Fr Thathireddy Vijaya Bhaskar, the Fifth Provincial of Hyderabad!

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Hyderabad, 16 December 2015: On December 16, 2015 Fr Angel Fernandez, our Rector Major, announced Fr Thathireddy Vijaya Bhaskar as the Provincial elect of the Salesian Province of Hyderabad (INH). He succeeds Fr Raminedi Balaraju as the fifth Provincial of Hyderabad. As we rejoice at this announcement we gladly welcome him back to the Province (from the Generalate) and sincerely thank Fr Balaraju for his yeomen services to the Province.

Fr Thathi as he is fondly called in the Province, will certainly draw heavily from his experience as the Vice Provincial of Hyderabad for the past 5 years till he was called to the Generalate. He is all of 41 years (being born on October 10, 1974) but much loved and admired by the confreres and all those who have been in touch with him, ever since his initial formation. The Province stands to gain from his multi-talented personality who is able to put his hand to anything and produce quality results. Besides being a qualified formator (skilled and trained in Philosophy) he also has completed his Ph.D. from UPS, Rome. Passionate about social communication, he recently directed a movie on Don Bosco titled ‘The Journey’. He has also been the editor of the Province newsletter ‘Kaburlu’, and the delegate for Social communication for two terms .

His love for the poor has found concrete expression in his dedicated work with and for the street children of Visakhapatnam, while being fully involved in the Philosophate at St John’s Reginal Seminary, Kondadaba. His organisational and relational skills were made visible especially during his stint as the vice-provincial. After animating the 8^th Provincial Chapter he was also elected as the Province Delegate to the 27^th General Chapter. Besides being blessed with qualities of the head, he also has a large heart and a sane balancing ability of both. These externally visible features rest strong and rise deep from his inner convictions and principles of Salesian Religious life. Counting on all these rich qualities he was called to the Generalate in August 2015 to be part of the Youth Pastoral Team. The Province is indeed blessed to have him back as its chief animator.

Fr Thathi hails from Reddypalem, in Mahboobnagar district of Telangana and is the eldest in the family of three children. He lost his father a year ago and is much doted on by his beloved mother, Mrs Maria Rani. He joined the Salesian aspirantate at Gunadala, Vijayawada as an eighth standard boy and went on to make his first profession in the freshly bifurcated Province of Hyderabad (from Bangalore) on May 24, 1993. After his theological studies at Kristu Jyoti College, Bangalore he was ordained a Priest on January 3, 2003.