JAMSHEDPUR DIOCESE

JAMSHEDPUR, INDIA

 

The fruit of Silence is Prayer

The fruit of Prayer is Faith

The fruit of Faith is Love

The fruit of Love is Service

The fruit of Service is Peace.

[Mother Teresa]

 

 

 

 

                                                                

 

 

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe - Lupita Parish, Telco:  On 1^st August, Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J. inducted Fr. Vijay Bhat as Parish Priest during the solemn liturgy at 5.30 p.m. Frs. Manu Horo, Gilbert D’Souza, Victor Misquith and Msgr. John Bodra were the special invitees.  Immediately after the Mass there was Holy Hour and Benediction before the welcome- send off ceremonies. The whole Parish community was present to welcome their new Pastor and to thank Fr. Cyprian Lobo who had been at Telco over 8 years in two terms.

 

On 3^rd Sunday, Bishop Felix Toppo commissioned 33 youngsters of the Parish with the Sacrament of Confirmation during the 7.00 a.m. Mass .The well co-ordinated liturgy in English/Hindi gave a feeling of holiness and spirit filled atmosphere. The choir was superb. Immediately after the Mass the Confirmation candidates were given breakfast and token gifts by the Parish Council. Pastor Vijay is happy that the Parishioners are well equipped to take care of their mission in the Parish.

 

Vianney Day:  The solemnity of the feast of St. John Maria Vianney, the Patron of the Pastoral clergy was celebrated on 4^th August at the Bishop’s House, Golmuri. Fr. Jerome Pereira presided over the Con-celebrated Eucharist at 6.00 a.m. at the Cathedral and Fr. Cyprain Lobo was the homilist. At 4.30 p.m. all gathered at St. Joseph’s School  grounds for the basketball match between Bishop’s 5+5 and Provincial’s 5+5. Though the fight was balancing Bishop’s 10 became the runners up with 32 points and the winners, the Provincial’s team scored 50 points. During the meal awards were distributed by the Chief Guest, Fr. Antoniswami,S.J . The best player award was given to Manoj Kindo and reverse best player award went to Fr. Nicholas Kerketta. The judges for the match were Msgr. John Bodra, Fr. Cyriac MSFS and Mr. Sridhar. Mr. Aloke Nobel had a trying time to keep the players within the playing grounds. This was followed by a meal prepared by Fr. Gerry D’Souza and his team. Fr. Vijayan OFM, last year’s best player, offered the prayer of blessing.

 

 St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Golmuri:  Pastor Fr. Jerome is determined that he will have 5000 saplings / fruit trees planted within his deanery before the rains vanish. He moves in and out to bring saplings and reach to the requested sites. Frs. Leo and Cyril are seen motivating the Parish Youth for the Regional Youth convention to be held at the Welfare Centre in the month of October. The forth-coming visit of the Pro-nuncio on the 7^th and 8^th November to Jamshedpur has awakened everybody to come forward and co-operate with the organising committee. Mr. Ronny D’Costa is the Chairman for the Jamshedpur Civic reception committee.

On 10^th August, Sunday, all the Members of the Parish Council assembled at Jesu Bhavan for an orientation programme given by Fr. C.R. Prabhu. It was indeed great to see all the leaders of the Parish assemble with the Priests for such a meaningful motivation session. This will hopefully bring in much more action in the parish.

 

The Mercy Panchayat and the Cathedral Parish Council had a joint meeting with the Bishop to discuss the Mercy Chapel agenda. It was agreed upon to take the mater to the authorities concerned. Meantime Pastor Jerome left for Lucknow-Bareilley for 2 weeks to visit his uncle Priest and brothers.

On 27^th all the members of the Mahila Sangh gathered at the Mercy Chapel for Holy Hour, Confession and Mass. Fr. Leo D’Souza conducted the liturgy. This was followed by tea and snacks.

