By Ms Sudha Pillai for BISMumbai

The Annual Congress of the Salesian Cooperators of the Province of Bombay was held on 12 November 2022 at Don Bosco Provincial House, Matunga. Salesian Cooperators from all the regions of the province were represented at the Congress including ten new aspirant Cooperators from the newly formed units of Naigaon and Virar.

Fr Orville Coutinho, the chief guest for the program, celebrated the inaugural mass in the morning along with the Delegate for the Salesian Family, Fr Diego Nunes. Frs Dominic Lisboa, Wilfred D’Souza and Joe Braganza were the other concelebrants. During the homily, Fr Coutinho urged everyone to instill values in the young. He insisted that It is the duty of every Christian to guide the youngsters to live their life based on morals and not on recognition.

After the Eucharist, the Congress was inaugurated by lighting the lamp. Ms Jacinta D'Souza welcomed the gathering, afterwhich Fr Coutinho gave the inaugural address. He mentioned that amidst the troubles of life, the only way to deal with them is to change the perspective and look at others through the eyes of love .

After the delegates were felicitated by Sr Catherine Fernandes, the new office bearers of each unit were called and were introduced. After the annual reports, reading of the minutes and presentation of the accounts, each unit presented the activities conducted during the past year. It was indeed heartening to be acquainted with the good work done by the various units across the province. Then, the annual activity calendar was presented by secretary Sudha and Fr Nunes took the consensus of the floor for the approval of the schedule.

The outgoing coordinator, Ms Jacinta D'Souza, was felicitated. Then, the process for the election of the new office bearers was carried out. Fr Nunes illustrated the rules and regulations of the election process with the help of PAL (Project of Apostolic Life) which is the book of statutes and regulations for the co-operators. After rounds of election by secret ballot, the following new office bearers were named: Ms Sudha Pilai ( Coordinator), Ms Marie Rodrigues (Secretary), Mr Dian D’Souza (Treasurer), Mr Franklin Coutinho (Formation).

The Congress ended with the vote of thanks by Mr Coutinho followed by a fellowship lunch.