On Sunday July 16, Mauritians will have the opportunity to thank Cardinal Maurice E. Piat, who served the Catholic Church and Mauritius as bishop for 32 years. A mass of thanksgiving is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Thabor gardens to close the Festival des Vocations 2023.
Speaking to the press at the Port-Louis bishop’s palace on Friday, July 7 at 11 a.m., members of the organizing committee explained the details of this event, an important step before the episcopal ordination on Sunday, August 20.
The Bishop of Port-Louis, Mgr Jean-Michaël Durhône, thanked his predecessor, Cardinal Maurice E. Piat, Bishop Emeritus, for his religious and social contributions during his episcopate. Bishop Durhône invited Mauritians to gather at Le Thabor on Sunday July 16 for a day of thanksgiving.
The colors of the flag as a reminder of the Cardinal’s love for the country
Father Laurent Rivet, in charge of the Vocations Department of the Diocese of Port-Louis, said that participants were encouraged to wear the colors of the Mauritian quadricolor as a reminder of Cardinal Maurice E. Piat’s affection for the Mauritian people and the Catholic Church’s desire to promote social peace in Mauritius.
Father Rivet also recalled the second objective of the Sunday, July 16 event at Le Thabor, namely, the campaign in favor of vocations, more specifically, the training of seminarians who intend to serve the Church and the country as priests. The theme of the 41st Vocations Festival is “Vinn Zwenn Mwa”, a reference to Christ’s invitation to the disciples in the Gospels.
Sister Solange Perreau, a member of the Service des Vocations, a support structure attached to the Service Diocésain de la Pastorale des Jeunes et des Vocations, listed the steps leading to the ordination of a candidate whom the Church calls to the priesthood.
Yannick Casquette ordained deacon on September 3 by Mgr Durhône
As for the number of seminarians, twelve are pursuing their studies in Europe, at the seminaries of Saint-Jean in Nantes, Notre-Dame-de-l’Espérance in Orléans, and Béda University in Rome. On June 14, David Chung, aged forty, was ordained a deacon with a view to the priesthood at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in the Italian capital.
During the press conference, representatives of the Diocese of Port-Louis also announced that seminarian Yannick Casquette, originally from Curepipe, has been called to the diaconate with a view to priestly ministry. The Bishop of Port-Louis, Mgr Jean-Michaël Durhône, will confer diaconal ordination on him on September 3 at Saint-Esprit, Bel Air, where Yannick Casquette is undergoing a pastoral internship.
Raising Rs 12 million for Mauritian seminarians
On the front of the fund-raising campaign to finance seminarians’ studies, Miss Christiane Tadebois and Mr. Arnaud Bigaignon, from the Finance Department of the Diocese of Port-Louis, unveiled the estimates in terms of expenditure for the seminary year which opens in September. The Diocese of Port-Louis is counting on the generosity of the Catholic faithful and, more broadly, of Mauritians, to raise the sum of Rs. 12 million.
This sum includes university fees; accommodation in Rome, Orleans and Nantes; insurance for seminarians and overseas travel. The Catholic Church has always asked the faithful to participate in financing its seminarians. Previously, there was the Work of Vocations (donations through schools and colleges); this has been replaced by the Walk of Vocations with a dual objective: Pastoral and Financial. The initiative came from Mère du Bon Pasteur of the Lorette congregation, during a meeting organized by Cardinal Maurice E. Piat, then in charge of Vocations.
