Mangalore Diocese News

Media Release

Mangalore, Jan 27, 2011 : The valedictory function of the platinum jubilee celebrations of St Vincent Ferrer Church here, was organized at 5 pm on Wednesday January 26 at the church grounds.

The programme began with the Solemn Mass. Bishop of Gulbarga, Fr Robert Miranda, was the main celebrant. Fr Frankie Serrao SJ., provincial, Society of Jesus, Fr Bonaventure Nazareth, parish priest, Fr Roshan Crasta, assistant parish priest, Fr Maxim Rosario, administrator, St Joseph Seminary, along with over 50 priests of the city and the priests who served the parish in the past, concelebrated the Mass. Fr Francis Serrao, while giving the homily, stressed the importance of working selflessly to reach out to the society and to live as a community. He appreciated the good work that is being done by the parish. The oath reflecting the social and religious responsibilities of the people, administered by Fr Maxim Rosario, was taken by the parishioners.

The formal function began at 6.45 pm. Fr Bonaventure Nazareth welcomed the guests and the gathering, and expressed sentiments of warmth, love and togetherness. He also remembered the sacrifice of the elders. Flavia Sequiera provided a bird’s eye view of the development of the parish since March 3, 1935, and observed how ‘Barrypalkhe Sudkad’ of the yesteryears has grown to be Valencia, with religiosity and as an agent of social change. Fr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Mangalore Bishop, presided over the function. Fr Robert Miranda, Bishop of Gulbarga, was the chief guest. He hailed the contributions made by the parishioners in bringing up faith, love and trust in the region.

MP, Oscar Fernandes, and Blossom Fernandes, were the guests of honour. They gave away trophies to the winners of inter-ward competitions. Oscar Fernandes acknowledged the fact that he himself is a part of this parish, as his daughter is married to Valencia parishioner. The Mangalore Bishop handed over Staff and Bible to the youngsters, to be comforted in spirit and to promote values of reaching out to people as Christ did. Patrick read out the names of the winners. Arun Raj proposed vote of thanks, and also expressed his gratitude to the guests, and the parishioners, especially about the work put in by Louis Pinto, former vice-president, and all those who were responsible for the success of the celebrations, including the media.

The programme came to an end with people having food together. The food was prepared by the parishioners themselves. Around 3000 people participated in this programme. On the previous evening, the gifts were brought by the parishioners in an illuminating procession from Cloistered Carmel Convent to the church grounds at 6 .30 pm. It was indeed a programme reflecting togetherness and love that people commonly shared in the earlier days regularly. The Valencia platinum theme song, ‘Viva Valencia’, depicted the vivid Valencia. The ‘Sangeeth Sanz’, presented on the occasion brought to the fore the skills of the parish singers trained by Eric Ozario. It truly depicted the success of Valencia.