Bangladesh Church celebrates 50th anniversary of Dinajpur minor seminary

February 17, 2014 - The Catholics of Bangladesh last week marked the 50th anniversary of the minor seminary of St Joseph in Kosba in Dinajpur Diocese), one of the oldest in in the country. Last Friday, more than a thousand people, including 55 priests, celebrated the golden jubilee of the minor seminary, whose rector is Fr Livio Prete, a missionary with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME).

Bishop Moses M Costa of Chittagong, the former bishop of Dinajpur, described the seminary as a "power generator". "This seminary trained and continues to train thousands of Christian leaders in the community," Bishop Costa said in his homily. "Some became priests - others now serve the country and the Catholic Church as lay people." One of them attending the event was William Atul Kuluntunu, a government official in Dhaka. A cultural event and lunch followed the Mass.

Christianity arrived in Dinjapur for the first time in the 17th century with Spanish Carmelites. PIME missionaries became active in the region in 1855. The region became a full-fledged diocese in 1927 with PIME Bishop Santino Taveggia as its first bishop. Even today, the PIME missionaries are very active in the area. The diocese is home to about 16 million people, including more than 40,000 Catholics. (Source: AsiaNews)