JAMSHEDPUR DIOCESE

JAMSHEDPUR, INDIA

 

 

 

 

 

D I O C E S A N    R O U N D – U P S :

 

St. Xavier’s English School, Chaibasa:  The feast of Blessed Brigida Morello of Jesus, the foundress of UMI Congregation was celebrated on 4^th September. The Con-celebrated Eucharist at 11.00 a.m. was presided over by Fr. George Mannarakam in the School Hall. Teachers, students and dignitaries from the administration, clergy and religious from the deanery took part in the Eucharist and the family meal that followed.

 

Divya Bharati, Chaibasa:  Fr. Valerian and Sr. Michael organized a seminar for the Catechists of the diocese on the 1^st and 2^nd at Vikas Bharati, Sundernagar. Fr. Savrimuthu, S.J. from Hazaribag was the resource person. This was followed by 2 days’ retreat preached by Fr. Valerian Lobo and assisted by Sr. Michael. There were 59 catechists participating for both the programmes. Congratulations to Fr. Valerian and Sr. Michael for the well organized inputs for our catechists.

 

St. Xavier’s Hindi School, Chaibasa: On 6^th September, Mrs. Joba Majhi, Minister of tourism inaugurated the ground-soling Project at St. Xavier’s School, Chaibasa. The school children, staff and management extended her a very warm welcome. Congratulations to Fr. Alex Dodrai for the hard work and getting the job done through the Minister.

 

St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Golmuri:  The marriage preparation course conducted at St. Joseph’s Welfare Centre had 38 participants from the various town parishes. Fr. Valerian Lobo, Sr. Michael, and Mr. Ephrem Kispotta were the resource persons.

 

The solemnity of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated at the Cathedral, Mercy Chapel and Gina Deep.  Meals were served to all the devotees at the Cathedral and Mercy Chapel by the Tamil Sabha. Fr. Gilbert D’Souza S.J. was the Chief celebrant at the Cathedral. Fr. George Manna at Mercy and Fr. Leo D’Souza at Gyan Deep .  It is echoed that at the Cathedral over 3500 people shared the meal even many from the circus crowd , as a result many retreated without a meal. St. Joseph’s School had the ‘Teacher’s Day’ celebrated on 5^th September with games, cultural programs and a special Mass for the teachers. Pastor Jerome distributed the diocesan catechism examination awards to the children during the function in the Welfare Centre Hall.

St. Joseph’s School, Golmuri is privileged to get 2 classrooms from Shri Reguvar Das, minister and local MLA . The construction work is in progress. Meantime 440 power supply line is given to SJWC/ School for cooler atmosphere.

 

Church of Our Lady of Nativity, Sini :  The solemnity of the feast of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary, the feast of the Parish was celebrated on Sunday, 7^th September. Fr. George Manna Celebrated the Eucharist in which 7 children received ‘First Communion’. There was much devotion in the singing and the participation by the people. Immediately after the Mass, there was breakfast for all and followed by games, entertainment and Lunch. On 8^th the clergy and religious of the nearby communities took part in the family meal with Pastor Cyriac MSFS and community.

 

Vidya Jyothi, Siadih :  The 54^th birthday of our Santhal Missionary, Fr. Manu Horo was celebrated on 7^th September at Siadih. The hostel children, Parishioners and the school staff greeted Fr. Manu immediately after the Mass. Bishop’s House was represented at the celebration. Fr. Halan, who was away in Bangalore for the liturgical Course returned home on 14^th September to a warm welcome by the children, staff and villagers.

It coincided with the 2^nd medical camp at the School and 152 patients came for medical assistance. Thanks to Dr. Mohanti, Srs. Elsy Cherian, Crisilda and Vimala for the great help to the people of Siadih. Fr. Manu Horo has returned to his base at Chandil with all his medical, social and cultural agenda on hand and rushed to Jesu Bhavan for the Diocesan Santhal colloquium from the 22^nd to 25^th. Regent Felix Nag came to reach Fr. Manu Horo to Chandil and to repair the motor-bike at Jamshedpur but got himself admitted for malaria at Mercy on 20^th September. He is well and back at Siadih.

 

Xavier Institute for Tribal Education [XITE]:  The blessing of XITE, Adityapur Complex, Gamarhia took place on 8^th September during the Holy Eucharist presided over by Fr. James Kalapura, S.J. The SCN Provincial, Sr. Teresa Kotturan and many of her cabinet members were present for the occasion. Fr. Augustine Ezhakunnel gave the introduction to this new mission venture of XLRI to support the tribal girls of Jharkhand. Sisters. Julianna, Gracy and Mary Ann are entrusted to facilitate the 1^st year programmes with the help of XLRI.

 

Mr. B. Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel, officially inaugurated XITE on 18^th September, Thursday at .9.00 a.m. in the presence of over 200 dignitaries of the town. Over 20 girls have taken admission at XITE already for the nursing coaching and hopefully many more will join by the end of the month.

 

St. Paul’s Church, Maluka:  Maluka Parish celebrated the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary as  ‘Girl-Child Day’ on 8^th September. Fr. Venancius Kandulna offered Mass and  invited the gathering to thank God for the gift of every girl child in the Society. At the introduction the hostel boys welcomed each girl with flowers and prayed for their well-being. The parish celebrated the Silver jubilee of the Bethany Sisters in Kolhan area on the 30^th of September.

