed
hundreds of Self Help Groups (SHG) and 54 Women
Organizations (Mahila Samiti) which enables them to
develop themselves. We also expanded our activities
to 60 slums covering 80,000 people. It is the women
who became the agents of change in the slums. Theyhave taken up both economic and social causes for
people in their own localities and brought about
development in living standards, health hygiene,
sanitation, childrens education and overall peaceful
environment in the slums. The women have
developed self confidence to voice their problems and
views in public as well as before the Govt. officials.
They even arbitrate and settle various domestic
violence, disputes and other cases, without seeking
police assistance. Their anti-liquor struggles have ledmany people to change their way of life. More than
1000 ladies either individually or in groups have
developed income generating schemes which will
sustain their families. The activities and achievements
enumerated briefly are only a tip off the ice berg.
Hospital
CWS hospital is another land mark collaborating
activities. The CWS hospital presently a 100 bed
general hospital provides comprehensive medical care
to the people of Rourkela & the inhabitants in the
sub-urban areas & periphery villages. Over the last 8
years of its existence, there has been a steady increase
in the flow of patients not only from the immediate
neighborhood but also from distant places in the
district and the neighboring states of Jharkhand and
Chhatisgarh. This has only been possible due to the
dedicated services rendered by the Doctors, Nursesand Para medical Staff of this hospital. All services
are provided at an affordable cost keeping in mind
the needs of the weaker sections of our society.
Besides free consultation facilities to poor patients in
the OPD at a fixed time daily, treatment on
concession is given to deserving indoor patients.
The hospital renders round the clock emergency
medical service in addition to the major disciplines of
Medicine, Surgery, Orthopedics, Gynae an Obs,
Pediatrics, EYE & ENT. It has the services of Nutritiontherapist & Physiotherapist as well. The Diagnostic
facilities include well equipped full automated
Pathology, Biochemistry, Microbiology &
Histopathology Labs. Radiology Dept. equipped with
a Spiral CT SCAN., 500 mA X-ray unit & a Mobile
unit, whole body ultrasound, Echocardiography, Color
Doppler, Upper GI Video endoscopy, KCG & TMT,
Video Colonoscopy, Sigmoidoscopy facilities and
facilities for bone marrow Exam & FNAC. We have
a well equipped Blood Bank and Modern OperationTheatres. In this year we have also started Health
insurance scheme for the BPL (Below Poverty Line)
Card holders by subsidizing their premium. We want
to cover 5000 BPL Card holders in the coming five
years.
The CWS while taking up various activities, kept
always in mind that due respect should be given to
the religious feeling of various communities and to
remain non communal and non religious and non
political in its various activities. This type ofcollaboration shows that the development and the
transformation of the world could be a common
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effort which can invite religious or non religious groups
or institutions to participate in transforming the world.
Thus, the people of good will acting together can serve
as catalyst in transforming humanity. During his
interaction with the office bearers and seniormembers of CWS , Very Rev. Fr. Konrad
Keller,SVD Vice General of the Society of the
Divine Word, said CWS could be the role model
for individuals and organization of diversity of religion,
language, creed, sex and territory to work together
for transforming the humanity. He writes in the
Arnoldus Nota, the official news letter of SVD for
the month of November, the Community Welfare
Society .could be and example of inter-
religious dialogue with the poor in Orissa. Thiscollaboration shows that the development and the
transformation of the world could be a common
effort, and include the contributions of any religious
or non religious groups or institution. The people of
good will acting together can serve as catalyst
in transforming humanity and build the kingdom
of God irrespective of caste, creed or religion,
ethnic or cultural origin. By this type of
collaboration like the one experienced in the
Community Welfare Society where the people
give witness to the possibility of overcoming
prejudices and lead all towards mutual
understanding.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out
more laborers into His harvest Mt.9:38. Hence ask
the Lord to send more workers from every caste,
creed, race, religion or sex to build up His Kingdom
of peace, harmony, love and justice.
In the present day world, it is not enough and notpossible for one individual to scratch here and there
and try to develop or transform the society. It is only
a collective approach and effort which can make a
dent in the transformation process. It is here that the
Church, for that matter any religious or non religious
organization and institution can contribute by acting
as catalysts to bring together people of goodwill
irrespective of caste, creed, and religion in order to
transform the humanity and thus to realize Gods
Kingdom on earth.
