50 years of Varallo’s "Group for Bangladesh "
Milan (AsiaNews) - The PIME missionaries have been in Bangladesh (and India) since 1855. To this day Bangladesh remains one of the most difficult missions entrusted to us by the Holy See, an off-shoot of the Pakistani mission born in 1971. It is one of the poorest Asian nations and is without any natural resources: 160 million inhabitants almost all Muslims in an area less than half of Italy, with a 5% Hindu, Christian and Buddhist minority; the average annual income per capita is 678 US dollars (the Italian 36,000). The first proclamation of Christ was addressed especially to minority tribal animists (Santal, Oraon ) and low caste Hindus, with a fair number of conversions to Christ. The Church was born among the least, the poor and the downtrodden.
Half a century ago, during the great Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) , Italians and indeed, the Italian Church were passionate about the cause of "world hunger" , missionaries often made front pages headlines and "twinning" with a diocese in the developing world was the order of the day. In March 1964 PIME launched "Mani Tese" and a few months later Don Ercole Scolari, assistant diocesan youth director of Catholic Action of Novara, Milan was proposed to "twin" the diocese of Novara and Dinajpur, which began with the construction of the "Novara Technical School" in Suihari (pictured) , on the outskirts of Dinajpur. The institute is currently directed by PIME brother Massimo Cattaneo, and is one of the most popular Catholic Church institutes among Bangladeshis, not only for the thousands of young men and women that it has educated, but for the concrete help it gave in teaching farmers how to start up industrial production (it was the first in the country), with a knock on effect in other founding other institutes; including the vocational - technical school in Rajshahi, a sister to the one in Dinajpur.
I was in Varallo Sesia (Vercelli province, diocese of Novara) on Sunday, April 6, 2014 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the "Novara Centre" and the "Group for Bangladesh." At the Solemn Mass in the morning, with the church packed and the presence of the city authorities, the president of the association, Giorgio Brunetti, presented the booklet on "50 years of solidarity 1964-2014 Novara- Dinajpur". It is a report on the fraternal relationship that has developed between Bangladesh and Varallo, where Don Ercole Scolari was pastor for 32 years (1966-1998 ) where the "Group for Bangladesh" was born, which involves a number of initiatives with the citizens of Varallo and the diocese of Novara.
In my homily I pointed out that
today, in the current crisis of faith and Christian life which we are
experiencing, missions and above all our missionary Pope Francis, from the
"other side of the world" come to our aid. The Pope is reforming the
universal Church with the spirit, methods and content of those places where the
first proclamation of Christ is still present. The
relationship with Bangladesh is a great thing, but it should urge us all not
only to continue to help Bangladesh with social work and educational activities,
but above all to follow Pope Francis with faith and love. He wants to bring Christ to each of us, our
families, our Italian society. The
Pope calls everyone to a conversion of heart towards God and neighbor,
especially the most poor and abandoned. Only
then can the crisis, that our nation and our people are still suffering, which
is not only economic and political, but first of all religious and moral, be
overcome. In
this context, the relationships and contacts with the missionary world will be
beneficial for everyone.
The
Mass was followed by a community lunch provided by the Sisters of Jesus the
Eternal Priest and later that afternoon a round table discussion in the parish
hall, with various interventions. The
parish priest, Father Roberto
Collarini and the mayor Eraldo Botta spoke about the educational benefits that the "Group for Bangladesh"
has had and still has for the people of Varallo, brought together by the
various initiatives and meetings and which sends a delegation to visit the PIME mission in Bangladesh every
year; But
this year, in January, this planned visit has been blocked by the unrest and
clashes that ravaged the country during the elections. He
then recalled Don Ercole Scolari, founder of the Novara-Bangladesh network and a
great pastor of Varallo who is still fondly remembered , who made several
visits to Bangladesh bringing his parishioners because he said that nothing is
more educational for our human and Christian life than 10-15 days of contact
with men and women, children and young people who live in poverty. This, he would say, makes us think hard about
our well-being; and
helps us understand the emerging Churches in which everyone is a missionary because
they appreciate the gift of faith freely received from God.
The
round table also discussed the theme "No peace without justice," with
my speech on Bangladesh and India, Varallese Consolata missionary Sister Chiara
Piana, who described the situation in several African countries and Fr Walter Fiocchi, of
the diocese of Alexandria, who spoke about the Holy Land and of the Christians
in Israel and the Arab Middle East, with a detailed description of the
injustice of which they are victims.
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11/09/2013
