DIBRUGARH, April 17 � The sacred relic of Don Bosco, which is on a 130-nation pilgrimage, will be brought to the Cathedral in Bishop House here and the same will also be available at Don Bosco School here on May 12 for public invocations and homage, Joseph Aind, the Bishop of Dibrugarh, told this newspaper.
Manipur will be the country�s first State to receive the casket containing the relic of the great saint at Imphal Airport on April 29. The relic inside the casket is the skeleton of the right hand of Don Bosco, which is inserted in the chest of Don Bosco�s statue.
The casket with the relic of Don Bosco, which began a 130-nation pilgrimage on January 31, 2009, will be taken to different Salesian institutions in the Northeast during its two months� tour in the region. The relic will be brought to Dibrugarh at the Cathedral near St Mary�s School on May 12 and later it will be carried to Don Bosco School in Boiragimoth. The relic will also be carried to Moran, Doomdooma, Tinsukia, Naharkatia, Amguri, Jorhat, Dergaon and later to Guwahati and other Salesian institutions in the region, Jonas Kerketta, Rector of Don Bosco School, said.
The pilgrimage is part of the preparation for the 2015 bicentenary of Don Bosco�s birth and also to mark the 150th year of the founding of the Salesian congregation. Fr James Poonthuruthil, the Provincial of the Dimapur Province of the Salesians, in a communique has called upon all the members of the Salesians to cooperate in making the pilgrimage memorable and fruitful. Fr Jose Palely, the Provincial Economer of Dimapur Province, has been appointed as the relic�s journey coordinator for the Dimapur Province, which covers parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.
The casket began its journey on April 25, 2009, from Italy�s Valdocco, Turin, in the Basilica of �Mary Help of Christians� and is set to cross five continents, where Salesian members are serving the youth in particular. The first stage was in Lazio in Italy. After a stop at the Poor Clares Monastry in Citta del Pieve, the casket travelled through cities � Frascati, Latina, Formia, Castelgondolfa, Genzano and several Salesian houses there. The pilgrimage at Lazio finished at the end of June and then headed off for Latin America.
As per the Salesians communique, the first international phase of the pilgrimage saw the casket in the Salesian region of America South Cone and it passed through Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil. The pilgrimage is expected to end in Turin in Italy by 2014. The bicentenary of St John Bosco�s (Don Bosco) birth at Beechi in Castelnuovo D�Asti, near Turin will be celebrated with major events in 2015.
The casket is made of aluminium, bronze and glass specially for the pilgrimage. The box containing the relic is 253 cm long, 108.3 cm wide and 132 cm tall. The casket is transported by two specially designed trucks.
Salesians of Don Bosco, which is the congregation founded by Don Bosco, have schools, junior colleges, vocational training institutes and social organisations spread in the entire North-East.
