Mangalore: Symposium Held on Monsignor Raymond F C Mascarenhas
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (RD/CN)
Mangalore, Oct 23: A proactive symposium was held at St Joseph’s Seminary Hall, Jeppu, on Thursday October 21 to mark the upcoming 50th death anniversary on December 23 of Monsignor Raymond F
C Mascarenhas of Mangalore’s first ‘Servant of God’ on the path to sainthood in the Catholic church.
It was organized by the Bethany Congregation of Mangalore with the co-operation of the rector and members of the seminary, which is the alma mater of Monsignor Mascarenhas who spent several years there before he was ordained as Priest of the Mangalore Diocese in 1900 AD.
The symposium was well-attended by priests, nuns, and laity eager to hear about the saintly person from among the Mangalorean Konkani community.
Sr Lillis, assistant Superior General and Procurator for the Cause of Monsignor Mascarenhas, presided in the unavoidable absence of Sr Wilberta, the Superior General. Fr Joseph Martis, rector of St Joseph’s Seminary, was the moderator.
The erudite speakers were Mangalore diocesan vicar general Monsignor Denis Moras Prabhu whose topic ‘Pastoral Dimension of Servant of God Raymond F C Mascarenhas’s Charisma’ gave an in- depth view into the pastoral personality of the saintly priest Monsignor Raymond.
The next was Judith Mascarenhas, family member, social activist and former city’s corporator, who elaborated on ‘Contribution of Servant of God Monsignor Mascarenhas to the development of Dakshina Kannada district especially for the empowerment of women’, was an eye opener on how this great son of the soil contributed to the church as well as civil society.
The speaker pointed out the many contributions of the central figure and his establishing of the Bendore Parish from scratch and the chief work of founding the indigenous order of Bethany Nuns at Bendore.
Finally Sr Mariette was the vortex of the speakers who provided a learned vision into ‘Relevance of Servant of God Raymond F C Mascarenhas’s charisma in today’s context’. The power point presentation held the attention of the entire audience and the interesting comparison of the past and present ills of the society and how the example of this singular ‘Man of God’ Monsignor Raymond is relevant, moved the listeners deeply.
There was also an interactive question and answer session. All the participants were of the mind that more such symposiums would be fitting to the Cause. The opening and closing invocations by the children of St Theresa’s gave a solemn touch to the occasion.