The Quotation of the Week (May 16 - 22, 2010)

Steelworks

Photo (Waterloo, Ontario: Sept. 6, 2009 ) © Jerome D'Costa

PhotoSpeak

Children and their mothers in Dinajpur town are seeking warmth
on a winter morning by making a fire on a roadside

Photo (Dinajpur, Bangladesh: March, 1975) © Jerome D'Costa

Today is the Mother's Day

A doodle on mother and child

Doodle (Dhaka: July 2, 1991) © Jerome D'Costa

Today is the Mother's Day. We offer our greetings and respect to all mothers of the world in this auspicious day. To a greater extent, it is because of them we are what we are today.

Today we repeat the poem that we wrote on the occasion of the last Mother's Day.

The Quotation of the Week (May 9 - 15, 2010)

A small bush that changed its colour in winter
on the grounds of the University of Waterloo

Photo (Waterloo, Ontario: January 25, 2010) © Jerome D'Costa

Too Much Garo Hospitality Can Be Burdensome!

It was 21 years ago at Birisiri near Shushong-Durgapur of Netrakona District. Rev. John Key, the then Executive Director of World Vision of Bangladesh -- an international NGO -- was invited as the keynote speaker for the large gathering of Garo Baptist Convention leaders. Representatives of Garo Baptist churches from several northern districts gathered for their convention.

After crossing the Shomeshwari River, as we approached the Birisiri Mission compound, we were given a rousing welcome by Rev. Shubash Sangma, Chairman of the Garo Baptist Convention, and other Baptist leaders and school teachers and students.

As Rev. John Key was going forward, he was receiving paper and flower garlands from students, Garo leaders and World Vision-funded project partners. Garland after garland began to pour and finally he was about to be 'drowned' with garlands. It was both a 'suffocating' as well as enjoyable situation!

About 400 B.C., the Garos (also called Mandis) came down to the Garo Hills of the Brahmaputra River Basin (in the State of Meghalaya of India) from Tibet. Then some groups of the Garos gradually moved to the south to the plain lands of Bangladesh region. Presently, Garos, in Bangladesh, can be found in the districts of Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Kishoreganj, Netrakona, Sherpur, Tangail, Sylhet, Moulavibazar, and Sunamganj.

American Baptists first started their mission work among the Garos of Meghalaya in 1867. Their work gradually spread to the Garos of Bangladesh region in early 20th century. American Holy Cross Fathers were the first Roman Catholic missionaries to start work among the Garos (of Bangladesh region) in late 1910. In Bangladesh, at present, greater number of Garos are Roman Catholics, followed by Baptists, Anglicans and Seventh-Day Adventists. Christian missionaries were also first to bring the light of education among the Garos. This education work was greatly strengthened with the assistance given by World Vision of Bangladesh.

Garos belong to the matriarchal society. Unlike the Bangalis, the mother is the head of the family. Daughters inherit lands and properties. Garos are well-known for their hospitality. Strangers are treated as special guests. They will kill the best pig or chickens for feeding the guests.

Rev. John Key (in the middle) is being received by the headmistress
of Birisiri High School. Rev. Shubash Sangma (in white shirt at right)
is looking on

Rev. John Key receives more applause and garlands

More garlands...

Further garlands are piling up!

About to be drowned with garlands

Finally, really drowned!

Photos (Birisiri, Netrakona District: April, 1989) © Jerome D'Costa

The Quotation of the Week (May 2 - 8, 2010)

A bunch of spinach with a few potatoes

Photo (Toronto: February 7, 2009) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Websites and Blogs on the Catholic Church in Bangladesh

The website of the Catholic Bishops' Conference
of Bangladesh (CBCB)

The present area of Bangladesh came in contact with Christians and Christianity in the 16th century when Portuguese merchant ships made their forays in the Bay of Bengal.

At the invitation of King Pratapadittya, Jesuit missionaries built the first Catholic church in Bangladesh in 1599 and named it 'The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus.' It was built at Iswaripur, also called 'Chandecan' by the Portuguese, in the Sunderbans Forest of the present Satkhira District. Jesuits also erected the second church, named 'St. John the Baptist Church,' in Chittagong in mid-1600. Later other missionaries followed the Jesuits and preached Christianity in different regions of Bangladesh.

To know more about the Catholic Church in Bangladesh, you may visit the following online resources:

• The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB)
• Christianity in Bangladesh (by Jerome D'Costa)
• UCAN Diocesan Profiles Series: ARCHDIOCESE OF DHAKA
• Archdiocese of Dhaka
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka
• Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dhaka
• UCAN Diocesan Profiles Series: DIOCESE OF CHITTAGONG
• Diocese of Chittagong
• Diocese of Chittagong
• UCAN Diocesan Profiles Series: DIOCESE OF DINAJPUR
• Diocese of Dinajpur
• Diocese of Dinajpur
• UCAN Diocesan Profiles Series: DIOCESE OF KHULNA
• Diocese of Khulna
• Diocese of Khulna
• UCAN Diocesan Profiles Series: DIOCESE OF MYMENSINGH
• Diocese of Mymensingh
• Diocese of Mymensingh
• UCAN Diocesan Profiles Series: DIOCESE OF RAJSHAHI
• Diocese of Rajshahi
• Diocese of Rajshahi
• Diocese of Rajshahi
• Notre Dame College, Dhaka
• Holy Cross Bangladesh
• St. Gregory's High School, Dhaka
• Hotline (Human Rights) Bangladesh
• Pirgacha Mission (St. Paul Catholic Church, Dt. Tangail)
• National Social Catechetical Training Centre, Jessore
• Catholic Beginnings in North Bengal [Dinajpur and Rajshahi Regions] (by Father Luigi Pinos, PIME)
• Atma o Jibon (Spirit and Life)
• diario de un misionero (diary of a missionary) (A Marist Brother at Pirgacha, Tangail Dt.)
• Father Marino Rigon, S.X. (A Xaverian priest in Shelabunia, Khulna Diocese)
• Father Mario Veronesi, S.X. (A Xaverian priest martyr in Bangladesh)
• Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly, CSC: The Servant of God
• Brother Flavian Laplante, CSC, Declared 'Servant of God'
• Lawrence Subrata Howlader Consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Chittagong
• Ekushey February and the Catholic Monthly Pratibeshi
• Bishop Francis A. Gomes Witnesses Formation of Bangladesh Government-in-Exile (1971)
• Bangladesh War of Independence (1971): West Pakistani Soldiers Kill Catholic Priests
• Bangladesh War of Independence: Christian Muktijuddhas (Freedom Fighters) - 1
• Bangladesh War of Independence: Christian Muktijuddhas (Freedom Fighters) - 2
• Bangladesh War of Independence: The Enemy Desecrates Churches
• Bangladesh War of Independence: A Tribute to My Father (Dr. Peter D'Costa, B.H.)
• Bangladesh Victory Day (December 16)
• Flirting With the Past: Pope John Paul II Visits Bangladesh on Nov. 19, 1986
• Flirting With the Past: Bombing in a Church in Bangladesh Kills 10 (June 3, 2001)
• We Remember: Mob Attack on Catholic Church and School and Two Protestant Churches in Dhaka (April 28, 1998)