Fr. John Alapatt,SVD
Santragachi A New SVD Parish Now
St. Joseph the Worker Church , Santragachi is
renovated and ready for rededication. The 42 year
old church was finally declared a Parish on 1st May2010 and Fr. Ranjit Kerketta SVD installed as the
first Parish Priest of St. Joseph the Worker Church .
The first brick of the church was laid down on the
feast of St. Joseph on March 19th 1967 by Fr.
Castelino sj and was blessed by Archbishop Albert
DSouza. The church then catered to the spiritual
needs of the catholic community who primarily
comprised of the Anglo Indian Community. Over the
years most of them immigrated to Australia and En-
gland . Over the years the catholic community hasgrown and now comprises mainly of the adivasi com-
munity. In the year 2000 the parish was entrusted to
the society of the divine Word Missionaries.
Our parish has taken active part in all inter parish
events and has earned many laurels. We may be
located in the tiny railway colony, but that has never
deterred our spirit. We have always worked as a
family through everything that has come our way. The
happy moments as well as the sad, we have stayed
together through thick and thin. We fondly remember
the contributions of all the priests that had worked
tirelessly to see the community in Santragachi grow
nurturing our spiritual needs and help build our faith.
Starting with Fr. Castelino who was in a way the
founder of this small but vibrant community in
Santragachi. He passed on the mantle to others who
carried on from where he left with great dedication
and charisma. We fondly recall Frs. Reginald
Fernandez, Rebello, and Stephen Raphael. Cyril
Fernandez, Jyotiraj Babu, Paul Moras, Isidore Kindo
and Peter DCuhna.
The 1stof May 2010 will always be a memorable
day for all the parishioners. The entire parish got
together to celebrate this wonderful occasion of being
declared a Parish. The church compound wore a
festive look with the bright and colorful decorations.
We had with us the Chief Celebrant Archbishop Lucas
Sirkar sdb Concelebrants Rev. Fr. John Mohandas
VG, Fr. Handel DSouza the Chancellor of the Arch
diocese, Fr. Telesphore, Fr. Dilip Tirkey Fr. Ranjit
Kerketta our Parish Priest and many other priestsmaking it all the more joyous. The church looked beau-
tiful like never before thanks to some of our parishio-
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ners who worked tirelessly to make it look that good.
The servite sisters under Sr. Rosary the superior and
Sr. Saluja Principal of St. Marys school contributed
greatly in making this event such a huge success. They
put together a lovely program and also helped in theliturgy together with members of the PPC who did an
excellent job.
The program started at 5.00pm with His Grace
being welcomed in the traditional tribal style with
dance by the Adivasi community and the parish youth,
under the guidance of Mr. Michael DCruze, secretary
of the PPC didnt leave any stone unturned in making
the choir sound as melodious and lively as possible.
All the children of the parish were given ice-cream to
relieve themselves of the heat. A cultural programfollowed in the church campus. His Grace and the
other dignitaries were presented with a token of
appreciation. The parish youth put up an entertainment
program which included songs, dance and skits on
St. Joseph . Above all we ended the occasion with
sumptuous community meal.
Fr. Ranjit Kerketta SVD
Biblical Apostolate at theService of the Local Church
As members of the Society of the Divine Word,
proclaiming the Word of God to all is our priority.
Our very name compels us to consider the biblical
apostolate as one of the characteristic ways of placing
ourselves at the service of the local church. Keeping
this priority in mind, the Eastern Indian Province tries
to render this service to the dioceses of Rourkela and
Sambalpur. One of these contributions was made
when our former Biblical Coordinator, Fr. Paul
Ethakatt SVD took up the task of getting the SadriNew Testament published in 1986 revised and
printed. Fr. Frederick Santhumayor SVD took up the
work of revising the Sadri NT with the help of a team
of priests, Sisters and lay persons. The revised ver-
sion was published in 2004. Now the local church is
privileged to have a Sadri NT with a much better and
polished Sadri language.
