06/01/2022, 00.00
INDIA
Send to a friend

Redemptorists: common profession for Syro-Malabar and Latin religious

by Nirmala Carvalho

In Kerala, seven young men from different rites, languages ​​and traditions solemnly join the religious order together for the first time in India. For Fr Ivel Mendanha, “what unites the Redemptorists is the spirit of our Lord Jesus the Redeemer and the mission to proclaim him to those who are poor and abandoned.”

Vadavathoor (Kerala) – For the first time in the history of the Redemptorists in India, a group of young men religious from different rites made their perpetual profession together.

On 24 May, five candidates from the Province of Liguori, which follows the Syro-Malabar rite, and two from the Vice Province of Majella (Mumbai), which follows the Latin rite, took part in the ceremony held in Vadavathoor (Kerala).

Provincial Superior Fr Biju led the service during the Holy Qurbana, the Syro-Malabar Eucharistic liturgy in Malayalam, but the rite of profession was in English after the proclamation of the Gospel.

In his homily, the Vice Provincial of Majella, Fr Ivel Mendanha, said that, “despite the differences in rites (Syro-Malabar vs. Latin), languages ​​(Malayalam vs. Konkani), and cultures (Kerala vs. Mumbai), what unites the Redemptorists is the spirit of our Lord Jesus the Redeemer and the mission to proclaim him to those who are poor and abandoned. As Redemptorists, we are One Body despite our differences.”

The seven students, who attended Mt. St. Alphonsus Common Theologate in Bengaluru (Bangalore), will now take part in their final months of preparation for ordination as deacons and then as priests.

The group of students from the Vice Province of Majella included another student who became seriously ill on the first day of the programme and had to be hospitalised.

However, “By the grace of the Lord and the prayers of so many, as well as the excellent medical staff at the Caritas hospital, he is slowing healing. We are looking forward to the day that he will make his final vows,” read a statement issued by the Redemptorists.

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
Synod for the Amazon: Card Stella hails the ‘great beauty’ of celibacy in a priest’s life
24/10/2019 17:56
Cardinal Vithayathil elected new president of Indian bishops
19/02/2008
National Commission for Women asks for 'immediate action' in the nun rape case in Kerala
07/02/2019 17:28
Indian bishops: most Hindus are secular, but there are aggressive and intolerant minorities
03/03/2016 17:11
Syro-Malabar church demolished in Delhi
12/07/2021 16:01


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”