 

 

St. Robert’s Church, Parsudih:  Mr. Bailey Bodhanwala inaugurated the “ Father Marcus Topno” memorial football tournament on 4^th August, at 9.00 a.m. Mr. Charles Borromeo of the Tata Steel was the Guest of honour. Over 30 teams participated in this tournament. At the final match on 11^th August, Dr. Arun Oraon, Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur, though agreed to be the   Chief Guest could not make it to Parsuidh and Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J., the Guest of Honour inaugurated the match and distributed the awards to the winning teams. Congratulations to Fr. Sahay Dhason, Staff and students of St. Robert’s School, for the wonderful organisation. On 15^th August, Mr. Raymond Osta hoisted the National Flag at the School grounds and the school children presented a spectacular parade to the thunderous beating of the drums.

 

Loyola School, Kumardhubi: After having acquired a mighty 45 KV Generator set for the school at a cost of Rs.2,66,000.00 , Principal Fr. Amatus Kujur is ready to face any sort of power cuts in the campus. The children are happy that they can continue attending the classes even during the long power cuts. Work is in progress to level the newly acquired land at the far east of the school building. Surely the school will have proper football and basketball courts soon for action .On 23^rd August, the Danbad deanery mahilas gathered at Loyola School for the annual Mahila day celebrations. Bishop Felix Toppo inspired them with his hour long sharing on the role of a mother in the family. Bishop Felix Toppo presided over the concelebrated Eucharist on 24^th. Fr. Edward Kongari, Dean of Dhanbad joined the celebrations and the family meal. Over 250 mahilas from the various Parishes of the Deanery participated in the deliberations for two days.

 

Sacred Heart School, Adra:  Fr. Edward Saldhana has been on the move to get the PF of the School staff regularized with the Government Agency. Dean Chonas was seen in Jamshedpur many a times taking part in the Masses for the departed at different areas who were known to him earlier. The new Presbytery is being furnished slowly and all the needed facilities will be fixed up soon. On 17^th August, Fr. Edward rushed to Council Office, New Delhi with Fr. Pius Fernandes, S.J. to present a report of the school facilities that were required for affiliation by the Council. 24^th August was a special day for the women of Sacred heart Church, Adra. Parishioners witnessed 47 women with lighted candles walk down the isle on the occasion of a “special celebration” in honour of St. Monica. On the previous evening Fr. Edward Saldhana addressed the Mahilas on ‘the role of a Mother in the family ‘. Frs. Chonas and Edward celebrated Mass for the Parish mahilas. After the Mass and breakfast all the mahilas gathered at the Parish Hall for ‘Pantomimes’ based on the parables and miracles of Jesus. The memorable day ended with a family meal.

                                                                                                                  [Fr. Edward Saldanha]

 

St, Theresa’s Church, Sindri:  The latest count of families at Sindri is 27 and Pastor Casmir is in regular contact with them so that they too may not rush off from the Parish. The electricity supply is quite normal , just 4 hours of power cut daily on fixed intervals. Seminarian Patrick Khess and Michael [cook] are present for the daily Mass and Rosary with the Pastor. The Clergy Deanery was in action to celebrate the 66^th birthday of Fr. Casmir on 13^th August, but after having heard from Sindri that Fr. Casmir is beyond traceable, all celebrations came to standstill.

 

 

St. Anthony’s Church, Dhanbad:  Dean Fr. Edward Kongari had to camp in Jamshedpur for a week to pursue the land cases of Rahargora. Hopefully he may have to make another trip before it is cleared for the final judgement by the LRDC. The 68^th birthday of Fr. Norbert Kindo was celebrated on 8^th August with a family meal for the clergy of the deanery. Fr. Edward attended the animation seminar at Varnasi on “Proclamation of the Word” together with Bro. Jacob DDS from the 10^th to 14^th August. Their return journey from Varnasi to Dhanbad got held up for 14 hours and it gave them a chance to take advantage of the railway guest house  facilities at Varnasi .

 

Nirmala Hospital, Govindpur:  On 9^th August the Governor of Jharkhand, His excellency Shri Ved Prakash Marwah visited the hospital, hostel, VIP enclosures. The hostel girls extended him a warm and solemn welcome. Director Walter Crasta gave the welcome address with a short report of the activities of DSWC. The Governor was happy that he could see the wonderful service DSWC is rendering to the lost group of the society. He made a generous gesture by giving sweets, sarees and dhoties to the inmates of Nirmala and donated Rs. 10,000/- for one meal.