The second service, not only to these two
dioceses but also to the Church in India, was
rendered by our Province when we published a book
authored by Fr. Frederick Santhumayor SVD on anew approach to gospel reflections titled Power of
the Wordin 2007. Though there are a number of
books of this sort, what makes this volume different
from all other books of homilies/reflections is its
creative style in presenting the message of the gospel
texts, prescribed for the three-year cycle of Sunday
and Feast Day Liturgy, in precise columns andcryptic statements (called focus-statements) written
in common (non-technical) language. This volume can
rightly be called a multi-purpose book with a number
of options for readers. They can develop the focus-
statements on their own into personal or community
prayer, or a homily, or as a guide to pastoral action in
Indian situation. Alternately, the readers can also make
use of the applications to their life-situation given by
the author in a separate column (box). Outside the
liturgy, the readers can use this book by picking up
any gospel passage and developing the focus-statements into personal or guided (community) prayer
for any other occasion such as adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament, Bible Vigil, Bible meditation,
Gospel Sharing, etc.
The third service was rendered to the local church
by translating and publishing the same Power of the
Word book in Sadri language with some additional
explanations and a general introduction to the spirituality
of the Bible for the benefit of the laity. Besides its
usefulness for gospel sharing and family prayer, it isan invaluable aid for the catechists who conduct the
Sunday Service in the absence of priests all over the
Sadri-speaking areas of Orissa and Jharkhand.
Besides this, the biblical coordinators, Frs. Paul
Ethakatt and Frederick Santhumayor have visited the
various parishes, institutions and formation houses of
both the dioceses to conduct bible animation
programmes on regular basis. In the last two years
alone the present Biblical Coordinator, Fr. Frederick
Santhumayor has conducted one, two or three-day
biblical animation programmes in 49 parishes and
institutions of both the dioceses.
Fr. Frederick Santhumayor SVD
St. Larence School Tentloi,
Turns Silver
Saint Lawrence School, a premier educational
institution in the district of Angul, Orissa is completing
25 years during this academic year. It is a moment of
joy for all to celebrate the Silver Jubilee.
It is our Almighty God who has efficiently guided
the School under the patronage of Saint Lawrence.
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St. Lawrence did everything for the poor. Hence he
is declared the patron saint of the poor. A preference
for the poor therefore is a priority of our school in
educating the masses.
Saint Lawrence School owes its origin to theSociety of the Divine Word, the congregation founded
by Saint Arnold Janssen who was a Catholic Priest
from Germany. He was a mathematics teacher himself.
Society of the Divine Word today gives priority to
education apostolate and runs many schools, colleges
and universities all over the world.
Fr. Shilanand Kamath SVD was the first to come
to Talcher in 1975 to cater to the needs of the Catholic
community. With the arrival of Fr. Jose Kurianthanam,
a diocesan priest from Sambalpur diocese anemphasis was given to educational ministry and began
kindergarten in 1984. A man of short stature and agile
nature took keen interest in the field of education and
felt the need of starting an English medium school. At
this time Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, then bishop
of Sambalpur diocese was offered an infrastructure
by Nalco to begin an English medium school at
Nalconagar. He approached the Society of the Divine
Word to take up this responsibility. As the terms and
conditions were not agreeable to both parties, it was
decided to start an English medium school at Tentoloi
village. This place was chosen to start the school
because it was a central location for Angul and Talcher,
thus could easily cater to all people of this area. Fr.
Cyprian Pinto SVD who as a treasurer of the
province took keen interest to support Fr. Jose
Kurianthanam for buying the land. Both of them faced
difficulties to obtain the land. Words cannot express
our gratitude for the wonderful work that Fr. Jose
has done in this place. Later Fr. Emile Soreng SVD
and Fr. John Maliekal SVD as provincial superiorstook initiatives and encouraged our confreres to
establish this school at this place.
The arrival of Fr. Felix Padanilath SVD to this place
was a blessing. The efficient leadership of Fr. Felix,
the first principal of Saint Lawrence School has been
responsible for what the school is today. As a person
with lot of experience in the education field was a
right choice to begin an English medium school at
Tentoloi. Thus Saint Lawrence School came into
existence on 22nd
June, 1986. The then provincialsuperior Fr. John Maliekal SVD inaugurated the first
academic session for nursery and first standard with
16 students. Within a week there were 40 each in
nursery and class 1 with two teachers to teach.Today
the School has 1550 students, making the dream a
reality.
Fr. Abraham Vakkaparambil succeeded Fr. Felix
as principal of Saint Lawrence School on13.04.1998. He was succeeded by Fr. S. Joseph
from June 1, 2001 to 22ndJune, 2009. There are many
confreres who have toiled hard as Rectors, Treasurers
and teachers to bring up the School. The self-sacrificing,
energetic and enthusiastic team of teachers over the
years has been a blessing for the School.
