In the name of the 77 confreres and 5 novices of Myanmar Vice-Province, Bro. Steven Tuang Lian Pau welcomed the 10th successor of Don Bosco: “We take pride in being the first love of the newly ordained priest Don Bosco! Our confreres proudly presented in a short drama how Don Bosco wanted to come to the Ava Kingdom (now Myanmar) as a missionary. Your visit is the fulfilment of the first desire of young Don Bosco. You are Don Bosco in our midst! ... in the past we have been able to welcome the Rector Major on only two occasions – the first in 1955 (Fr Renato Ziggiotti in Mandalay) and the second in 1979 (Fr Egidio Vigano in Yangon).”
Fr Á.F. Artime was able to greet everybody with the traditional Burmese greeting - Minglabar - which was very much appreciated by all the youth and faithful present.
A hearty welcome was given by more than 700 youth gathered from all 11 SDB and 4 FMA centres in the country. Some of these boys and girls arrived after more than 16 hours’ journey by train. The official welcome was given by Fr. Charles Saw, Superior of the MYM Vice-province, and some cultural items followed. The Rector Major then prayed the Rosary in the Salesian Cemetery together with the young people.
In the evening there was a real family gathering with the young, when the Rector Major playing guitar, capturing the hearts of the youngsters and the Salesian Family members.
On the morning of 28 October Fr. Angel held a three-hour meeting in Anisakan with the confreres of the Myanmar Vice-Province. A total of 38 Salesians gathered for this occasion. The picture that emerged was of a young, energetic provincial community with hard working Salesians in a variety of mission for poor young people - a picture full of hope, opportunities and a promising future for the Salesian Charism in Myanmar.
During the morning session Fr Á.F. Artime was eager also to take a photo with the most senior confrere of the Vice-province, Fr Cyril Francis. He is the only confrere who has witnessed all three visits of the Rector Major to Burma - in 1955 (Fr Ziggiotti), 1979 (Fr Vigano) and 2016 (Fr Fernandez), with the family of Fr Charles Saw, Superior of MYM and all the other confreres present.
In the course of a rather deep and very open dialogue, Fr Angel focused on charismatic growth for the future. They key words were: communion, community life, taking care of each other and the growth of a community culture as the main way to a bright future. In the second part of the encounter the Rector Major answered some questions.
As a visible sign of commitment the successor of Don Bosco entrusted to the MYM Superior the 'Project of Apostolic Life' of the Salesian Cooperators (ed. 2013) and the Presentation of the Don Bosco Past Pupils World Confederation (ed. 2015). In this way he asked all Salesian to embrace the new way of carrying out our mission with the Lay People!
More photos on ANSFlickr.
