Fr Francis Sunil Rosario –
Barrackpore: Morning Star Regional Seminary reopened on July 1, after the long summer vacation. His Grace, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza graced the occasion with his presence and blessings. This auspicious day began with a community prayer, followed by Eucharistic celebration of the Holy Spirit.
Besides Archbishop Thomas D’Souza, the West Bengal Regional Bishops wo were present were: Rt. Rev. Fulgence A Tigga – Bishop of Raiganj, the main celebrant at mass, Rt. Rev. Vincent Aind – Bishop of Bagdogra and Chairman of the Governing Board of Morning Star Regional seminary, Rt. Rev. Stephen Lepcha – Bishop of Darjeeling and Regional Chairman of Laity Commission, Rt. Rev. Clement Tirkey – Bishop of Jalpaiguri, and Rt. Rev. Shyamal Bose – Bishop of Baruipur Diocese. Rev. Fr. George Panthanmackel – Rector, Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS) welcomed the staff members by their names for the inauguration of academic year 2023-24 of Morning Star Regional Seminary.
In his words of welcome in the Chapel at the Schola Brevis (a brief lecture) Eucharistic celebration, Rev. Fr. George Panthanmackel said, “Today the Holy Spirit reminds us of the grace of the present moment, and invites us to ‘look to the whole’. The Spirit does not mould isolated individuals, but shapes us into a Church in the wide variety of our charisms, into a unity that is never uniformity, but unity in diversity.” “All are children of the same Father despite the differences of different religions, cultures, languages, nations and peoples, various ethnic and indigenous communities. The Holy Spirit impels us to unity, to concord, to the harmony of diversity, i.e. unity in diversity.”
Rev. Fr. George Panthanmackel said, “The intellectual life is inseparably related to spiritual life, each enabling the other to reach greater depts. At the heart of this intellectual formation is the aim to develop more and more a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. It will serve not only the priest’s personal life of faith but all those to whom he ministers as well. The priest must be able to draw upon a rich understanding of the faith, apply it to his knowledge of the human condition and communicate it effectively.” He drew attention towards “the traditions of the Church and mysteries of the faith”, which will help the future priests to preach “with sound intellectual background and firmly rooted in fidelity to Sacred Traditions and ecclesial leadership.”
The Rector expressed his gratitude to His Grace, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza, Rt. Rev. Vincent Aind – Chairman of the Governing Board, all the bishops of the region, the clergy, the religious, the staff of Morning Star Seminary, the neighbouring communities and Study houses, the benefactors and well-wishers.
Bishop Fulgence in his homily stressed on forming seminarians with sound spirituality, in intellectual pursuit and in the spirit of the Lord. Quoting from the scripture passages, he spoke very convincingly on taking up the challenges of pastoral ministry in our context.
Morning Star has completed 55 years of service in formation of vocation and has given over 1000 priests who are serving in different parts of the country and overseas. Among them a few have been appointed bishops to serve various dioceses in India. Recently, two bishops, the alumni, Rt. Rev. John Thomas of Itanagar and Rt. Rev. Cyprian Monis, Bishop of Asansol retired from their positions as Bishops. Rt. Rev. Vincent Aind, Bishop of Bagdogra, Rt. Rev. Sarat Nayak are also the products of Morning Star Seminary.
This year the Seminary has 40 new students for Philosophy & B.A. and Theology respectively and the total number of seminarians is 247, the highest in the history of Morning Star Seminary.
Last year 18 young men were ordained as priests both among diocesans and Religious.
The presence of MSFS, the new team in formation, during last three years and the manner in which the spiritual, theological, intellectual, and pastoral endeavours have taken place are commendable. In the field of intellectual formation, with the help of Fr. Henry Jose Kodikuthiyil, MSFS, Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy, MSFS and Fr. Alex Ancheles, CMF have contributed richly by way of scholarly articles and books. “The staff have also conducted seminars, participated in national and international webinars and seminars, and presented papers on some of them.” The Rector acknowledged their contribution to the intellectual fields. He also announced that Festschrift in honour of Fr. John Romus and edited by Fr. Henry Jose Kodikuthiyil, MSFS is in the making. Articles are being collected by Morning Star Seminary staff from well-known scholars from different parts of the country.
The Morning Star hymnal, ‘Magnificat’ was released during the Inaugural day by His Grace, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza. This was the fruit of the tireless efforts and unflinching faith of Rev. Dr. Alphonse Arockiaswamy and his team.
Rev. Dr. Alphonse Arockiaswamy, MSFS, belongs to Nagpur Province, has specialized in Youth ministry and Catechesis at Kristu Jyoti College, Bangalore and obtained his doctorate in Systematic Theology from Ludwig Maximillian University, Munich, Germany. His books are “A New Paradigm for youth ministry today”, “Decoding Pope Francis: the man, the pastor, and the missionary” He also edited the History of the Missionary work of the MSFS in central India. Fr. Alphonse spoke on Lectio Brevis on the theme: “Ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council and its relevance for the Church today.”
Bishop Vincent Aind in his keynote address said, that Seminary should take up the relevant papers from FABC and add them into the Seminary academic curriculum. That’s really the need of the hour. He spoke at length on the relevance of philosophical and theological formation in the seminary. Despite all the years in formation, the end result is not very satisfactory. He felt that both philosophical and theological training should be applied to day to day life situations to address the critical challenges in the pastoral fields. He exhorted all to continue the mission of Lord Jesus Christ in Asian and Indian context.