Situated on the bank of Nandira River in a village
Tentoloi, Saint Lawrence School has a wonderful
discipline and ambience for education. It is affiliated
to the Council for the Indian School Certificate
Examinations on 15thApril, 1999 and has been
imparting quality education to the children of Angul
District. Over the years, batches of students left the
portals of Saint Lawrence School with not only
excellent academic results but also fully formed persons
prepared to face a world of challenges. It was in the
year 1996 that the first batch of ICSE students wrote
Class 10 examination. For the past several many years
our students have secured 100% result with many
distinctions.
A big challenge lies before us to mould everystudent into an integrated personality so that they
cherish eternal values and live upright lives in order to
make this world a better place to live in love, peace
and harmony. And we are sure God Almighty will bless
us and our school through the intercession of Saint
Lawrence, the patron and Saint Arnold our founder,
to fulfill this dream.
Fr. Victor Rodrigues, SVD
MINORITY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND
RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT
The long awaited Seminar on minority rights and
Right to Education Act (RTE) was conducted at Shanti
Bhavan, Jharsuguda, on 11thand 12thof December
2010. Fr. K. M. Joseph SJ (Justice and Human Rights
Forum and a senior practitioner in Patna High Court)
was the Resource Person. He is an authority on the
topic and has vast practical experience in this field.
The participation was very encouraging as many non
SVDs too from all the other five diocese attended theSeminar cum Workshop.
(Courtesy: Province Circular)
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INDIA EASTERN PROVINCE
Silver Bells Ring in the
Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Diocese
The archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswarcelebrated the Arch-Episcopal Silver Jubilee of Most
Rev. Raphael Cheenath, SVD, on August 11, 2010.
It was a very graceful and meaningful celebration to
thank and praise God for all the blessings showered
upon Bishop Cheenath during this past quarter of a
century. Ever since His Grace Raphael Cheenath,
shouldered this responsibility as Archbishop, in the
year 1985, the diocese has grown in faith and the
people have proved it during the black days of its
unfortunate communal violence in Kondhamal. We
pray for the entire archdiocese and Congratulate our
beloved Archbishop Raphael Cheenath on completion
of 25 years as the Archbishop of Cuttack-
Bhubaneswar.
(Courtesy:Province Circular)
INTER PROVINCIAL MEETINGS
An Inter Provincial Planning, Formation,Communication and other Commissions meetings took
place from September 18-21, 2010 at Shanti Bhavan,
Jharsuguda. About 55 SVD confreres including the
members of various commissions like Formation,
Justice, Peace and Integration of Creation (JPIC),
Communications, Arnold Janssen Spirituality etc.
gathered to take stock of the past one year and to
plan for the coming year. A Seminar on PR was also
organized on this ocassion by the National Mission
Secretary. Mr. Alwyn Fernandez as the resource
person enlightened the participants on the topic stress-
ing the need of more Public Engagement than Public
Ralations.
A Power House Divya Dham
in INE
Divya Dham (Holy Abode) has been gradually
picking up as the devotees visit every friday for prayerand reflection in this silent surrounding.
This long awaited house of prayer and pilgrimage,
named Divya Dham (A Holy Abode) was inaugurated
and blessed by Most Rev. John Barwa, Bishop of
Rourkela diocese and Fr. Joseph Topno, Provincial
Superior of INE, on 29 January 2010 in a simple
ceremony at H. Kantapalli village, six kilometer away
from Jharsuguda town. The mercy prayer group has
been taking active part every week to pray for self as
well as for the whole Church and for all.
ET News Desk
SAVS NEWS IN BRIEF
Computer & Journalism Courses:From April
to September 2010 St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar
organized various courses. A journalism course was
attended by 27 participants from various dioceses and
religious congregations. Computer course for four
batches, both for beginners and advanced, was
conducted and 48 participants both lay and religious
from all around Orissa, including the Novices of
Handmaids of Mary and Salesians of Don Bosco
made use of the opportunity provided.
Music Courses: A one month intensive course
was conducted and around 50 participants from all
over Orissa worked hard to improve their talents in
various forms of music and dance. Besides such timely
courses Arnold Music and Dance Academy runs
regular Music School. This year there are around sixtystudents from Jharsuguda town learning various dances
and musical instruments. They will appear for their
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INDIA EASTERN PROVINCE
exams conducted by Prayag Sangeet Samiti,
Allahabad.
