Twenty years of faithful service

Since the early hours of the day, all the parishioners have arrived at the Church of the Holy Family to personally say thank you to Fr. Ugo Donini, now member of the community of Chiang Mai. The concelebration was presided by Fr. Chan Kunu SCJ, regional vicar in Thailand, in the presence of Fr. Enrico Frigerio SCJ, Regional Superior, and concelebrated by numerous Betharramites brothers and some priests of the diocese of Chiang Mai. There were also a good number of Maepon religious sisters, a congregation founded by Mons Lucien Lacoste SCJ.

The church was packed, the songs were particularly solemn, the atmosphere was joyful and full of emotion. At the end of the Mass, after the wishes of the confreres and of the local authorities, Fr. Ugo addressed the parishioners encouraging them to continue to bear witness to their faith in Jesus. Later, in a parish hall, every single parishioner greeted Fr. Ugo Donini pouring on his hands a water mixed with some herbs. This gesture, typical of the Karen culture, indicates the request for forgiveness and the invocation of the Lord's blessing. The entire congregation of Betharram expresses to Fr. Ugo his gratitude for his long-standing missionary work in Thailand throughout these years, a very precious legacy handed down to the generations of the young religious of the Vicariate of Thailand.