Dhaka, Catholics prepare to welcome the pope 'nourishing the spirit'

Pope Francis will be in Dhaka from 30 November to 2 December 2017. In all parishes, the official prayer distributed of the apostolic journey. The faithful give what they can to help organize the event.

Oct 16, 2017

By Di Sumon Corraya
Bangladesh Catholics are preparing to welcome Pope Francis, who will travel to Dhaka from November 30 to December 2, nourishing the spirit with prayer. Some faithful tell AsiaNews that in addition to daily invocations, they are preparing their the spirit with the prayer approved by the liturgical committee and distributed among the parishes precisely for this great moment (in the picture).

Sumi Gomes, a housewife from Dhaka and member of the Catholic Church of Tejgaon, says: " Every day I do extra one Lord’s prayer, hail Mary and glory be prayer along my daily prayer. By the prayer card we pray to increase harmony and peace in Bangladesh. We pray for all people of Bangladesh to protect and overcome from all kind of natural and manmade disaster.  We also pray for Pope Francis so that he can properly lead Christians and all nations as proponent of harmony, humanity and ambassador of peace."

For Khokon Vincent Corraya, a Catholic writer, "the pope's visit to Bangladesh is a great opportunity." "Thanks to him - he says - the Catholic faith will be even stronger" in a country where over 90% of the population (out of a total of more than 160 million people) professes Islam while Catholics are about 380,000 0.2% of the population.

According to Dipok Sangma, a Catholic of tribal ethnicity, "just the news that the Pope will come here has already produced positive changes." Fr. Eugene Anjus Csc, secretary for the liturgy, reports: "We distributed the prayer cards throughout the country. We will soon publish the mass and the liturgy of the hours. " The priest tells that more than 300 people are practising the songs of the Mass. The local Church has ordered about 150,000 consecrated hosts for the Eucharistic celebration that Francis will preside at in Suhrawardy Udyan Park on December 1st .

On October 21, in all the churches of Bangladesh, the rosary will be recited. In the following days, other liturgical gatherings will take place. To help the Church in organizing the event, Catholics are also giving what they can. One faithful (who wants to remain anonymous) has offered 5,000 taka (52 euros) and says, "It is our responsibility to contribute to the Church's program."--Asia News