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Feast of Patron Saint of Mauritian Diocese “a moment to review our common history”: Priest

Fr. Alain Romaine. Credit: Courtesy Photo

The Feast Day of the patron Saint of Port Louis Diocese in Mauritius offers an occasion to review the shared history of the people of God in the country, a Catholic Priest in the Indian Ocean Island nation has said.  

The feast of Saint Louis IX of France who is the patron Saint of the Catholic Diocese of Port Louis in Mauritius is celebrated annually on August 25.

In his homily, Thursday, August 25, Fr. Alain Romaine also reflected on the role of the Church in Mauritian society, and called for collaboration between religious institutions and the State. 

“We are invited this year to review our common history in the light of the Word of God in order to better hear the call to pursue the ideal of our national anthem: as one nation, as one people, in peace, justice and liberty,” Fr. Romaine said. 

He said that the people need to do the review “with a feeling of great respect, in the spirit of deep gratitude and in a movement of thanksgiving, towards all those whose memory we are going to evoke.”

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In the homily published on the website of Port Louis Diocese, the Catholic Priest emphasized the value of the Church in the country.

He acknowledged with appreciation the lives of Fr. Roger Cerveau, a singer who used music to speak about the suffering of the Creoles, Mgr. Amédée Nagapen, guardian of the national memory through his 70 publications on the history of the Church, and  Jean Cardinal Margéot who facilitated reconciliation in the country when he performed a hymn  for the accession of Mauritius to Independence.

Fr. Romaine said the three figures “illustrate very well the prophetic spirit of the Church's service within Mauritian society”.

The Church, he went on to say, has always endeavored to remain faithful to her mission of evangelization “of the human being in his entirety and integrity”. 

“She wants to be humble, discreet, but active and demanding in the course of the history she has lived alongside the Mauritian people,” Fr. Romaine said in reference to the Church in Mauritius. 

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The Church and politics go hand in hand as both of them “interact in the same field of competence when it comes to respecting the dignity of the human person, especially in favor of the vulnerable, and to building a nation based on law,” he added during his August 25 homily.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.