(ANS - Campo Grande) - The first group of Salesians, under the guidance of Bishop Louis Lasagna, SDB, came to Cuiabá, the capital of Mato Grosso, on 18 June 1894. There were five young missionaries, soon to start their activities in the parish of São Gonçalo. It's been 120 years since that day and now the Salesian presence in the Mission in Mato Grosso, Southern Mato Grosso and Western Sao Paulo benefits hundreds of thousands of people. There are over 130 professed religious in nineteen communities.
Over the past 120 years there have been many concrete signs of the growth and fruitfulness of the Salesian charism in this land. There are many towns and villages in the territories served by the Province of Campo Grande, Brazil. Also worthy of mention are:
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the spread of the devotion to Our Lady Help of Christians, in all the communities, as well as in specific centres such as the Marian Shrines of Cuiabá and Corumbá;
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the construction of important centres for culture and science, such as the Don Bosco Meteorological Observatories in Cuiabá and elsewhere; the Regional Museum, now the Don Bosco Museum of Cultures; the Centre for Indigenous Documentation in the Don Bosco Catholic University; the Bororo Cultural Centre in Mission Meruri, named after Don Rodolfo Lunkenbein; the Xavante Cultural Centre in the Sangradouro Mission.
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activities to promote and support the needy, especially the AMA Project, with its many services primarily of a missionary kind.
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scientific productions which are the result of a patient ethnographic research by eminent Salesians of the Province: for example, the book " Eastern Bororo Orarimugudoge "; the Bororo Encyclopedia; the book "Xavante autêntico Povo"; as well as numerous articles, books, and educational productions for and about the Xavante and Bororo peoples.
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many Salesians have shown ongoing commitment to those most in need, some of them even at the cost of their lives. Fr José Thannuber was murdered at Palmeiras in 1920. Fr Fuchs and Fr João Pedro Sacilotti were massacred along the Rio das Mortes in 1934. Fr Rodolfo Lunkenbein was killed in Meruri in 1976.
Among the many activities that were part of the anniversary celebrations, last Wednesday, 18 June, the bishops of Campo Grande - Metropolitan Archbishop Dimas Lara Barbosa, Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Pinheiro, and Bishop Emeritus Vitório Pavanello – joined the Salesian community of the Provincial House, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and several Salesian Cooperators for a friendly meal.
On the YouTube channel of the Province of Campo Grande there is a video celebrating the anniversary.
Published 20/06/2014