 

 

Vidya Jyothi, Siadih: On 3^rd August Fr. Manu had a meeting with the parents of the hostel children to exchange views on the hostel set-up and know the expectations of the parents from the hostel. Fr. Manu thanked the parents for their confidence in the school administration.  Regent Felix Nag and DDS seminarians Manoj and Vinod are fully involved with the school-hostel activities. On 9^th Frs. Cyprian, Lobo, Nicholas Kerketta and Bro. Dilip Marandi visited and encouraged the men at work in Siadih. On 15^th August Mr. Pushkar Sing Munda, BDO, Kuchai hoisted the National Flag at 9.30 a.m. This was followed by Sport’s Meet for the school children. The villages in big number gathered to enjoy the Sports. The School band became a big attraction for the whole area. The Parade and P.T. are of international standard. Congratulations to Fr. Manu Horo and our team at Siadih. Next medical camp is scheduled for 14^th September. Thanks to Fr. Elvius Dungdung and St. Mary’s English School for the gift 3-tier beds for the hostel kids of Siadih.

 

St. Mary’s, N. Road:  Pastor Edwin Coelho had the C.A.J. [M] members at Jesu Bhawan for a day’s motivation training by Fr. P.T. Joseph, S.J. There were only 20 members who could avail this special training including the Parish Priest. They are hopeful that more activities will be organised by their team-work. On 12^th August, Dean Jerome Pereira called a meeting of the Deanery Parish clergy to chalk out the forthcoming important events in the Deanery. The Christ the King Eucharistic procession will be held at St. Mary’s on 23^rd November. It was decided to call a meeting of the lay representatives to plan out for the visit of the Pro-Nuncio on the 7^th November to Jamshedpur .The solemnity of the feast of the Assumption of BVM was celebrated on 15^th August with a concelebrated Eucharist presided over by Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J. at 5.30 p.m. in the Church. This was followed by a cultural show organised by the C.A.J. [M] in the School Hall which ended at 8.30 p.m.

 

St. Anthony’s, Kutkudungri  : Pastor Vijayan celebrated his  61^st birthday on 12^th August, on Raksha-bandan day with a family meal for the clergy and religious of the town. The perpetual adoration continues though Sr. Ann Thomas, SSH, the force behind this special devotion had a fall and at present immovable.  People from  various parishes in the town are joining for the adoration these days. Plans are getting rooted to start an English medium School in the campus soon. All are looking ahead for the grand blessing of the new Church in the month of December.

 

Shrine of Our lady of Khuntpani: Pastor Boniie Kujur is over busy with the modernisation work of the Shrine Campus at Khuntpani. He hopes that the pilgrims will have better access to the Shrine proper and the Pro-Nuncio and other dignitaries will have smooth sail during the solemn celebration on the 8^th November.

 

 

Nirmal Hirday,  Bardwari:  The Missionaries of Charity had the feast of  the Queen ship of Mary celebrated on 22^nd August with Mass , cultural programme and family meal for the inmates and the many visitors who  came to join the Sisters for the solemn occasion. It was an occasion to thank God for the noble presence of the Missionaries of Charity in Jamshedpur.  Frs. George Manna, Edwin Coelho, Antoniswami and Vijayan celebrated the Holy Eucharist at 10.00 a.m.

 

Missionaries of Charity, Baihatu: Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J. presided over the Concelebrated Eucharist on 22^nd August at 11.00 to celebrate the feast of the Queen ship of  Mary at  Baihatu. This was followed by felicitations and agape for all the inmates and the guests.

 

St. Albert’s College, Ranchi: Rector, Fr. C.R. Prabhu mesmerised the gathering by his homily at the solemn Pontifical Mass on 31^st July at the Cathedral, Ranchi in honour of St. Ignatius of Loyola.  He is busier than ever before giving recollections, talks to the many religious communities in and around Ranchi. Fr. Selva is very busy with his philosophy classes and Bro. Noel DDS with the kitchen and garden work and taking take of the 38 seminary workers.

