Fr Francis Rodrigues, Raknno

Mangalore, Nov 4: As many as 650 priests and nuns of the diocese of Mangalore gathered together in Rosario Cathedral Hall on Monday November 4 to celebrate the faith experience of theirs during the faith year which was inaugurated in October 2012 on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the commencement of the second Vatican Council.

While around 500 were the religious nuns from different Congregations who have their houses in the diocese of Mangalore, more than 150 who participated in the Faith Convention were religious and diocesan priests.

''Faith should be our ultimate and only priority in life. Our lives are animated, moved and illumined by the gift of faith which is living experience to every believer. Faith is the greatest treasure that is given to us by God which makes our life simple, committed and Christ oriented. We need to experience this faith within us before sharing it with others. It is a relationship with God and one another. It should be fostered in its quality which will make our life unique and special. Pope Francis is one such example before us. As to deepen the faith of ours as well as that of the lay persons we need to promote Small Christian Communities, animate the different prayer groups which are active in the Church, promote inter-religious dialogues, meaningful celebration of the liturgy and Sacraments’’ said Dr Thomas Dabre, the bishop of Pune who animated the convention of priests and religious.

Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the bishop of Mangalore said, “Before sharing and strengthening the faith of others we need to experience its depth in ourselves. It is with this intention, a separate faith convention for priests and religious was suggested.”

Fr Valerian Pinto, Fr Pius D’Souza OCD and Sr Shalini AC led the prayers and holy hour. Fr J B Crasta, the dean of the Cathedral and secretary of the council of priests welcomed the gathering. Fr Valerian Menezes, the judicial vicar of Mangalore introduced Bishop Dabre. Fr Rocky Fernandes, the vice principal of Rosario College compered the faith convention. The convener of the faith convention vicar general Msgr Denis Prabhu was present.

The youth rally and youth faith convention will be held on November 17 in Mangalore from Milagres Church to Cathedral. The grand finale of the year of faith would be held from November 22-24 at Nehru Maidan.