Class of 68 is blessed to have a Benedictine Monk among us, Fr Alexander (Byron Costa Fernandes). Fr. Alexander is very special to us and he has helped classmates during dark and turbulent times.

Every Reunion Class of 68 has had, Fr. Alexander has celebrated a special mass for us in Goa, Split Croatia and Crete, Fr Alexander prays for healing, so it is always a Healing Mass, especially for us classmates and our partners. We were always able to find a special Church for this through his contacts and .....Divine intervention!

During Covid we were fortunate to celebrate a couple of masses via Zoom. The masses were attended by a number of the classmates from Goa, Calgary, San Francisco, UK, Nairobi, Toronto, Wollongong and Sydney. It was certainly comforting to meet in those dreadful times..

Fr Alexander is based near Crawley, West Sussex, UK. Click here to visit the Benedictine website to get more information of the good work the Monks do.

The Abbey is in a beautiful location in Crawley and sprawls over a few acres. It is a 2 hour drive or train ride from London and certainly worth a visit.

Fr Alexander has done much charity work in Peru through the development fund of Worth Abbey, Outreach Peru for the last 35 years which he runs alone. The partners of Outreach Peru are usually, though not exclusively, religious orders and agencies of Peruvian Catholic Church working with the rural and urban poor in catechetical and social development projects.

For instance, Caritas is in over 200 countries and territories as an integral part of the local Bishops’ relief, development and social service agencies to improve the societies in which we find ourselves (CAFOD in England). The Archdiocese of Huancayo are a major partner of Outreach Peru. They have funded as a model and the only AIDS orphanage in Peru, and a Shelter for teenage girls abandoned by their rural parents, a problem not only in India, and manage a huge social development outreach through Caritas Huancayo. For instance,

https://caritashuancayo.org.pe/?p=765

https://caritashuancayo.org.pe/?p=784

A third Caritas Huancayo project is aimed at women in domestic work who lost their livelihoods in the pandemic. It helps them develop entrepreneurial skills.

http://www.arzobispadodehuancayo.org/?idt=7&id=6040....

(The web pages are in Spanish, open them in Google Chrome, right click and choose ‘Translate into English’.)

Fr Alexander (Byron) is due to go to Peru in May 2022 for six months to continue his good work. He is one of the youngest classmates in our class, with most of us turning the golden 70, Fr Alexander (Byron) will be a young 69 this year.

Class of 68 will be celebrating another Mass for the 69/70 yr olds in May this year, provisionally on 31 May, and we will send a recording of the mass to the alumni website.

Our next reunion will be held in Italy (Tuscany) around mid 2023. This was originally planned for 2021…. But the whole world was on hold. Trust 2023 will happen.