 

Catholic Charities, Sundernagar:  The CC conducted S.H.G training for 34 members of the NGO s who are linked with Catholic Charities from 3^rd to 6^th August at the Vikas Bharati. Mr. Anand Sharan, AGM, NABARD of East Singhbhum addressed them on the last day and promised to link all of them with various Banks. One-day orientation was held for the village watershed and pre-watershed groups at Vikas Bharati on 6^th August. Fr. David attended the seminar at Ranchi on the Supreme Court judgement regarding the Minority Schools at the Ursuline Ranchi from the 5^th to 7^th. Fr. P.D. Mathew, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, was the resource person.  Mrs. Girija [Mumbai], Ms. Sara & Ms. Ann [USA] conducted an evaluation on the SHG groups attached to CC and gave guidance to one and all. The Watershed co-ordinators had workshops held from 12^th to 14^th by the CRS Ranchi team at Vikas Bharati. The SJVK staff conducted Logistic Frame Analysis Training for 38 volunteers from the 17^th to 20^th at the Vikas Bharati. Fr. Bipin and team participated at the ‘Social Workers “ meeting at Hazaribag on ‘Legal Aid & Peace Building’ from the 11^th to 13^th and at Ranchi on “DO NO HARM” from the 25^th to 27^th.                                                               [Harshal]

 

Santhal Colloquium – 2003 :  Fr. Manu Horo led a team 9 participants to Raiganj for the Santhal Colloquium –2003 from the 25^th to 28^th August. It was a great event for the Santhal Mission in India. This annual exercise help the missionaries to share their experience on the ‘Proclamation of the Word’ and other aspects of enculturation in the liturgy. Congratulations to all our representatives who made to Raiganj.

 

St. Xavier’s Church, Chaibasa : Mother’s Day was celebrated on 23^rd and 24^th at the Parish Church. On 23^rd evening Fr. Victor Misquith addressed the women on the role of  a mother in the  society and family . On 24^th there was  a special Mass, felicitations and meal for all the mothers at  the Parish.

 

 

 

 

Patna Trains Women Catechists for first time:  The Patna Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, which has been training men catechists for the whole North India since the year 1973, has now ventured into a programme of training women catechists. The first batch of seventeen women exclusively from Patna underwent the first phase of their training on 1-31 May, 2003. After implementing in their respective parishes what they have learned at the Centre, they are supposed to return to complete the second phase for another month, 1-31 May, 04. At the end of the third phase in May, 05, they will be commissioned as full=fledged catechists.

In the recent past various forums have expressed the need to have women catechists. Archbishop Benedict J. Osta, S.J. urged his pastors to get trained qualified women catechists. [New Leader , Aug. 1-15]

 

 

Apostolic Nuncio to Nepal sees Church growth as ‘extra-ordinary’:  The new Apostolic Nuncio to Nepal said during his first visit that the local Church has developed tremendously since he visited the country 12 years ago in a different capacity. Inai based Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana was in Nepal on 2-8 July to present to King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev his credentials as papal envoy.

The Spanish Archbishop, appointed nuncio to India and Nepal in February, had a meeting with the members of the conference of religious superiors. After meeting the religious superiors, Archbishop Quintana said, “The progress that Nepal has made is extraordinary”.

“From the small beginning with education, the Church of Nepal has set off on its way to a ‘second spring’, spreading into various areas. The Church’s presence has fanned out to various parts of Nepal, and the number of faithful has grown to more than 6,000”, he said. [UCAN]

 

Indians eat, read and sleep religion :  “Indians find it easier to reach God than have access to a school or hospital. India has more public places of worship – of its multiple faiths- than schools, hospitals and dispensaries put together. And there is at least one place of religious worship at every kilometre of the country’s road network of 2.4 million kilometres. According to a wide-ranging survey by the Census of India, there are some 2.4 million places of worship in the country, as against 1.5 million schools and colleges and a mere 600,000 hospitals and dispensaries. Religion is a way of life for many Indians, but religious shrines appear to be now dominating governance, taking precedence over socio-development and economic issues. To many it is no wonder that successive governments have been grappling over the Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute that has preoccupied Parliament sessions, elections and political discourse..”.

