Ordained on 15 January, five days earlier, he baptised 11 members of his family. Khokon came to know Christianity in 2000, at a Catholic school, “attracted by the life of PIME missionaries and local priests”. In his parish, 500 adults will be baptised this year.
Naogaon (AsiaNews) – The Church of Bangladesh is growing very fast, the result of the tireless and generous work of the missionaries. New members join each year whilst vocations to the priesthood and religious life also emerge among them.
Fr Khokon Christopher Baro, 37, is one of the most recent examples. His priestly ordination among the religious of Holy Cross took place last Friday in Rajshahi cathedral.
Until 2000, when he was 16, he didn’t even know what Christianity was, but that year he discovered the Christian faith by going to live at a boarding school run by the Church.
Fr Khokon was born into an ethnic Oraon family in the village of Laxmidanga and had always followed the tribal religion, which worships spirits, the sacred tree, and nature.
But looking at the life of Christians, he was struck by it and several times expressed the desire to become a disciple of Jesus too.
“I was attracted,” he told AsiaNews, “by the life of PIME missionaries and local priests, by their commitment, morals, lifestyle and prayer. So I started reading the bible and discovered the person of Jesus Christ. I immediately said that I wanted to be baptised, but the priests advised me to wait.
“I was baptised in 2006 and later entered the Holy Cross Seminary. I greatly appreciate the priests and nuns: they work for the rich and the poor to feed them spiritual food.”
PIME missionaries, some local priests, and nuns began evangelising in the village of Laxmidanga in 1973. PIME left the parish in January 2020.
The last parish priest, the missionary Fr Emilio Spinelli, handed over the parish to a diocesan priest. All these decades have been very fruitful.
The first prayer centre was established in Buthahara in 2007. Today the local Catholic parish has 4,500 members.
Each year more than 500 people get baptised, in 50 villages. From there came the vocations of five nuns and the first priest, Fr Khokon.
“When I told my parents and brothers and sisters that I wanted to become a Christian, none of them objected. When I entered the seminary, took my first vows and then at the diaconate they participated in the feast and were happy.
“Whilst I was in the seminary, many priests and nuns visited my home in the village. Thus, my brothers, uncles, aunts and other relatives also became attracted to the Christian faith. On 10 January, five days before my ordination, I baptised 11 of them.”
Fr Khokon’s father and mother passed away in 2015 and 2016, but he is sure that “if they were alive, they too would have received Jesus.”
Fr Swapan is vice parish priest of Bhutahara. He points out that “our parish has great opportunities to increase the number of believers. Last year 250 adults received baptism; this year there will be more than 500. And vocations are also growing.”
