Bishop Barthol Barretto visited Sacred Heart Church, Igatpuri on Thursday, September 05, 2024. The pastoral visit began with the visit to the three Religious Communities of Sisters:
The Missionary Sisters of the Queen of the Apostles (SRA)
Sisters of St Joseph of Chambery
Daughters of the Cross of Liege
Bishop Barthol interacted with the formees and Sisters separately and enthused them to make it a point to pray and make the best use of the formation provided to them. He urged the Sisters of all the three Religious Communities to make it a point and visit the families of the parish.
Bishop Barthol also visited four families whose members were sick; two of them being homebound. To each of these members, Bishop urged them to unite their suffering with Christ and that Christ would most certainly bless them with joy and happiness in their lives.
Later in the evening, Bishop Barthol met and interacted with the members of the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC). He instructed them to meet on a regular basis (once a month) and to take up one pastoral issue every year. The PPC members were given an opportunity to ask questions which the Bishop answered most willingly. He also met the youth and interacted with them. He urged them to meet once a month and to ensure that no youth feels isolated. He requested the youth to invite those youth who do not attend the meetings to do so.
At the end, Bishop Barthol met all the priests at Satyagiri and listened to them attentively. He spoke about the importance of personal prayer and motivated them to visit the parishioners on a regular basis.
What was interesting to note is that Bishop Barthol participated in the Vespers and had dinner with the priests at Satyagiri. He blessed the priests and left for Bishop’s House. Truly, we felt supported and cared for by Bishop Barthol.