– Joaquim Magalhães de Castro
As early as the 1990s, the Bhutan government had expelled the Nepalese-born Lhotshampa population, which constituted one-fifth of the country’s total population. In the process, they were denied Bhutanese citizenship, making them stateless. Some Lhotshampas have recently been allowed to return and settle in uninhabited southern areas. Interestingly, as many of them as the Assamese (Assam inhabitants) today constitute the manual work force, as road builders.
On the horizon to the north and northwest, on clear days, are several snow-capped mountain peaks, including Masanggang (7185 meters) and Gangkhar Puensum (7570 meters), the highest point in Bhutan and the world’s highest mountain ever climbed.
I had the opportunity to get to know – during a stopover on Dochula’s lap – the story of Jesuit priest Kinley Tshering, converted to Christianity when he attended a Catholic school in Darjeeling at the age of 15 in 1974. He would soon deepen his faith as he extended his studies in Bangalore and Mumbai Jesuit Colleges. “I have always wanted to consecrate my life to Christ as a priest. But my professional duties, family pressure, and lifestyle didn’t help make a final decision,” he said in an interview with Religión en Libertad magazine.
In those moments of exhaustion at the uncertainty of his vocation, Kinley prayed to God to give him a sign. “I remember telling Him: ‘You have to give me a sign like the one granted to Teresa of the Child Jesus, when she saw the snow in the summer, but strong enough so that I don’t doubt it.’”
The signal would come when Kinley met Mother Teresa on a flight to Calcutta. “My heart was pounding and I was breathing hard … She was curious when I told her that I was from Bhutan and was Catholic. I explained to her that I had become a convert, and suddenly she was aware of the anguish that hung in my heart: an immense desire to be a priest.
She took me by the hand and said, “I don’t often say this to many people, but you have a calling. Be generous with God and He will be generous with you.” A few months later Kinley Tshering was joining the Jesuit novitiate at Mount Carmel in Kurseong.
Following his priestly ordination, Father Kinley traveled to Calcutta to thank Mother Teresa for her help. Seeing him, the first thing she said was, “For the past ten years I have prayed for you.” Kinley Tshering was Bhutan’s first Catholic priest and is currently the superior of the Darjeeling Jesuits.
Follow
