West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to inaugurate Nativity exhibition

KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will send out a message of a green Christmas from the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary before attending midnight mass on Friday. The cathedral is run by the archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church. Banerjee has been attending midnight mass here for a few years and is blessed by archbishop Thomas D Souza. re in our lives and how important it is to restore what we take from her are coming up on the premises.The exhibition is being put up by Church Art, an organisation from the city that had designed a crib depicting the birth of Jesus in a manger which finds place among 223 other cribs from 93 countries at the International Nativity Museum of Bethlehem.
The exhibition will highlight St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the archdiocese, who, in 1223, celebrated the Feast of Nativity by bringing in the concept of the crib and baby Jesus in the manger lying between the donkey and the ox, with his parents by his side. “This was the first time the symbolism of the crib was celebrated in the woods of Greecio near Assisi on Christmas Eve. Saint Francis was inspired by his visit to the Holy Land in1219 and his thoughts metamorphosed into the crib he got designed to bring to life what people read in gospels about Jesus’s birth,” said Dominic Gomes, vicar general of the Archdiocese.
Saint Francis wanted to send the message that it is the forest that is the giver of the life force we enjoy. “We are trying to spread that original message of green Christmas through the exhibition. We are grateful that the CM has agreed to inaugurate the exhibition,” said Franklin Menezes, parish priest of the cathedral.
The CM will arrive at the cathedral at 9.45pm and inaugurate the exhibition before the mass starts.