M'lore: Superior General of Carmelites Fr Saverio Cannistrà Visits Infant Jesus Shrine
Pics by Stanly Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (CN)
Mangalore, Nov 20: Fr Saverio Cannistrà, superior general of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, visited Infant Jesus Shrine in the city on Thursday November 19.
He presided over the Eucharistic celebration along with Fr Augustine Mulloor, general definitor, Fr Archibald Gonsalves, provincial of the Karnataka-Goa Province, and other friars.
Fr Cannistrà, in his homily, appealed to the devotees of Infant Jesus Shrine to strengthen their friendship with Jesus.
Later, during the get-to-gather of the Secular Carmelites, Fr George Santhumayor, superior, welcomed the gathering and introduced Fr Cannistrà. Speaking to the friars and the lay Carmelites, he recalled the sacrifices of the Carmelite friars in India.
He requested the Carmelites to be familiar with the life and teachings of St Teresa of Avila, as the Order is preparing for the fifth centenary of her birth.
Fr Cannistrà was chosen as a superior general of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites in April this year at the 90th General Chapter of the Order celebrated in Fatima, Portugal.
He was born in the Calabrian city of Catanzaro on October 3, 1958. He studied Philology in the Scuola Normale and later he worked for Einaudi publishing house.
He entered the novitiate of the Italian Province of Tuscany of the Order of Discalced Carmelites in 1985 and made his simple profession in 1986. He made his solemn profession in 1990 and was ordained a priest in 1992.
Fr Cannistrà obtained a doctorate in Dogmatic Theology from the Gregorian University of Rome.
He is a member of the Italian Theological Conference (northern area) and has participated in numerous congresses of the Order. He is proficient in several languages and has lectured in the Faculty of Theology of Teresianum of Rome.
Fr Cannistrà was a professor of Christology and Theological Anthropology in the Faculty of Theology of Central Italy near Florence.