Curia Blog: Province Day 2005
From Ranchi Mission to Fifty Years of Ranchi Province
Posted on: May 25, 2005.
Modified on:
By Ranjit P. Toppo, S.J.
... Cont'd from page 4.
Thus, Ours can resonate with the World Social Forum and say "another world is possible" be it in Mumbai or in Sau Paulo in Brazil. Going by the examples set by the Social apostolate secretariat in Rome, under the dynamic leadership of Father Franco, Ranchi Province is increasingly moving towards influencing and framing of the policies, which benefit the poor and deprived at the international, national or local levels. Our struggle for the issues like displacement, right to food, literacy drive, new forest policy, promotion of Self Governance in Gram Sabhas are endeavours to bring out policies, which go a long way to benefit the masses for a longer period of time.
9.1 Policies are not the only ones we find our entire efforts geared to. When calamities like Tsunami strike, our response is immediate and generous. Reaching out to the victims by some of our poor parishes along with the faithful and other people was simply touching. We immediately became one with the suffering humanity and contributed our own might.
9.2 Option for poor and deprived has in general permeated in all our apostolates, thanks to the constant focus of social apostolate on the justice dimension of our mission while propagating faith in the ministries. Social apostolate has become one of the most accepted apostolates not only among the masses but also among our young men.
9.3 Off shoot to this apostolate is seen in other Commissions like the Commission for Human Rights, Dialogue Commission and the like. Emergence of such new apostolates is a clear sign and symbol of the a process of ongoing search into newer nuances, giving new meaning systems and higher ascent in our work and life.
10. Promotion of tribal life, culture and spirituality
Somehow I feel that when it comes to promotion of tribal life, culture, tradition and spirituality, Ranchi Province has a special role to play through the institutions and organizations that are located in Ranchi Province and where ours are working. Who cannot deny the part played by late Fr. Paulus Kullu for the reflections on tribal life, culture and spirituality . He was able to put it at the national level, which was even acknowledged by people like Fr. George Soares.
Regular endeavours of the RTC students in the seminar and their involvement at the happenings at the Jharkhand level has not gone unnoticed. Or, the contribution of Ours from St. Albert’s Seminary in the form of liturgy, rites and ritual, which make our life symbolic and meaningful. Development and Design has till date completed 1167 projects of various types of construction which include church, School building, Health Centre, community Hall and the likes, which are spread out in several States. Similarly Catechist Training Centre is one of its kind, training the catechists who serve in North India, carrying the legacy of catechists’ role in the spread of mission.
10.1 Let us not forget the role of our centre of mass communication Satyabharti and Catholic Press for production, publication and promotion of cultural items in the forms of audio, video and printing of books and booklets and magazines. In the recent years some of the very popular and devotional audio cassettes have come out from Jesuits like, Emaunel Baxla, Leonard Lakra, Chonhas Lakra, Alex Tirkey, Joachim Dungdung, Justin Tirkey, Ignace Minj, Telesphore Lakra, Pascal Beck, Sibil Horo and many others whom I won’t be able to recall now.
With the responsibilities of communication department now falling into the shoulders of young turks, we hope to see more dynamism. Lest one gets carried away by some of the new and young names, I would like to make a special mention of Camile Bulcke Shodh Sansthan, which goes about quietly producing scholarly works through research and translations. I am sure we would see much bigger contributions from research institutions like this in the days to come.
10.2 For preservation, propagation and promotion of tribal life and culture the upcoming museum in Arouse Gumla is going to be another milestone, which will not only capture the life and culture of the Adivasis in the past, but also procure enough infrastructure for research, production and publications.
10.3 We have already seen the release of the booklet on tribal spirituality by Fr. John Lakra. His videos on classical dances of Chotanagpur have been already announced in the Ranchi Bulletin. Production and publication of such work is a clear indication that the intellectual life in the Province is very much alive and kicking. In the same vein let us give special recognition to the works of Fr. Pratap Toppo, Kurdeg ka itihas, Diary ke Panne, by Shailendra Bara, numerous books and booklets by Alex Ekka, Hindi-English Dictionary by Emmanuel Baxla and all our editors of Life and worship, Sevartham, Nishkanalanka, Rahi, Xavier Journal, Jharkhand Journal of Development and Management Studies and numerous articles which appear time to time in books magazines and journals.
10.4 And yet one need not become complacent about our achievements. Much more and particularly the quality work is the crying need of the hour. Though one has to be proud of the past accomplishments, yet, without carrying forward the same legacy we will not do justice to our vocations.
11. New frontiers, new challenges
During the past years, Ranchi Province has become forward-looking. When I was visiting the Province men as a Procurator in 2003, there was great amount of appreciation from one and all, for the move of the Province to collaborate with the Egypt Mission with the Far–East Province, Combodia, Assam Mission and our old mission in Andamans.
"Handiya" or rice beer in earthen pot is a popular local brew in Chotanagpur. Indeed, hardly any celebration would be complete without it. Excessive consumption of it is also a regrettably common sight.
"In addition to perpetuating the ills of Bihar, no suitable education policy to emancipate the tribals and backward classes has been worked out, despite several years of autonomy."