About Us: On the eve of 90th year of the arrival of the Salesians in northeastIndia (22 January 2012), Salesian General Councilor for Missions Fr Klement Vaclav opened the first aspirantate exclusively for overseas missions, 22 November 2011.
Archbishop Hubert D`Rosario Institute at Sirajuli
Modeled after the first Salesian Missionary Institute of Ivrea (11 other missionary aspirantates in Italy, Spain, France and England), this institute is named after Hubert D`Rosario the first Indian archbishop of northeast India (Shillong-Guwahati). Over the years, the above European missionary institutes supplied a total of 11,000 missionaries for world missionary efforts.
Situated at Sirajuli in the diocese of Tezpur Assam, though still under construction, the aspirantate was already functioning since July 2011.
Besides the Guwahati province, the missionary institute will recruit aspirants from “north Indian“ provinces of Dimapur, Calcutta, New Delhi and Bombay.
Blessing first such missionary institution in India, Bishop Michael Akasius Toppo of Tezpur said, “Sirajuli missionary aspirantate will become an epicenter of missionary animation from a forgotten village to the whole world.“
“Local boys who left for the overseas missions are a great inspiration for young people of the region to follow the courageous example of their companions,“ noted Fr Klement.
Fr Klement added, “even though India leads as a country in the number of members in the congregation, the Indian contribution to overseas mission is dismal compared to the supply of confreres to the missions from a small country like Vietnam with a far shorter history of Salesian presence.Vietnam sends 8 to 10 missionaries each year and to-date they have sent a total of 73 confreres to overseas missions.
Over these past 100 years of Salesin presence inIndia, some 460 foreign confreres have worked in India. In contrast, the Indian contribution to overseas missions is a little over 150.
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