By Matters India Reporter
Kolkata, March 10, 2019: A group of Salesian Alumni coordinated the visit of Salesian Cardinal Charles Bo of Myanmar to Kolkata.
The cardinal was on a two day visit to the eastern Indian city to meet with his ailing brother Bernard.
The prelate, who is the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, also met his former superiors and confreres at Salesian Provincial House, and paid a courtesy visit to Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta. He also visited the historical Marian shrine at Bandel with his brother and family.
The Salesians’ Myanmar delegation was part of their Calcutta province from 1939 to 2004.
The Myanmar cardinal on March 7 met with former Salesian provincials Fathers Sebastian Alencheril and Thomas Polackal at Provincial House Kolkata, as well as the current provincial Father Nirmol Gomes and his council.
Don Bosco alumni welcomed the visiting cardinal and escorted him from the Kolkata airport to Westin Hotel near the airport. They also arranged his visits to the various events in Kolkata, on March 7 and 8.
Cardinal Bo was also executive guest at the International Women’s Day events held at Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library, situated in the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on March 8.
The Rabindranath Tagore Center, Kolkata, the ICCR’s cultural flagship, was inaugurated on June 1, 2018, by then President of India Pranab Mukherjee.
On his return to Yangon the cardinal wrote, “Everything went well though a bit in a hurry. With your arrangements and whole time with accompany of [Don Bosco alumni], I benefited much from my two-day stay. With my prayers and appreciation, Charles Bo.”