PIME priest: Advent, mission "ad gentes" among Thai Buddhists and Muslims
Bangkok ( AsiaNews) - Fr Adriano Pelosin is a priest of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME ), a native of Loreggia , in the province of Padua, 35 years in Thailand. He has dedicated his long mission to the people of the slums on the outskirts of Bangkok , saving children from sexual violence, keeping them away from the traffickers and organized crime. Guaranteeing them at the same time, education and facilitating their social integration and employment . The charitable work begun by Fr. Pelosin now includes eight family houses which are home to more than 100 children . The House of Angels , in particular, is dedicated to children with severe disabilities . The houses are located in Pak Kret district , about 30 km from Bangkok . Fr. Pelosin , along with volunteers, nuns and teachers, has also provided assistance to 800 children living in squalor and need in the slums.
Since May of this year the Archbishop of Bangkok Msgr. Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij , has entrusted the care of the parish of St Mark in Pathumthani to him. With his usual zeal the missionary has embarked on this new adventure among a tiny Catholic community, in an area surrounded by a large Buddhist and Muslim majority. He immediately built a close bond with the people, especially non-Christians, the elderly and young people with problems of crime and drug addiction. The presence of Catholics in Thailand is miniscule, only 0.1 % of a total population of 66.7 million inhabitants, yet it is full of vitality and initiative especially in social welfare and education. Below, the first hand testimony of Fr. Pelosin :
At the beginning of Advent - which fills us with hope and joy in anticipation of our Lord who comes to save humanity - my thoughts go to all of you who, for years now, have accompanied me with prayer, thoughts, and sometimes, with concern and material support. Without you it would have been almost impossible to get this far. On 9 November, I celebrated the 35th year of my arrival in Thailand. But this year I have to remember one person in particular who accompanied me every day of my life with so much love, to whom I owe so much : my mother Elvira , whom the Lord called to Him on July 17. She no longer lives in waiting (Advent), but in the fullness there, where the Lord frees us from the burden of sin and fear , and dries all our tears .
2013 was a
special year. After 26 years of residence in the PIME house in Nonthaburi,
where the Lord led me into the slums, to start family homes for abandoned
children, to help the Thai Missionary Institute to take its first steps, as of
May 5 the Lord called me once more, through the will of the Archbishop of
Bangkok to make me the pastor of a small Christian community in Pathumthani .
The church is dedicated to St. Mark.
As soon as I arrived, I tried to engage the few Catholics in mission "ad
gentes" among non-Christians. Here, in Pathumthani there are about two
hundred Catholics out of a population of 300 thousand inhabitants, the majority
Buddhists with a few Muslims. Every Sunday we use the words of Jesus in the
liturgy to help the faithful to feel inspired and full of joy to have been
chosen first to know the Good News of salvation; to have experienced first the
joy of forgiveness, the inner peace of feeling loved by God the Father, having
the hope of eternal life in God. With my
assistant Fr. Rachata and some of the faithful, we went to visit the many
Catholic families, we prayed together, and I urged them to be a good example to
their Buddhist neighbors and to cooperate with them in every project for the
common good.
Later in the year, with some Catholics, we began to visit a community about ten miles from our church, which is called Wat Sake, taking its name from a Buddhist temple . The first people to come to us were children and among them a very thin little girl, without teeth and with a shrill voice, smiling and lively stood out: she is called "Make" ( cotton) . All these children come from family disastrous situations. Their parents are in prison for drug dealing, murder, theft, rape of children, or have left home and never returned . The children live with grandparents . Grandmothers raise their grandchildren by collecting waste for recycling , sometimes making enough money to feed their grandchildren ... sometimes the grandchildren have to go to a Buddhist temple and ask the monks for part of their morning alms .
We met several elderly people living alone, abandoned by their children , some are sick and nobody cares for them. Their sorrow is great, bordering on despair. We spend a lot of time listening to the stories of these our new friends. They wait for us every day. Mrs. Kew Pa (Aunt Jewel ) has so many things to tell us, when she was small she had to work like a slave . There are certain topics that returns to again and again, such as when the father tried to molest her ... or when he put poison in his father's food ... how she could not bear it when her father beat her mother violently .... or when her daughter-in-law beat her with a stick breaking her arm...and when ...
