The Quotation of the Week (February 26 -- March 4, 2017)

A quotation of President George W. Bush on 'the media and democracy,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo (An albino dove in College Park in downtown Toronto: May 8, 2014) © Jerome D'Costa

The Quotation of the Week (February 19 - 25, 2017)

A quotation on 'mother tongue,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Image (a bird on a branch, made with straw: a handicraft card by Green Corner, a self-help women's group in Bangladesh)

Father Silvano Garello, SX, Is At Eternal Rest

Italian Xaverian missionary Father Silvano Garello, SX

Photo courtesy: Father Silvano Garello, SX

Father Silvano Garello, SX, a Xaverian missionary from Italy, working in Bangladesh for 47 years, died suddenly in the early hours of January 18 this year in the Xaverian House in Dhaka. He was 78. 

He was known as an avid promoter of Catholic literature in Bengali. He published more than 200 books and booklets of different genre on behalf of the National Social Catechetical Training Centre (NSCTC) of Jessore. 

He made a concerted effort in producing Catholic books in Bengali and making them available to as many people as possible. His intention was to let the Good News spread and make Catholics knowledgeable on Church teachings on the faith and morality.  

He himself did a few translations but had a group of translators to do the rest. He helped in ornamentation, design, and publication of the 2nd Vatican Council documents and the Catechism of the Catholic Church in Bengali. The Bengali translation of these two books were done by others. He wrote more than a dozen books on the Catholic Church situation and activities in Italian language for readers in Italy and wrote numerous articles for Italian newspapers and magazines.

Born in Valdagno, near Vicenza in northern Italy, on December 31, 1938, Father Garello was ordained a priest on October 25, 1964. He came as a missionary to the then East Pakistan, later called Bangladesh, in late 1970. 

Since 2002, he fully devoted himself in producing Catholic books and booklets in Bengali. He also edited Mongolbarta (the Good News), a bimonthly journal for catechists and teachers, from 1986 to 1996, on behalf of the NSCTC. 

The contribution of Father Silvano Garello, SX, to the Bengali Catholic literature will be remembered in Bangladesh for a long time to come.

To  learn more on him and his work,  please click on the following: 

• Father Silvano Garello, S.X.: A Relentless Advocate and Producer of Christian Literature in Bangladesh -- 1
• Father Silvano Garello, S.X.: A Relentless Advocate and Producer of Christian Literature in Bangladesh -- 2

 

 

Brother John Rozario, CSC, Dies in Dhaka

Brother John Rozario, CSC

Photo courtesy: Bro. Harold Bijoy Rodrigues, CSC

Brother John Rozario, CSC, a member of the Brothers of Holy Cross in Bangladesh, died of old-age complications at a hospital in Dhaka on February 1 at the age of 81. He was buried next day evening at the Wari Christian Cemetery after a Mass at Holy Cross Church at Luxmibazar. Hundreds of Hindu, Muslim, and Christian people – priests, Brothers, Sisters, teachers, students, and guardians – paid their respect to him when his body was for viewing at the compound s of St. Joseph Higher Secondary School at Mohammadpur and St. Gregory’s High School at Luxmibazar before his burial.

Born at the Banshbari village of Motbari Catholic Church in Gazipur District on January 2, 1936, Brother John Rozario studied at Motbari Catholic Primary School and Bandura Holy Cross High School. After Grade 8 in Bandura, he was sent to Noakhali for one-year novitiate in 1953. After his first vow in 1954, he studied in Grades 9 and 10 at St. Gregory’s High School in Dhaka. After completion of his Matriculation Examinations in 1956, he joined Notre Dame College. After two years of I.Sc.there,he did his B.Sc. (Honours) in 1962 from the University of Dhaka. Later he was sent to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA, for his M.Sc. in Physics (1965).

He taught at St. Joseph’s High School at Mohammadpur, Dhaka, and Bandura Holy Cross High School. In the Holy Cross Brothers-run schools in the Archdiocese of Dhaka, American Holy Cross Brothers would be the headmasters. Brother John Rozario was the first local Brother to hold the headmaster’s position. He served for 19 years as the headmaster of Bandura Holy Cross High School, St. Gregory’s High School, and St. Joseph Higher Secondary School.

He was also the first Bangladeshi Brother to serve as the Superior of the Brothers of Holy Cross in the Archdiocese of Dhaka. He was the Brothers’ Superior from 1981 to 1991 and Vice Provincial from 1991 to 1994.

In addition, he served as the Coordinator of the Bangladesh Christian Communities Programme (1976-2008) and president of the Bangladesh Conference of the Religious (1986-1987). He was also involved with some other Church and social organizations, such as different Episcopal Commissions, Caritas Bangladesh, and Asiatic Society.

His hobbies included reading, writing, and sporting. He was a voracious reader and this made him fluent in writing. He used to write a regular column, called ‘Kothokota’, using ‘Bijon Rozario’ as the pseudonym for the writer.

--Info courtesy: Brothers Harold Bijoy Rodrigues, CSC, and Binoy Gomes, CSC

The Quotation of the Week (February 12 - 18, 2017)

A quotation of Ralph Waldo Emerson on 'education,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo (The front gate of St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, run by Holy Cross Brothers, at Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh: January 2, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

The Quotation of the Week (February 5 - 11, 2017)

A quotation of Henry James on 'three important things in human life,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Design by Jerome D'Costa