Mangaluru: “The past 450 years have passed by with the blessings of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. This Jubilee celebration should make us more humane when dealing with the people,” said Bishop of the Mangalore Diocese, Rev Dr. Peter Paul Saldanha, here at the Rosario Cathedral, Mangaluru.

He was addressing the gathering on the occasion of the 450 years Jubilee celebrations of the Cathedral. The Bishop Emeritus of the Mangalore Diocese, Most Rev Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Vicar general, Msgr. Maxim Noronha, Rev Fr Stanislaus D’Souza SJ, Dakshina Kannada district in-charge and Urban Development Minister, U T Khader and Member of Parliment Oscar Fernandes were the Chief Guests of the programme.

To mark the special occasion, a special stamp of Rosario Cathedral was released by MP Oscar Fernandes. Several projects were also inaugurated in honour of achieving this milestone. A cheque of Rs 1 lakh was handed over to the SVP unit of the parish by Rev Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza, for the purpose of repairing the houses of the needy. Another cheque, for the purpose of acquiring title deeds, was handed over by U T Khader to 10 needy families on behalf of the Church authorities. Rev Dr. Peter Paul Saldanha also inaugurated a medical fund for the parish and a cheque of Rs 4.5 lakhs was given to the director of the Prison Ministry of India to rehabilitate the released prisoners.

Earlier, the students of Rosario English Medium School and children of the parish welcomed the gathering with a dance.

John D’Silva compered the programme. Rector of the Cathedral, Rev Fr J.B Crasta, welcomed the gathering and Secretary, Parish Pastoral Parishad Elizabeth Roche proposed a vote of thanks.

MLC Boje Gowda, who represented Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy at the programme, extended his and the CM’s greetings to the parishioners. MLC Ivan D’Souza, former MLA J R Lobo, local corporator, Abdul Latif, St Aloysius College, Principal, Fr Praveen Martis, Diocesan Pastoral Parishad secretary, M P Noronha, Rector of the Cathedral, Rev Fr J B Crasta, Asst Parish Priest, Rev Fr Flavian Lobo, Parish Pastoral Parishad vice-president C J Simon, Sr Milly Fernandes and Sr Mabilia AC were present.