Mangalore Diocese Holds Bandhutva Christmas Celebration 2023
Mangaluru: The Diocese of Mangalore, under the leadership of Bishop Dr Peter Paul Saldanha, organized “Bandhutva”, a Christmas Celebration at the Bishops’ house Kodialbail here, on December 30.
The programme began with a prayer led by the Bishop of CSI South Province, Hemachandra Kumar.
Dr Peter Paul Saldanha welcomed the gathering and said, “When Jesus was born there was no peace. Today, we desire to live with others where peace begins. We need to be the people of forgiveness. Today, we are sharing the joy of Christmas. Jesus was born as a human being and he desired to stay with us. Jesus gives us hope, we cannot find real peace in this world. Love and forgiveness should be our hallmark, we should be the peacemakers”.
The Bishop cut the Christmas cake along with the Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly, U T Khader; Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan IAS; Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal IPS; Commissioner of Customs Vinitha Shekhar IRS; Commissioner Central Tax GST Keshav Narayan Reddy IRS and Commissioner Income Tax S Rangarajan IRS.
Addressing the gathering, DC Mullai Muhilan wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and said, “Mangalore stands as a unique place because the Christian Community has their own identity. Mangaloreans have created their unique identity and contributed in various fields, including education, medical and Social service. Mangaloreans also have very good skills in cooking. Christmas means forgetting, forgiving and marching towards hope. Yes, we should forget the past and learn to forgive and move towards the new year 2024. This is a beautiful programme to bring the people together through Bandhutva. I feel happy to be a part of this programme”.
Addressing the gathering Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal said, “I wish you all a very happy Christmas. The Bishop said let us forgive and let there be Peace. Being in the police department we cannot forgive those who commit crimes, but we try to reform people and reduce the crime rate. I pray every day so that peace prevails in society. Those who are invited here are the blessed people because God has given them a significant position in society to do good. I wish everyone a very happy new year in advance”.
Addressing the gathering Speaker U T Khader said, “The Christian community has contributed a lot to society. When people were hesitant to treat leprosy patients, Father Muller started the Leprosy and TB ward 100 years ago. Bandhutva will strengthen the bond, I used to attend the Christmas programme with my father when I was a kid. Bandhutva is a programme to bring all the people together. When I was sitting here I was thinking about Late Oscar Fernandes who used to play the mouth organ when he attended the programme. Today we are missing him. Bandhutva should be celebrated in every district in the state under the leadership of the DC. I will speak to the government to organize Bandhutva in every gram panchayat level to strengthen the bond among people”.
Fr J B Saldanha delivered the vote of thanks and Vivid D’Souza compered the programme. Former MLA J R Lobo, former MLC Ivan D’Souza, MLC Boje Gowda, MLC Harish Kumar and Raghuramananda from Sri Ramakrishna Math were also present.
