The long awaited day, when the Northern communities of Chennai province would be formed into a delegation finally arrived on 16 th July 2008, on the Foundation Day of the congregation. The Inaugural Ceremony of Kolkata Dependent Delegation commenced with the Holy Mass at 6.00 pm in the auditorium of Claret Nivas, Barrackpore West Bengal. The Claretians from various mission communities in North India, staff of Morning Star Theological College , Religious priests, brothers and sisters and a lot of lay friends gathered for the Holy Eucharist. Rev. Fr. A. Raphael Raj, cmf, the Provincial Superior of Chennai welcomed the gathering and announced the erection of the new delegation.

“Today we begin a great work” he said in his homily quoting the very same words of St. Anthony Mary Claret used on 16 th July 1849 when he founded the congregation. He further added that the erection of the new Delegation would open up new missionary possibilities and strengthen our presence in North India . He read out the decree of erection of the Delegation dated 19 th March 2008 and announced its new office bearers namely, Fr. Michael Raja Pandian, CMF, as Superior delegate, Fr. John Kennedy, CMF, as Consultor and Treasurer and Fr. Lord M. Winner, CMF, as Consultor and Secretary. The new delegation is called “Kolkata Dependent Delegation” of the Province of Chennai .

The Holy Eucharist was followed by a felicitation ceremony for the office bearers of the new Delegation. Fr. Vincent Anes cmf, the Vice Provincial congratulated the new team and said that though the beginning was small, the delegation had the potency to grow into a large missionary enterprise. Fr. Michael Raja Pandian, the new Superior Delegate thanked the General and the Provincial Governments for their trust in the new team and expressed his gratitude to all those who helped in the formation of the delegation. He assured that his new team would work towards spreading of God’s love among the tribal and the marginalized sections in their mission area.

The event has marked a new chapter in the history of the Claretians in India as the fifth new organism in the country.

Confirmation and Holy communion at Sahanagar

  On 8 th June 2008, during the pastoral visit of Rt. Rev. Cyprian Monis Bishop of Asansol to the parish of Sahanagar 160 persons were given confirmation and 35 children Holy Communion. All of them were given regular classes on both the sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Eucharist under the supervision of Fr. J. John Bosco, CMF the parish priest. Almost all the families of the parish participated in the solemn Eucharist.

Orientation Course on Study skills

  “If you work upon marble, it will perish, if on brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; if we work on immortal minds, and imbue them with principles of fear of God and love for life, we engrave on those tablets something that will brighten to all eternity”- D. Webster. In order to imbue our children with the principles of “Study Skills”, Claret school, Sahanagar organized 4 days of orientation course for the high school students from 10 th to 13 th June 2008. The topics such as Know Yourself, Check your study habit, Seven ways for successful study, Tips to improve memory, PAR Method, Hints to improve power of concentration, PREP formula, How to control attention, How to reduce stress, How to face exams were dealt with. There were a total of 250 students who participated in this course. Fr. J.M.R. Pandian, CMF animated the students with colourful power point slides.

Claret Institute of Employment training centre (CIET) was inaugurated at the renovated premises of Loyola Training Centre on 3 rd May 2008 with the hope to facilitate the poor and needy youth to have good employment opportunities. The building is handed over to the care of the Claretians on 14 th of April 2008 to serve the tribal youth of Jharkhand. His Eminence Telesphore P. Cardinal Toppo blessed the building and Mr. Rameshwar Oraon Honorable Minister of State for Tribal Affairs inaugurated the building. Around 400 people were present for the Inaugural Function. The whole program was arranged and well organized by Mrs. Kanan Bala Tirkey, Career Councilor at CIET office. The inauguration ceremony started with a beautiful welcome dance and a song by the youths. Then Fr. M. Winner cmf, the Director of Claret Institute of Employment Training welcomed the Guests of Honour . His Eminence Telesphore P. Cardinal Toppo appreciated the Claretians and encouraged them to take up this big responsibility. He also said that this centre will surely help many tribal youth and enhance their entrepreneur skills. Mr. Rameshwar Oraon, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs said that the training of the youth for civil services is very essential and Claret Institute of Employment Training will act as a platform for the better preparation for the exams. He also assured to provide the Government support whenever needed. Mr. Rezi Dung Dung IPS said that there is a need for a qualitative training for competitive exams. He also mentioned that not all youth are capable of taking coaching classes outside Ranchi . So CIET will provide the opportunity for those students who are not able to go to take coaching classes outside..

The North Mission Coordinator, Fr. Michael Raj Pandian cmf described how St.Claret when he was a Missionary in Cuba worked for the training of the youth and today Claretians are following his path for the development of the youth in this region.

All the guests of honor appreciated the Claretians in taking initiatives towards the betterment of the tribal youths. At last the vote of thanks was proposed by Fr. Augustus Kujur cmf, the Parish Priest of Lalpur. The inauguration program ended with a National Anthem.

    The postponed International Women’s Day celebration was held at Villupuram on 10th March 2008 at 3.00 pm. It was a combined effort of fourteen voluntary organizations including KAVASAM. About two hundred women participated in the celebration which was an opportunity for them to come together and to share their common concerns with each other. Women from ‘Narikuravar community’ and Third sex (Thiru Nangaiyar) community were special participants. Fr. Jose Pitchai, CMF presented a power point program to highlight the strengths of women on which humanity heavily depend. All the programs were aimed at empowering the womenfolk to take up leadership roles in all the ways possible. Fr. S. Jeyabalan, CMF the assistant director and Mr. Jesuraj, the co-coordinator of KAVASAM programs were the architects of this event. At the end of the celebration a film on Child labor namely “Kutty” was screened.