Outreach Programs:SAVS has been reaching out
to public with its dance-drama and musical group.
The group presented religious and value basedmusical program at Jharsuguda and Sambalpur in
November. Our troupe has presented its religious
dance-drama at Putrikhaman and Thakurpali and
some more Parishes have booked for program during
the Christmas Season 2010.
Arnold Music and Dance Academy:This year the
Academy has 60 regular students for various courses
like Key-board, Vocal, Tabla, Guitar, Bharatnayam
and Oddisi etc. The Academy celebrated Xmas with
their parents and neighbours on 20th of December.The students of the Academy presented a colorful
cultural show and won the hearts of the audience.
ET News Desk
CONTEXTUAL THEOLOGICAL
FORMATION AT DIVYA JYOTI, SASON
Having focused on the vision of Divya Jyoti,
Illumined by the Word we step into the World, to
reach out others in Faith and Love, the community isbrimming with life as we grow in numbers and in
various activities. Divya Jyoti, the new SVD
Seminary was blessed on 21stSeptember 2008 by
Most Rev. Lucas Kerketta, SVD, Bishop of
Sambalpur and inaugurated by Rev. Fr. Joseph Topno,
SVD, Provincial Superior of INE in the presence of
the staff and the students of Khristo Jyoti
Mohavidyaloyo, members of other formation houses
like Adhyayana Bhavan, Carmel Sadan, priests,
sisters and lay people from Sambalpur.By establishing this house of formation, the Society
of the Divine Word emphasizes the need to provide
contextualized theological formation to our future
missionaries. The seminary became operational on 1st
October 2008, with the shifting of our residence from
Khristo Jyoti Mohavidyaloyo (KJM), Majhipali. We
began with seven SVD Scholastics who werepursuing their Theological studies at KJM. Among
them four have been already ordained as priests who
are active in the Missions, of whom Fr. Antony is a
missionary in Argentina and Fr. Biju a missionary in
Ghana. Frs. Kashmir and Soby are missionaries in
Bezda-Kolkata and North East region respectively.
Among those seven three are in their final stage of
their formation here. They are Deacons Justin Jayaraj
and Santhosh Paul DSouza and Frt. Binoy Augustine.
At present we have twelve Scholastics: 4 in the first
year of theology, 5 in the second year, 1 in the third
year, 2 in the fourth year of theology.
We hope that there would be a steady increase in
the number of SVDs opting for contextual theological
formation provided here. This has enabled our SVD
scholastics to have their own community formation
programmes. In order to encourage fellowship among
the SVDs, this house welcomes our SVD missionaries
working in Sambalpur and other neighbouring dioceses,to spend some time to refresh and update themselves
by reading books provided by KJM library and just
to relax and pray. Regularly district meetings and other
fellowship gatherings for the SVDs are being
organized here. We also plan to begin soon activities
such as retreats, seminars and other renewal
programmes for the religious as well as lay people.
The contextualized theological formation is based
on a methodology of action-reflection-action. This
action-experience-analysis-questioning-reflection-action is an ongoing and cyclic process and
it forms the kernel of a contextualized theological
formation programme at KJM. Content-wise the
courses in theology offered at KJM are of high
standard like those offered elsewhere in other
theological seminaries. However, while elsewhere the
courses are offered in their classrooms without much
reference to particular context, the courses offered at
KJM are given in the field where the people too
contribute towards evolving a theology relevant to them
by their participation. In the academic year 2008-
2009 two students representatives along with
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Principal Fr. Francis Pereira, SVD, represented the
Seminary at North Indian Students Theology
Conference at Shillong in the North East India. One
of the student representative was our own scholastic
now Fr. Soby Pulickeel, who is serving in the NorthEast region.
Weekend interaction with the people in the
villages in the neighbourhood exposes them to reality
outside, through various apostolates, such as tuition
for the poor children, visits to the families, providing
guidance and inspiration to Small Christian
Communities by praying with them. During the class
days an hour of manual work helps them to appreciate
the dignity of labour and show solidarity with the poor
and the working class.
