FATUMACA: 9 December 2012 --
8
December, Feast of the Immaculate Conception: four Salesian
deacons
were ordained at Fatumaca, East Timor, after completing their
retreat
at the same location as part of the series of retreats for the
Vice
Province preached by Fr Piotr Gozdalski sdb. They are Agnello
Moreira,
Aquiles Soares, David Sousa and Placido Freitas. The ordaining
prelate
was Bishop Basilio do Nascimento of Baucau diocese. The
ordination Mass
was celebrated in the open, in the square in front of the
Shrine to Our
Lady Help of Christians, allowing three thousand of the
faithful to be
in attendance.
Two members of the East Timorese Government attended the
ordination,
the president of Parliament (East Timor has a unicameral
system), Mr
Vincente Guterres, and the Minister for Education, Mr Bendito
Soares.
There were large numbers of the Salesian Family in attendance
as well,
other than the Salesians themselves: FMA, Cooperators, ADMA,
VDB.
In his homily, Bishop Basilio left the newly ordained with two
thoughts
in particular: he urged the reawakening of a sense of sin:"We
are
living in a world which has forgotten the sense of sin", he
observed.
He added the need for spiritual direction today, asking the
newly
ordained to be good guides especially for the youth.
Before the final blessing, one of the new priests thanked
everyone
present on his behalf and on behalf of the others. He
especially
thanked everyone who had contributed to their formation. The
Superior
of the Vice Province, Fr Joao Paulino, took the opportunity to
thank
the ordaining bishop, the parents and families of the new
priests. He
also expressed his gratitude to the new priests themselves,
who will
now begin a busy ministry in challenging times.
