Bengaluru, India. On 23-24 January 2019 the Pastors’ Meeting of the Province of Bangalore was held at Provincial House in Bengaluru. 20 Parish Priests from the parishes in different states participated in the meeting. The Provincial Superior along with the Prefect of Apostolate and Prefect of Youth and Vocation Ministry coordinated the program. On the first day Mr. John Don Bosco enlightened the participants by analysing the present society in India in the context of Justice and Peace. In the afternoon every parish priest was given an opportunity to share his experience, the challenges and the possibilities in the ministry.
On the second day, Rev. Fr. Jacob Arakkal John, Provincial Superior, addressed the gathering explaining the congregational aspects of carrying out the parish ministry in a Claretian way. He also explained the three processes of transformation in the renewal of the congregation according to XXV General Chapter.
Fr. Peter D’Souza, Prefect of Apostolate and Missions explained in brief about the SOMI (Solidarity and Mission) and discussed the ways and means of collaborating with the JPIC wing of Claretians@UN and the JPIC General Secretariat. Updating the participants on the recently held Claretian Family Youth and Vocations Ministry Meeting, Fr. Tom Vellappattu, Prefect of Youth and Vocation Ministry, discussed with the pastors the modalities to make the youth ministry a driving force in our parishes.
The parish priests discussed various aspects of the pastoral ministry and came up with suggestions to improve our style of ministering and to make our parishes more vibrant and dynamic in faith formation.
