Family Rosary International
BANGLADESH
Family Rosary International Office in Bangladesh is Working to Renew Family Prayer
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Country Demographics/Culture
Bangladesh is a country of contrasts. The nation has a laudable cultural heritage. It has a rich vision of life, spiritual and religious inheritance, customs and values, language and literature, fine arts and crafts, and history and traditions.
Once proverbially and justly apotheosized as “Golden Bangla,” Bangladesh can also portray a tragic scenario characterized by endemic poverty, widespread injustice and oppression, mass illiteracy, pervasive malnutrition and diseases, extensive unemployment and low income, and rapid growth of population.
Catholics there are overwhelmingly in the minority (less than three-tenths of a percent) among the four main religions of Islam (88.3%), Hinduism (10.5%), Buddhism (6%), and Christianity (0.3%). Pressure from the majority religion and growing secular values make it increasingly important that Catholics be strong in their personal faith and religious practice. The basis of this strength is strong personal and family spirituality, with an emphasis on family Rosary prayer.
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History of Ministry in Country
The custom of Family Rosary prayer took root centuries ago in some parts of Bangladesh, due to the efforts of missionaries from Europe and America. Prominent among them is the congregation of Holy Cross, which just celebrated its Father Patrick Peyton’s visit to the province of Dhaka in the late 1950s inspired the Family Rosary 150th anniversary in the country. Father Patrick Peyton’s visit to the province of Dhaka in the late 1950s inspired the Family Rosary movement and reached thousands of people. Representatives from Bangladesh attended Family Rosary meetings in Manila over the years, and returned filled with enthusiasm for the ministry.
Then Fr. John Phalen, CSC, president of Holy Cross Family Ministries, made a pilgrimage to Bangladesh in 1999, which led the way to a commitment in the year 2000 by the Congregation of Holy Cross to open an office of Family Rosary International at Bhadun, Dhaka, Bangladesh, an active retreat house.
Ministry Today
The goal of the Family Rosary Ministry of Dhaka Strategic Pastoral Plan consecrates the Church of Bangladesh to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The following are only a few of the many objectives being employed:
- To promote prayer, especially family prayer, with particular emphasis on the devotion to Our Blessed Mother and regular recitation of her special prayer, the Rosary.
- To make accessible to the family spiritual strategies that enhance, foster, and uphold the faith.
- To promote and enhance devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through regular campaigns, rallies, procession, and pilgrimages.
Early evaluations seem to indicate that the apostolate is already having an impact on the spiritual life of the community. The number of foreign missionaries has gone down, while vocations for religious life (priests, brothers, and sisters) among the local population has gone up. Lay people are getting more and more involved in ecclesiastical activities.
Father Parimal Pereira, CSC, director of Family Rosary in Dhaka, reports that the families who had put aside the practice of the family Rosary every evening are being attracted to it once again. The people are discovering afresh the value of the Rosary and family prayer. “Once again the slogan ‘The Family That Prays Together Stays Together ™’ is becoming popular,” he said. “This is surely a very good sign.”