The president of Hockey India, Padma Shri Dilip Tirkey, lauded the Jesuits of Jamshedpur province for reaching out to places where no one dared to go.
“The Jesuits dared forests and mountains and faced all odds in doing God’s mission and shaping the bright future of thousands of children,” said Tirkey during the platinum jubilee of the Jamshedpur Jesuit Society.
The young hockey icon from Odisha was the chief guest at the January 8 program at Loyola School in Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern Indian state.
“I could not refrain from coming over here and expressing my gratitude to the Jesuits who deserved the most for their total dedication,” said the athlete.
“Hundred years back, the Kolkata Jesuits’ mission reached Rourkela. We are the fruit of their mission,” said Tirkey.
Jesuit Father Augustine Ezhakunnel, superior of the Loyola School Community, said the Jesuits from the America’s Maryland province carved the new Jamshedpur Mission out of the Calcutta Mission in 1948.
“We are deeply grateful to the Maryland Jesuits and to the Belgium missionaries who started the Kolkata mission,” said the priest.
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