By Thomas Scaria

Kolkata, Feb 9, 2026: The three-year-long centenary celebrations of Salesian of the Kolkata province has ended in a grand finale stressing renewed efforts to empower the youth.

More than 2,000 people, including heads of 12 Salesian provinces in India and Sri Lanka, major superiors of religious congregations that work with the Salesians in the region attended the February 8 finale at Don Bosco Park Circus, Kolkata.

“It is the celebration of the youth in India through education and empowerment,” Salesian Rector Major Father Fabio Attard said in his presidential address at the finale.

The head of more than 14,000 Salesian worldwide said poverty and unemployment are not just a local reality in third-world countries, but a global phenomenon that can be fought with only the “arms of education and empowerment of the youth.”

The Salesians have done this for 100 years in Kolkata and the region around that has liberated thousands of young people from poverty, ignorance and unemployment, Father Attard said.

The 11th successor of Saint John Bosco also said that their presence in Kolkata was the result of an 1886 dream of the saint who envisioned a mission stretching to India.

Although the Salesians came to India in 1906, the Kolkata province, the first in India, was established in 1926. They started their mission in Kolkata by taking over the Catholic Orphan Press and Cathedral parish from the Jesuits on November 11, 1925.

The Kolkata province opened the centenary celebrations on May 27, 2023, with Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta presiding over the jubilee Mass in the historic Marian Shrine at Bandel, more than 50 km north of Kolkata.

Father Joseph Pauria, the outgoing Kolkata provincial, said their rector major’s presence at the grand finale has motivated them to continue their mission among the youth in the region with a new vitality.

Father Sunil Karketta, who took over as the new provincial, told the gathering that the future of any community depends on the youth who rebuild their lives braving various challenges. Technical education has a major role in empowering them and promoting leadership, he said.

The function also felicitated the provincials and major superiors of other congregations who engaged in ministries among the youth in the region.

Cultural presentations by various tribal communities and the students of Don Bosco schools added charm to the grand finale.