First-ever profession of First Vows of two Jesuits in Bangladesh
Eliash Sarkar SJ
16 July 2024 will be remembered as a momentous occasion in the history of Bangladesh Jesuit Mission of Calcutta Jesuit Province because for the first time ever, two second-year novices pronounced their First Vows in the Society of Jesus at Arrupe Jesuit Novitiate, Mathbari, Gazipur. The newly built Novitiate Building was also blessed and inaugurated on the same day. Novices Amit Rozario and Samuel Murmu pronounced their First Vows in the presence of Fr. James Arjen Tete, the Provincial of Calcutta Province, Fr Ripon Richard Rozario, the Mission Superior of Bangladesh Jesuit Mission cum Director of novices, fellow Jesuits, family members and friends.
The profession of First
Vows coincided with the feast of Our Lady of Carmel which was an apt moment to highlight
the importance of Mary as the Mother of the Society of Jesus. During the homily,
Fr. Arjen reminded Amit and Samuel that as Jesuits, we know who we are by
looking at Jesus (GC 35).He
invited the newly-professed to welcome and serve all in the embrace of
universal brotherhood and urged them to emulate the example of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, just as St Ignatius did all through his life.
At the end of the Solemn Eucharistic Celebration, Fr. Provincial presented them with a copy of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, the Vows Cross and a rosary. During the reception that followed the Eucharist, the newly-professed of the Bangladesh Mission of Calcutta Province expressed their gratitude and reflected on the blessings they received during the last two years of novitiate.
Earlier that morning, the new novitiate building was blessed by Fr. Tete. The novitiate in Bangladesh had started exactly two years ago on the same day from a humble beginning with three novices in a very simple hut. Before then, the Bangladeshi Novices were formed in the novitiates of Calcutta and Sri Lanka. At present, there are six novices in the Novitiate.
The idea of the novitiate in Bangladesh began during the covid-19 pandemic when the Mission could not send its novitiate candidates to Sri Lanka. Moreso, the growth in local vocations was a contributing factor in the discernment towards opening the novitiate. With support from ‘Aid to the Church in Need’ in Germany, and Jesuitenweltweit, the new building was constructed with the aim of providing holistic formation for the novices.
This year, the Jesuits in Bangladesh mark 30 years of their presence in the country. However, it all began in the late 16th century when the Jesuit missionaries, for the very first time, brought the Gospel to this part of the then India subcontinent. They built the first church in Iswaripur, Satkhira in 1600. In 1602, Fr. Francisco Fernandez, SJ, was killed and he is considered to be the first Christian missionary to suffer martyrdom in Bangladesh.
Since then, the Jesuits have been at the service of the Church in Bangladesh in different ways. At present, there are twelve Jesuit Priests (ten Bangladeshi, a Belgian and an Indian), a Deacon and two Regents serving in Bangladesh in the fields of spiritual assistance, education, pastoral care, refugee service, faith and youth formation. Nine scholastics are in various stages of formation in various nations.
In Bangladesh where 91.1% of the total population is Muslim and only about 0.4% is Christian, the return of the Jesuits has strengthened the hope in the resurrected Christ. The desire to serve the Lord despite various difficult situations is what Christ blesses us within this part of the globe. Young souls like Amit and Samuel are rays of that hope…
Related Posts:
“The first step, for the candidate as well as for us, the moderators, is to clarify the deep motivations behind the desire to be a Jesuit. When they arrive, candidates express very simple motivations such as wanting to have a happy life, inner peace and the desire to serve God...”
It’s a fact that in most countries of the world, vocations to the religious life are few and far between, given the social, cultural and religious context of today’s world. There is, however, one notable exception to this trend: Vietnam. The number of young Vietnamese entering the Jesuit novitiate...
Meeting for its tenth biennial congress from 1-6 July in Cebu, Philippines, the International Jungmann Society for Jesuits and the Liturgy took up the Holy Father’s call. The publication of his apostolic letter in June 2022 coincided with a request...
On 9 August, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, it is imperative to shed some light on the plight and resilience of Indigenous Peoples, particularly those living in the Amazon and Congolese rainforests.
After 10 years, Jesuit brothers from European Provinces met again, hosted by the Manréza Retreat House in Dobogókő from 16 to 21 July.
We asked some of the Jesuit deacons ordained this year to tell us what this step meant to them. Today, the testimonies of Guillermo Medina, a Mexican ordained in Bogotà (Colombia) and Rivelt Silnéus, a Haitian ordained in Paris.
