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March 2007 - Bishop Donald Pelletier, MS of Madagascar Visits the Mission Office |
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In March 2007, the Mission Office had the privilege of welcoming His Excellency, Bishop Donald Pelletier, MS, Bishop of the diocese of Morondava in Madagascar. Monsignor Francis Blood and the Mission Office staff enjoyed a wonderful visit with Bishop Pelletier, along with Father Jack Nuelle, MS and Brother Roger Clement, MS of the LaSalette Missionaries.
 Bishop Pelletier has spent 49 years as a missionary in Madagascar. Last year, his diocese received more than $100,000 from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith as a subsidy to assist with the expenses of the Church in Madagascar. Bishop Pelletier has a great dedication and commitment to serving others. He also has a wonderful sense of humor, which can be seen in one particular story he shared during his visit to the Mission Office….
In 2006, Bishop Pelletier had gone to Belo-sur-mer for Ash Wednesday. The trip there went fairly smoothly, but because the roads from Morondava to Belo-sur-mer were so bad, it was easier to arrive by boat. On Mardi Gras day, Bishop Pelletier had taken a speedboat. “The trip was good, but I held my breath all the way. We were bouncing over the waves at 180 miles per hour,” he said. He had plenty of time for Mass and pastoral meetings with the people. Following a series of meetings he had planned to return to Morondava.
“We only left after 6 p.m. to meet the speedboat. But by the time we arrived at Ambararata it was too dark to head in to shore and the men were afraid of the rocks in the bay. So we just continued north directly to Morondava. Our boat was a pirogue from Belo-sur-mer. It would not have been too bad except that we had 800 pounds of live crabs in the pirogue. I was perched as best as I could on the crabs and could feel their claws through the burlap bags. As you know the night scene is splendid – millions of bright stars, a cool light breeze that drives on the pirogue, an ocean that becomes phosphorescent as the boat slices through its dark waters. It would have been a pleasant trip except for those crabs! I couldn’t sit comfortably and I couldn’t lean back because hundreds of little claws were reaching out for me. It was Lent with a bang – all night long at sea and I had not eaten since noon. We reached Morondava at 2:00 a.m. but we couldn’t beach the boat because the tide was out. Like a cork we bounced around for another two hours only a few hundred yards from shore, all the while trying to protect myself from those pinching crabs. Ten hours after leaving Belo-sur-mer I finally set foot again on terra firma. I thought, I’m too old for this! The night was splendid but what a price I had to pay!”
 
The Mission Office thanks Bishop Donald Pelletier for visiting, and for all of the work that he does to help others around the world! Special thanks to Father Jack Nuelle and Brother Roger Clement for visiting as well!
Visit the LaSalette Missionaries online - CLICK HERE!
Father Jack Nuelle, Bishop Donald Pelletier, and Brother Roger Clement
Father Jack Nuelle, Bishop Donald Pelletier,
Monsignor Francis Blood, and Brother Roger Clement
Bishop Donald Pelletier with MIssion Office staff:
Colleen Coughlin, Wonda Forister, Connie Heckstetter, and Linda Dalton
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