NEWS & EVENTS

Catholic Enquiry Centre completes 45 years of yeoman service! Mr. Valerian Crasta


The CEC Bangalore proudly celebrated 45 years of its mission on Sun, Oct 16th at St. Patrick Church, Brigade Road with His Grace Dr. Peter Machado, the Archbishop of Bangalore concelebrating the Mass with six other priests. It was an impressive celebration to mark the 45 years of service in the evangelisation ministry managed by the Daughters of St Paul.

The service began with a solemn procession the archbishop along with the concelebrants, altar servers, Sr. Clare the Directress of the CEC and a few co-workers proudly carrying the CEC display board.

The youth choir, ably conducted by Ms Charon Chang, animated the service with carefully chosen hymns appropriate to the occasion.

The archbishop in his homily stressed the role of every Christian as a missionary and the importance of prayer for the missionary endeavour of the Church. He also extolled the laudable work done by the volunteers and co-workers of CEC under the leadership of Sr. Clare, dsp, its directress.

The highlight of the service was the release of the 45th Year Souvenir by the Archbishop at the end of the Mass. Rev. Fr. Christy Raj, the Parish Priest of St. Patrick’s Church urged the members of CEC to extend their services on Tuesdays at St. Anthony’s shrine where a lot of people gather, Christians and people of all faiths come to pray at this shrine. In conclusion, Sr Clare dsp offered a vote of thanks to all the well-wishers of the CEC: the archbishop for his patronage and support, all the Parish Priests of different parishes for their encouragement, the volunteers and co-workers for their selfless service and time.

A social get-together followed in the parish hall. Ms Smriti Anthony, an active CEC youth collaborator, conducted the proceedings. There was the lighting of the lamp, viewing of a documentary video on the activities of CEC, singing of the hymn “Here I am Lord…” by the St. Patrick’s youth choir and a motivating talk by Rev. Fr. Chinnarao, the spiritual director of CEC. Fr.Christy Raj, the Parish Priest honoured lay people involved in parish life, invited a few volunteers to come up and share their experiences with the audience. Finally, Sr. Clare dsp thanked everyone who have helped CEC over the years.

The get-together ended with lunch served to all participants.