SW News: Concluding the Marian month of October, thousands of believers in Muslim-majority Bangladesh took part in the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Baromari in the diocese of Mymensingh. The community celebration was held on October 28 with a solemn High Mass offered by Fr Gabriel Corraya, who is the vicar-general of the archdiocese of Dhaka.

Believers gathered on the vigil of the feast to take part in the Eucharistic Adoration, Way of the Cross and the rosary, which was followed by a candlelit procession that made its way through the hills near the sanctuary. About 30,000 believers from all over Bangladesh came to take part in the celebrations at the shrine which was built in 1997. The Marian place of worship was constructed in response to the exhortation of Pope John Paul II to undertake a pilgrimage of faith ahead of the Jubilee Year of 2000.

According to AsiaNews, many believers undertook the pilgrimage as a sign of thanksgiving for favors received and for being protected during the COVID pandemic. Fr Corraya told AsiaNews that the teachings of Jesus and Our Lady of Fatima are an exhortation to all to pray and undertake mortification. He also invited everyone to recite the rosary. The vicar Fr Torun Bonowary asked the pilgrims to pray for peace in the Asian nation and for religious harmony.

The diocese of Mymensingh has 85,000 believers spread across 18 parishes. In spite of being a minuscule minority in the Muslim majority country, the Church is well appreciated for its top-class educational institutions and contributions to health care. It is also engaged in humanitarian work among the tribals.