                                                                                                                            [newindpress.com.24.7.033]

 

Standing secularism on its head and walking back:  “The Congress today seems to be emulating its first prime minister’s feats by standing secularism on its head and walking back to great pace on economic reforms… While Ajit Jogi is busy building temples in Chhattisgarh, A.K. Anthony has been taking offence at the ‘imprudence’ of the minorities after endorsing Praveen Togadia’s trishul diksha, Ashok Gehlot extolling the practice of sati and Ghani Khan Chaudhary teaming up with the BJP to defeat the CPI[M] in West Bengal’s Malda district. So it is hardly surprising that, of these, Jogi and Anthony have earned praise from none other than L.K. Advani of the Somnath-to-Ayodhya rath yatra fame. The Congress’s dithering on secularism dates back, of course, to Indira Gandhi, which made the BJP’s K.R. Malkani say after the 1983 Jammu election that his party may have lost but its ideas had won. Later, Rajiv Gandhi’s genuflexion in the direction of the Muslim fundamentalists on the Shah Bano episode confirmed the Congress’s inability to comprehend the essence of secularism.”

                                                                                     [Amulya Ganduli, Hindustan Times, 28.7.03]  

 

Salesian Archbishop brings peace: The Salesian Archbishop Mgr.Thomas  Menamparabil of Guwhati, has brought peace to two non-Catholic tribal groups, the Dimasa and the Hmar, who had been fighting against each other for political and economic reasons concerned with the land. After the failure of three attempts by the government, the proposal of the Archbishop was accepted  : “Stop the violence put an end to provocative statements and restart dialogue and collaboration”. During the last three months violent conflicts between the groups had caused over a hundred deaths and made thousands homeless, in the mountainous district of Cahar, the state of Assam. The fact that there were no Catholics in the groups made it easier for the Archbishop, who was seen by both parties as a neutral mediator.[Don Bosco, August, 2003]

 

 

 

German Priest suspended for giving communion to non-Catholics :  A German priest was suspended for giving Communion to non-Catholics during a high-profile Mass in a Lutheran Church. Father Gotthold Hasenhuettl, 69, of Trier in South Western Germany celebrated the May 29 Mass during the ecumenical Kirchentag, or Church assembly, held in Berlin. [Don Bosco, August, 2003]

 

Supreme Court strikes down Section 118 of the Indian Constitution :  “In a major development, the Supreme Court while hearing a petition filed by Fr. John Vallamattam, challenging Section 118 of the Indian Succession Act, which says a Christian cannot donate his wealth to religious institutions at the cost of his/her relatives. The court declared Section 118 of the Indian Succession Act as un-constitutional”. [rediff.com]

 

More than 2 kids, no Panchayat post: SC :  “ The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld at Haryana legislation disqualifying a gram panchayat member from becoming a sarpanch if he or she had more than two living children. Once the disqualification has been incurred, it could not be cured by giving away one of the children to some other person in adoption”. [ rediff.com]

 

S.C. Clarifies:  Minority institutions have preferential right : “ The Supreme Court today ruled that the minority educational institutions had a preferential right to admit students of their own community or language and no such right existed so far as the non-minority educational institutions were concerned “.

“ A five-Judge Constitution Bench, made it clear that ‘national interest would prevail even over minority rights “ and the State could regulate admissions in professional colleges, both the minority and non-minority, and merit should be the criterion for admission.

 

“The Bench said the States could prescribe the percentage of admission by the Government and management according to the local needs. Provisions had to be made for the poorer and backward sections of society. And admission shall be made through a common entrance test and counselling”.

 

“However a different percentage could be fixed for the unaided minority institutions to be filled by the management and the rest filled on the basis of counselling by State agencies. While fixing the percentage, apart from local needs, the interest/need of that community in the State must be kept in mind; the Bench said and added  ‘the need of the community in the State would be paramount vis-avis, local needs’.

 

“The Bench clarified that a minority professional college could admit, in its management quota, a student of its own community / language in preference to a student of another community even though that student was more meritorious. However, while selecting the students of its community inter-se merit of those students could not be ignored… The Bench made it clear that its direction to constitute two sets of committees in each State shall remain in force till appropriate legislation was enacted by Parliament”. 

                                                                      [ The Hindu, 15. 08.03]

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