On 13 June, animated by the motto "Honoring the past, celebrating the present, imagining the future", a solemn Eucharist was presided over by the Bishop of Kerema, the Salesian Msgr. Peter Baquero. During the homily, the prelate urged the Salesians "to recognize the presence of God in Araimiri and, above all, to follow Don Bosco's teachings in all pastoral, social and educational activities."
The Covid-19 pandemic limited the preparations and the number of participants in the celebration, but "we wanted to give thanks to the Lord, with joy and gratitude, for the gift, dedication and commitment of these four decades of Salesian presence to Araimiri," explained Fr Dominic Kachira, SDB, Vicar of the Vice Province.
Among those present were several Salesians, from the Philippines also, from where the first missionaries came; also present, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, members of other Congregations, lay people of the Salesian Family, Past Pupils, students and friends of the Salesian work.
The first "missionary pioneers" 40 years ago were Fr Valeriano Barbero, Fr Rolando Fernández and coadjutor brother Joseph Kramar. In a recorded message sent for the occasion, Fr Barbero wished to recall that "each Salesian must not feel foreign but 'one' with the people," that is, he must cultivate a unity of human, cultural, spiritual and pastoral intent.
The community of the "Don Bosco" secondary school in Kokopo also celebrated the anniversary: on June 5, the entire student body attended a commemoration of the first arrival of the Salesians in the country. A song was sung, then passages from Fr Barbero's diary were read, while vintage photos were projected on screen: the malaria, the place of mission, the struggles and the difficulties encountered by the first Salesians were narrated and exhibited to the students. The celebration also provided an opportunity to celebrate the institute's 30th anniversary, the teachers with the most seniority of service and the students who won the school competitions.
The PGS Vice Province officially began just 4 years ago, on July 7, 2016. With less than 50 Salesians, from 16 countries, it is among the youngest, but also most flourishing, realities of the Congregation.
"Patience and zeal" were, in short, the secret of the Salesian flowering in Melanesia. "As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the arrival of the first Salesians, we remember with gratitude all the Salesians who came from different parts of the world to work with us," says today the Salesian Sylvester Kuli, a young vocation from Papua New Guinea, currently in formation in Jerusalem.
