by Father Michael Mendl, SDB 

The Salesians of Don Bosco honoured 21 jubilarians on Saturday, September 30, on the occasion of their jubilees of religious profession or of ordination. The celebration was held at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y., with the provincial, Fr. Dominic Tran, SDB, presiding and preaching. Several hundred Salesians, family members, past pupils, young people, and other friends participated, including more than forty concelebrating priests. 

Father Tran said that just as Jerusalem manifested the glory of the Lord (first reading, Zech 2:5-9,14-15), the jubilarians lived in God’s glory and made him present through their preaching and the sacraments. 

One of the jubilarians was Father Iguintz Calixte, 49 years of age, who celebrated this year his 25th anniversary of religious profession. He made his first profession on September 8, 1998, in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. Father Calixte immigrated to Canada in 2016 and from 2018 to 2020 was director of the Salesian community at the Don Bosco Youth Leadership Centre in Montreal. 

Father Calixte was ordained in 2007 in Haiti and carried out various ministries in his native land. In Canada he served in Sherbrooke (2016-2018) and is now a parochial vicar and part of the formation team at St. Benedict Parish in Etobicoke, Ont.