Dili's First Communions, Solemnity of Corpus Christi,
and the Body of Christ in action
DILI-COMORO: 21st June 2006 -- The Solemnity of Corpus
Christi could not be celebrated with the usual diocesan procession of
the Blessed Sacrament because of the constant danger of violence in the
city, but the situation did not prevent 58 children from celebrating it
with the reception of their First Communion at Mary Help of Christians
Church in Comoro in this capital city.
Preparation for the event had started in October
2005 when hundreds of children began attending catechism classes in
view of their Communion. These classes for most came to an abrupt
end on 28th April as they fled to safety. For the 58 children who
sought refuge in Don Bosco or stayed in homes nearby, the preparation
continued. In fact it intensified into daily afternoon catechism
classes as they had nothing else to do. Most of the catechists
who prepared them were also refugees, so they had time and facility to
do the job.
On the afternoon of 17th June, the children made
their first confession in a community celebration along with their
parents, then on Sunday 18th they received their Best Friend through
the hands of the Parish Priest, Fr Manuel Fraille. It was
reminiscent of the 1999 diaspora where refugees in Kupang, fleeing the
events of that time, also prepared their children for First Communion.
Amongst other significant events in the week
past have been the visit of the First Lady, Mrs Kirsty Sword Gusmao,
who came to kick off (our correspondent doesn't indicate if literally
or not) the East Timor World Cup bid for the under 15s and under
13s! The tournament was sponsored by Catholic Relief Services
USA. Team names were Brazil, England, Italy, Spain, Portugal, etc.
The Minister for Education also visited the
Centre to congratulate the children for going to school amidst all the
disturbance. At present, school children numbers have risen to
over a thousand, obliging the headmasters to split them into morning
and afternoon sessions.
Yet a third event for the week, already reported,
was the setting up of a 'tent city'. UNHCR have in fact erected 100
tents at Don Bosco. Meanwhile, the youth have taken a leading
role in running the Refugee Centre. 78 young people from the Don
Bosco Technical Centre and the parish now literally run the
Centre. Under the able leadership of Fr Justiniano de Sousa and
Bro Adraino de Jesus, Bro Tomas Alves and Bro. Octaviano Sequeiram
these youths carry out several tasks: distribution of food and other
supplies to refugees, monitoring and recording refugee data, making
announcements and paging people, security, setting up tents, and even
occasionally as peace-makers when quarrels break out in the
Centre. Click
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