Fr Cereda, accompanied also by his Secretary, Fr Saimy Ezhanikatt, who belongs to ING Province, was welcomed last October 13 with great enthusiasm, first at the airport, then at the Provincial House, by numerous Salesians, young people and members of the Salesian Family. Later, he met with the Provincial Council to learn about the current state of the Province and its future projects. He then met with the Salesian Family.
The following day, Fr Cereda celebrated the Eucharist at the Generalate of the "Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians" - aka "Ferrandine" – as they were founded by Msgr. Stefano Ferrando, SDB; he then participated in a festive meeting with the young people of the local Salesian schools, and offered the inaugural address of a symposium on "Evangelization and Catechesis".
Young people at risk and in street conditions were also greeted by the Vicar of the Rector Major, who showed them the attention and closeness of the entire General Council; as well as the parishioners of Tangla, who impressed Fr Cereda for the beauty of their traditional rites.
Friday 17 was the day for a large celebration, thanks to the 60th anniversary of the ING Province. For the occasion, a solemn Eucharist was celebrated with the participation not only of Fr Cereda, but also of numerous bishops, of Fr Maria Arokiam Kanaga, Regional Councillor for South Asia, and over 4,000 faithful, especially young people, coming from different Salesian houses throughout the territory.
"Both in Guwahati and Shillong I was able to get to know a very lively and active Salesian Family, I felt all the warmth," said Fr Cereda. The Vicar observed with pleasure also the "missionary identity" of the ING Province, which then gave life to the IND and INS Provinces; and recalled that "in 1921, when the Salesians arrived, the Catholics in the region were five thousand, today they are a million."
Fr Cereda stayed in the INS Province until Saturday 19 – and the Province shall also welcome the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime in a few days; he concentrated on several specific works and themes: he visited the Salesian shrine of Cherrapunjee, which houses one of the relics of Don Bosco; greeted the relatives of the late Mgr. Dominic Jala, SDB, archbishop of Shillong who recently passed away in the USA; and animated and shared reflections on the Salesian missionary and on the figures of holiness raised in that region: the venerable Mgr. Stefano Ferrando, and the Servants of God Oreste Marengo and Costantino Vendrame.
Finally, sharing a report on his journey with the community of the Salesian Central Office in Rome, Fr Cereda recalled that Fr Mathias defined the North-East of India as a "new Patagonia", a "new frontier of the Congregation"; and concluded by quoting the consecration of that region to Mary Help of Christians made by Msgr. Mathias once he became Apostolic Prefect of Assam. This is why today one can say that the fertile evangelization of those lands "is a Marian miracle."