"This
is my Karma" is how she ends every conversation ( for Karma, she means the
law of retribution that every good action has its good consequence and every bad
action has its bad consequences). So she drank and got drunk every day ...
However, for some now time Pa Kew no longer gets drunk. We have been very close
to her, especially during the month of October, when the seminarians of the Thai
Missionary Institute went to Wat Sake every day. One day, after listening to Pa
Kew for a few hours , I told her that there is a person who can free her from her
Karma: "the Lord of karma". I took her to St. Marks church, I showed
her the crucifix and I explained that the Lord of karma became man, took upon
himself the evil actions of men, and he himself has paid for them with his
death . Then he rose and broke the law of karma forever. She was surprised and
did not want to believe it ... afterwards, we prepared a nice dinner for her every
night and we became friends , so much so that she asked us , "Why you are
interested in this old woman of no significance ... Who am I to you? .. "
.
During the
day, as we pass from one house to another we do not see any young people. They
tell us they are in prison or are sleeping, working at night ... selling drugs
. At the beginning of our visits there was always a group of women who were
gambling, we never passed comment. After two months we no longer saw anyone playing
cards. A young man full of tattoos and scars, just out of prison for murder,
half drunk invited me to drink with him and his friends. I said: " I
know you, father, would like us to become good, but I have my way, whoever
goes against me I shoot". I have embraced him with compassion and he
returned my embrace, and silently cried.
From October 15 to 18 , we organized a small camp. The abbot of the Buddhist
temple kindly permitted us to use a large warehouse, with chairs and tables. We
organized everything else : teachers , books, notebooks, pens, toys, lunch at
noon and a snack at four. The archbishop of Bangkok approved the purchase of a
house on the grounds of the temple, for the activities of children and the
elderly. We will have to pay to put it in order, but the archbishop will cover
this cost; he is very happy with this initiative . As you can see we try to
make the Kingdom of God near to those who were distant, so the Kingdom of God
enters more and more deeply into our heart.
My colleagues and I also hope that you all may draw closer to those who feel
distant to Jesus, the Son of God, who came down from heaven to be close to us
and live among us as one of us . Pray for us!
* Missionary of the Pontifical Institute
for Foreign Missions in Thailand
Bangkok ( AsiaNews) - Fr Adriano Pelosin is a priest of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME ), a native of Loreggia , in the province of Padua, 35 years in Thailand. He has dedicated his long mission to the people of the slums on the outskirts of Bangkok , saving children from sexual violence, keeping them away from the traffickers and organized crime. Guaranteeing them at the same time, education and facilitating their social integration and employment . The charitable work begun by Fr. Pelosin now includes eight family houses which are home to more than 100 children . The House of Angels , in particular, is dedicated to children with severe disabilities . The houses are located in Pak Kret district , about 30 km from Bangkok . Fr. Pelosin , along with volunteers, nuns and teachers, has also provided assistance to 800 children living in squalor and need in the slums.
Since May of this year the Archbishop of Bangkok Msgr. Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij , has entrusted the care of the parish of St Mark in Pathumthani to him. With his usual zeal the missionary has embarked on this new adventure among a tiny Catholic community, in an area surrounded by a large Buddhist and Muslim majority. He immediately built a close bond with the people, especially non-Christians, the elderly and young people with problems of crime and drug addiction. The presence of Catholics in Thailand is miniscule, only 0.1 % of a total population of 66.7 million inhabitants, yet it is full of vitality and initiative especially in social welfare and education. Below, the first hand testimony of Fr. Pelosin :
At the beginning of Advent - which fills us with hope and joy in anticipation of our Lord who comes to save humanity - my thoughts go to all of you who, for years now, have accompanied me with prayer, thoughts, and sometimes, with concern and material support. Without you it would have been almost impossible to get this far. On 9 November, I celebrated the 35th year of my arrival in Thailand. But this year I have to remember one person in particular who accompanied me every day of my life with so much love, to whom I owe so much : my mother Elvira , whom the Lord called to Him on July 17. She no longer lives in waiting (Advent), but in the fullness there, where the Lord frees us from the burden of sin and fear , and dries all our tears .
2013 was a
special year. After 26 years of residence in the PIME house in Nonthaburi,
where the Lord led me into the slums, to start family homes for abandoned
children, to help the Thai Missionary Institute to take its first steps, as of
May 5 the Lord called me once more, through the will of the Archbishop of
Bangkok to make me the pastor of a small Christian community in Pathumthani .
The church is dedicated to St. Mark.
As soon as I arrived, I tried to engage the few Catholics in mission "ad
gentes" among non-Christians. Here, in Pathumthani there are about two
hundred Catholics out of a population of 300 thousand inhabitants, the majority
Buddhists with a few Muslims. Every Sunday we use the words of Jesus in the
liturgy to help the faithful to feel inspired and full of joy to have been
chosen first to know the Good News of salvation; to have experienced first the
joy of forgiveness, the inner peace of feeling loved by God the Father, having
the hope of eternal life in God. With my
assistant Fr. Rachata and some of the faithful, we went to visit the many
Catholic families, we prayed together, and I urged them to be a good example to
their Buddhist neighbors and to cooperate with them in every project for the
common good.
Later in the year, with some Catholics, we began to visit a community about ten miles from our church, which is called Wat Sake, taking its name from a Buddhist temple . The first people to come to us were children and among them a very thin little girl, without teeth and with a shrill voice, smiling and lively stood out: she is called "Make" ( cotton) . All these children come from family disastrous situations. Their parents are in prison for drug dealing, murder, theft, rape of children, or have left home and never returned . The children live with grandparents . Grandmothers raise their grandchildren by collecting waste for recycling , sometimes making enough money to feed their grandchildren ... sometimes the grandchildren have to go to a Buddhist temple and ask the monks for part of their morning alms .
We met several elderly people living alone, abandoned by their children , some are sick and nobody cares for them. Their sorrow is great, bordering on despair. We spend a lot of time listening to the stories of these our new friends. They wait for us every day. Mrs. Kew Pa (Aunt Jewel ) has so many things to tell us, when she was small she had to work like a slave . There are certain topics that returns to again and again, such as when the father tried to molest her ... or when he put poison in his father's food ... how she could not bear it when her father beat her mother violently .... or when her daughter-in-law beat her with a stick breaking her arm...and when ...
"This
is my Karma" is how she ends every conversation ( for Karma, she means the
law of retribution that every good action has its good consequence and every bad
action has its bad consequences). So she drank and got drunk every day ...
However, for some now time Pa Kew no longer gets drunk. We have been very close
to her, especially during the month of October, when the seminarians of the Thai
Missionary Institute went to Wat Sake every day. One day, after listening to Pa
Kew for a few hours , I told her that there is a person who can free her from her
Karma: "the Lord of karma". I took her to St. Marks church, I showed
her the crucifix and I explained that the Lord of karma became man, took upon
himself the evil actions of men, and he himself has paid for them with his
death . Then he rose and broke the law of karma forever. She was surprised and
did not want to believe it ... afterwards, we prepared a nice dinner for her every
night and we became friends , so much so that she asked us , "Why you are
interested in this old woman of no significance ... Who am I to you? .. "
.
During the
day, as we pass from one house to another we do not see any young people. They
tell us they are in prison or are sleeping, working at night ... selling drugs
. At the beginning of our visits there was always a group of women who were
gambling, we never passed comment. After two months we no longer saw anyone playing
cards. A young man full of tattoos and scars, just out of prison for murder,
half drunk invited me to drink with him and his friends. I said: " I
know you, father, would like us to become good, but I have my way, whoever
goes against me I shoot". I have embraced him with compassion and he
returned my embrace, and silently cried.
From October 15 to 18 , we organized a small camp. The abbot of the Buddhist
temple kindly permitted us to use a large warehouse, with chairs and tables. We
organized everything else : teachers , books, notebooks, pens, toys, lunch at
noon and a snack at four. The archbishop of Bangkok approved the purchase of a
house on the grounds of the temple, for the activities of children and the
elderly. We will have to pay to put it in order, but the archbishop will cover
this cost; he is very happy with this initiative . As you can see we try to
make the Kingdom of God near to those who were distant, so the Kingdom of God
enters more and more deeply into our heart.
My colleagues and I also hope that you all may draw closer to those who feel
distant to Jesus, the Son of God, who came down from heaven to be close to us
and live among us as one of us . Pray for us!
* Missionary of the Pontifical Institute
for Foreign Missions in Thailand
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06/11/2019 13:09
05/11/2019 10:38
10/06/2019 14:54
05/01/2016