SVD formation is a formation for mission. Today
we take into account the factors that affect the formation
and training of our scholastics, in a society which is in
rapid transition. While economic growth and
globalization have brought tangible progress, social
inequalities, public corruption, rural and urban poverty,
exploitation of weaker sections, negative impact of
the media and other social evils continue to affect large
sections of India today. Such a context presents newchallenges in our formation:
1. In the Gospels, Jesus taught that new wine
needs new wineskins i.e. new ways of reception,
practice and transmission. Likewisenew challenges
in formation call for new responses, approaches
and measures in the ministry of formation.The
goal of all priestly formation is to enable the formandi
to grow into mature manhood and experience
freedom with responsibility to the measure of the
full stature of Christ (Eph 4:13 cf. Pastores DaboVobis, 43).
2.Future priests should therefore cultivate a
series of human qualitiesnot only proper to their
own growth and realization of their self, but also with
a view to their ministry. These qualities are needed
for them to be emotionally balanced people, strong in
faith and free in their decisions, capable of bearing
the weight of pastoral responsibilities. {Pastores
Dabo Vobis, 43)3. We understand that integral human formation,
the foundation of all priestly formation, implies an
ongoing self-transformation. This process involves
integration of all aspects of the whole person: physical,
affective, intellectual, moral, communitarian,
socio-cultural, spiritual and pastoral. During the
summer vacation our scholastics are given opportunityto learn and equip themselves for various skills. 7
scholastics attended the course on journalism, one in
music and dance, two attended the course on
Psycho-spiritual and Personality Development and
two of them had experiential knowledge at
KurushimalaAshram in Kerala.
4. Time has come to interrogate the hypothesis
that if we just pray and worship regularly and
faithfully, somehow everything else in ones life willautomatically fall into place. The conscious or
unconscious assumption that if we keep reinforcing the
spiritual superstructure, the human base structure will
somehow be fortified appears to be false. Therefore
formation houses like ours need to design and
implement a well considered programme of human
formation coupled with spiritual orientation and
accord it the central place in the scheme of
formation. In the times to come we hope to focus on
this very vision Illumined by the Word Incarnate, we
step into the world to reach out our brothers and
sisters in faith and love.
I would like to conclude with a quotation from
our ex-president of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam: Past is
experience, Present is experiments, Future is expec-
tations. Use your experience in your experiments to
achieve your expectations. Thank you and may God
bless you all.
Fr. Lancy Rodrigues, SVD
Rector, Divya Jyoti, Sason-SambalpurVisitator General Rt. Rev. Fr. Konrad Keller,SVD
In INE:
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celebrated Christmas with the Parents and Children
of Arnold Music and Dance Academy on 20th
December. On this occasion the meaning and
Significance of Christmas was shared by Fr. Sundar
Tandi. The Children of the Academy, all of them whoare non-Christians performed melodious songs and
wonderful dances participating in the joy of
Christmas. Fr. Provincial and team organized a
Christmas celebration with our neighbors on 23rd
December. Many of our Hindu friends and neighbors
gathered to share our Joy of Christmas. Vikas Sanchar,
Asha Niketan and Sacred Heart presented religious
and meaningful dances and songs. Fr. Bartho Bilung
gave a short and sweet Christmas message to the
audience. Mrs. Sanchali, the Principal of Blue BellsSchool, lauded the efforts of Shanti Bhavan to
celebrate the feasts together to foster harmony among
various cultures and religions.
ET News Desk
Published by St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar for the India Eastern ProvinceP. Box - 4, Jharsuguda - 768 201, Orissa, India
News Gathered and Edited by Fr. Sunil Damor, SVD
Tel: 06645 - 273411 / Fax: 270811; Mobile : 99 375 29718Lay Out: Ms. Ajita Ekka
E-mail: [email protected] / ssimon_37@ yahoo.co.in
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
The need of the hour today is much more than
Public Relations which could be termed as Public
Engagement, said Mr. Allwyn Fernandes during theone day Seminar on Public Relations, organized by
the National Mission Secretary Fr. Dominic
Emmanuel, for all the heads of SVD National
Commissions on 20th of September.
True to the saying of Mr. Fernandes many of our
confreres are trying their best to involve themselves
with the public through various activities in socio-
economic, educational and religious fields. The
headquarters of INE, Shanti Bhavan, and our
Communication Centre, St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar tooare trying their best in the local situation to involve the
neighbors to foster peace, harmony and national
integration. St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar