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by Walter, Nandalike
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A SPLENDID FINALE TO THE SILVER JUBILEE YEAR
The year 2002 was the glorious jubilee year
of Sts.Peter & Paul Church, Ruwi. It was celebrated on the sublime theme
of "Love, Unity & Peace". Throughout the year there were numerous
programmes and events arranged to celebrate the jubilee year. It came to a
solemn close on 21st November 2002 with a splendid finale programme
hoisted to mark the end of the year.
The programme, commenced at 6.30 p.m. with a solemn thanksgiving High Mass
with His Grace Archbishop Rt.Rev.Giuseppe De Andrea, the papal apostolic
Nuncio as the main celebrant. It was concelebrated by other church
dignitaries, His Lordship Bernard G. Gremoli of the vicariate of Arabia,
Msgr Eugene Mattioli, Vicar-General & Superior of the Capuchins in the
Gulf, Msgr.Fred V. Pereira, Vicar-General of the diocese of Mangalore,
India and by other parish priests and Asst. parish priests of Ruwi and
neighbouring Ghala parish. It was an hour of thanksgiving and praise to
the Almighty God who had graciously blessed the parish for the past 25
years. The church was packed to its capacity with the enthusiastic and
devout faithfuls. The ceremony was impressive and fitting to the occasion.
The setting of the Altar was soul-elevating; the singing with few Latin
and Italian hymns by the parish choir lead by Shri Apolinaris D'Souza was
superb and gave a feeling of attending High Mass in a Basilica of Rome.
The homily by the chief celebrant was excellent. There was an aura of
devotion and joy hovering over the gathering of the faithfuls.
After the Solemn High Mass a public function with variety entertainments
was organized outside the church. The Sri Lankan Children band in a
musical march lead the church dignitaries to their seats for the stage
show. The programme unfolded with an introduction by the duo comperes Shri
Donald Pinto and Smt.Pamela Demoss and with a welcome song by the
Children's Choir followed by welcome address delivered by the incumbent
Vice-President of the Parish Pastoral Council Shri.Gerry D'Mello. He
extended a warm welcome to the chief guests and other guests of honour who
were also the chief celebrant and co-celebrants of the Solemn High Mass. A
huge eight feet high Silver Jubilee cake cutting ceremony was officiated
by the reigning parish priest Rev.Fr.Varghese Chempoly. The distinguished
guests were honoured with bouquets of flowers by the tiny children and
were presented with a memento by the parish priest Fr.Varghese Chempoly,
Asst.Parish Priest Fr.Albert D'Silva and the Vice-President of the Parish
Council Shri Gerry D'Mello. There were enlightening speeches by the chief
guests Archbishop Giuseppe, Bishop Gremoli and Msgr.Mattioli.
The whole programme was interspersed with many tableaus, songs, all
choreographed by professional artistes of our parish, which enthralled the
audience and kept them spell bound throughout the entire programme.
The other highlights of the event were the presenting of a cheque of
R.O.70,000/- to His Lordship Bishop Bernard G. Gremoli. This fund was
raised by the Ruwi parish during its jubilee year for the construction of
a new church in Doha, Qatar.
Another highlight was the inauguration by the Bishop Bernard Gremoli of
the Latin
Audio cassette produced by Shri Apolinaris D'Souza and Shri Savio D'Souza.
Separately Archbishop Giuseppe also inaugurated the souvenir magazine of
the Silver Jubilee which was edited by the famous journalist of Oman Shri
Conrad Prabhu and Smt.Sheila of Parish Bugle Newsletter team.
The vote of thanks was proposed by Smt.Catherine Dias. "Peace" song sung
by Kum.Deborah Frank and group was really wonderful. Jubilee song composed
by Shri Harry Rasquinha and sung by the parish choir greatly enlivened the
Silver Jubilee finale programme. The whole show and the memorable jubilee
year of the Ruwi Parish came to an end by the presentation of the
beautiful tableau "we all are one"!
Our Muscat Correspondent.
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