Awareness Program on Rural Livelihood Protection

  A two-day training program on “Rural Livelihood Protection” took place at KAVASAM from 27th and 28th March 2008. The program was organized by JASUL (Joint Action for Sustainable Livelihood) in collaboration with SRWD and KAVASAM. Experts on the fields of Rural Livelihood, Globalization, Ecological Changes and its Dangers, Special Economic Zone, Effective Water Management, Pros and Cons of Hanuman Nathi Model Project, Merits and Demerits of State & Central Government Projects on Water resource and Agriculture, Global Warming and a Critical Analysis of World Bank Water Sector Loans in Tamil Nadu presented awareness programs. It was arranged and coordinated by Pro. Kalyani and Fr. Jose Pitchai, CMF. Sixty seven persons including many women from all over Tamil Nadu participated in it. The program reached its end with a group workshop to draw an action plan for sustainable livelihood in rural areas.

The regional level biblical seminar for the year 2007-2008 was conducted at LIFE from 26 th to 28 th May 2008. The seminar was arranged by Fr. Joemics, the secretary for the Tamil Nadu Biblical Commission. There were only twelve participants. The theme for the year was “The Life and Mission of St. Paul”. Fr. Viyagapparaj from the diocese of Palayamcottai was the resource person for the first day. He enlightened the participants on life of St. Paul with special emphasis on his vocation. The last two days were occupied by Fr. M. Arul Jesu Robin. He explained the context and content of the Pauline letters in general. LIFE was the host of this program in collaboration with the regional biblical commission.

  The Claretians of North India held a common celebration of the birth bicentenary of our founder St. Claret at Claret Nivas, Barrackpore from 25 th to 28 th Feb. 2008. The first three days were dedicated for reflection on ‘Renewal of Missionary life as Claretians”. On 28 th people’s representatives from all Claretian missions, priests and Religious and well wishers were invited for a solemn Eucharistic celebration presided over by Rt. Rev. Julius Marandi, D.D., the bishop of Dumka and Rt. Rev. Cyprian Monis, D.D, the bishop of Asansol at 11.30 am. The entrance and offertory dances were done by students from Claret School at Saha Nagar. It was followed by fellowship meal and a colorful cultural program. Both the bishops in their felicitation speeches appreciated the works of the Claretians in this region. At the end, bicentenary souvenirs were distributed to all.

 Regional Lay Evangelizers’ Training Programme

   In line with the objective of LIFE, to be the centre for forming lay evangelizers throughout Tamil Nadu, an ongoing formation for 40 evangelizers from four dioceses was organized from 1 st to 3 rd Feb 2008. It was organized by Rev. Fr. Michael Selvam, the regional secretary for the Commission for Evangelization, Salem . Fr. Aloysius Xavier, the Scripture professor Emeritus at St. Peter’s Seminary, Bangalore was the resource person. He enlightened the evangelizers on the theme “Mission in the Bible” treating extensively the life and mission of St. Paul, the greatest missionary in the infant Church.

Lay Animation Program at Thavasimedai

  In accordance with the pastoral plan for the academic year 2007-2008, Fr. Arul Jesu Robin, CMF the director of LIFE gave a lay animation program at Thavasimedai parish on 2nd February 2008, on the parishioners’ role as laity in building up the local church together with the parish priest. About 50 attended the program.

Lay Animation at N. Panjampatty Vicariate

            On 24th February 2008, there was a lay animation programme for N. Panjampatty vicariate at Vakkampatty parish. The entire programme was animated by Fr. A. Devadoss, CMF. There were altogether 175 participants, who included village leaders, Anbiam animators and the parish priests. Fr. Devadoss enlightened the participants on the theme, “Lay Leadership in the Church”. Basing his reflection on Vatican II documents, he stressed how much the lay people could contribute for the growth of the Church and the establishment of the Kingdom of God here on earth cooperating and collaborating with the clergy.

Animation Program for Teacher Training Students

            On April 1 st an animation program was organized at LIFE for the 1 st year students of Sancta Fatima Teacher Training Institute at Nallamanayakkanatty. It began with a prayer session on “God’s unconditional Love” at 9.30 am by Fr. Michael Mariadoss, CMF. The program was led by Frs. M. Arul Jesu Robin, CMF and Mariadoss, CMF on “Positive Outlook on Life” and “Friendship”.

      In the afternoon, the students discussed in groups the vital issues affecting them at present and presented them in the plenary session creatively. And at the end there was a brainstorming session in which the students freely shared all that they learned from the program. The same was repeated the next day for the second years. All together about 150 students benefited from the program.

 Bible Quiz - 2007

  The province of Chennai started conducting Bible Quiz at the state level from 2002 on as one of the means of spreading the Word of God. At present LIFE is entrusted with the responsibility of conducting it. This year the quiz was restricted only to the dioceses where the Claretians serve. Among all the parishes which participated in the competition Muthulagupatty parish from the diocese of Dindigul bagged the first prize. The State level as well as diocesan level winners deserve our special congratulations. Our brethren at KAVASAM deserve a special mentioning and a word of gratitude for distributing 1000 question papers.