 

 

Holy Cross, Pramatha Nagar :  The solemnity of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the  feast of the congregation  was celebrated on Sunday, 14^th September at the Convent with special Eucharist , cultural programme and a family  meal at noon for the clergy, religious and benefactors. Since the Holy Cross Convent at Chowka too had the celebrations at the same time the clergy and religious of the town got really divided in love instead of the expected oneness on the Holy Cross.

 

St. Mary’s, Bistupur: Pastor, Fr. Edwin Coelho was on the run to keep abreast with the many activities in the parish. The solemnity of the Nativity was so solemn that there was no place in the campus for anybody to move out on time. Fr. James Kalapura, S.J. presided over the Concelebrated Eucharist at 5.30 p.m. Pastor Edwin led the procession in honour of Our Lady. The Tamil Sabha made sure that everybody shared the meal at the solemn end of the celebrations so that it is a very memorable event for all. It is estimated that over 2500 people were fed on the day.

 

St. Mary’s English School celebrated the School day, the feast of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary on Sunday, 7^th September with solemn Mass celebrated by Fr. Edward Saldanha. This was followed by a meal for the clergy, religious, teachers, members of the Governing Board and the many VIPs at the Hindi School Hall.

 

Bishop’s House, Golmuri:  A meeting of the executive board of CHMU was held at the Bishop’s House on the 12-13. The six-member team had a chance to visit Tata Motors [Telco] and TISCO in between their business hours. Fr. Gerry D’Souza went all the way to Kumardhubi to join the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, the Parish feast on the 7^th September. Frs. Michael Jojo and Nicholas Kerketta were kept within the shadow of Msgr. John Bodra after they got released from Mercy.

 

Fr. Cyprian Lobo shuttles daily to Bhilai Pahari to supervise the construction and farm work and stays on until evening. He expects that the inauguration could be anytime after the visit of the Pro-Nuncio to Jamshedpur.  Bishop Felix Toppo returned home on 24^th by Geetanjali Express after having been away 3 weeks in Rome. Fr. C.R. Prabhu blessed the marriage of Nirmal and Asha on Saturday,20^{th September}  at 5.30 p.m. at the Cathedral. 17 Priests joined the Con-celebration.

 

The meeting with the CBCI, Delhi team on “ Domestic Workers” on 23^rd September at Bishop’s House, Golmuri was attended by 25 persons including Priests, Religious and laity. Sr. Pratiti OSU, Fr. Freddie D’Souza, Mrs. Sarita and Miss Philo came all the way from Delhi to guide us on this new and important ministry in the Jamshedpur diocese.

 

St. Robert’s Church, Parsudih:  The combined celebration of the solemnity of the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine, the Parish Feast of Parsudih Parish and the 1^st anniversary of the dedication of the new Church was on 17^th September. Fr. George Manna was the Chief celebrant of the Eucharist and Fr. Felix D’Souza preached an inspiring homily fitting to the occasion and people. This was  followed by an extended cultural programme by the parishioners on the School stage upto 1.45 p .m and a family meal in which all the families of the parish took part. Congratulations to Frs. Gualbert, Thason and the Parish Council leaders.

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Telco: The feast of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary was solemnly celebrated in the Parish on 8^th September. The Tamil Sabha  organized a meal for the people after the procession in the campus.  Pastor Fr. Vijay Bhat celebrated his 55^th birthday on 19^th September with a special Mass and dinner for the clergy of the nearby communities.

 

Sacred Heart Church, Adra: The Parish Tamil Sabha with the support of the Parish Council celebrated the solemnity of the Birthday of Mother Mary on 8^th September. Good number of parishioners took part in the novena prayers on all the days. On the final day there was a procession followed by Mass in the Church. Fr. Edward Saldanha celebrated his 46^th birthday on 21^st September with a special Mass. Many priests from Jamshedpur and Dhanbad rushed to Adra to be part of the celebrations. The School had its own celebrations on 22^nd Monday to wish Fr. Edward God’s choicest blessings.

 

Christ the King  Church, CKP :  The feast of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated solemnly on 8^th September at the Parish Church.  Dean of Kolhan, Fr. Augustine Kullu presided over the Holy Eucharist and  Fr. Camile Hembrom preached the homily. The Church was packed to capacity and people even from Rourkela reached for the celebration. The Church work at Rajapuram has reached lintel level under the supervision of Frs. John Otto and Herman Tigga. Contractor Gopal Sharma camps at the site to facilitate and complete the work on time.

Sr. Iammculata OSU [ 87 ] expired on  Sunday, 21^st September  at 7.45 p.m. at the Chandmari hospital. The funeral Mass was celebrated by Fr. John Mundu S.J at the Carmel School Hall on  Monday, 22^nd at 2.00 p.m. and Fr. Bonie Kujur S.J. was the homilist. The burial service was held at the Christian cemetery at CKP. Large number of parishioners, Priests and religious from all over   came to pay their respect to the departed soul.  

 

St. Albert’s College, Ranchi :  Rector Fr. C.R. Prabhu attended the meeting of the  major seminary Rector’s in  Shillong from the 14^th to 18^th. Earlier in the month Fr. C.R. Prabhu got admitted at Mercy for a week for check up / minor surgery. Fr. Selva paid visits to Jamshedpur to maintain the link  at a safe distance.

 

St. Anthony’s Parish, Kutkudungri: Pastor Fr. Vijayan has already announced the blessing of his massive New Church – 8^th December – 03.  Round the clock work is on to make sure that everything will be ready by then. Meantime he is touring the town parishes for raising fund for the smooth completion of the construction.

 

St. Xavier’s School, Purulia:  The VOX [ Voice of Xavier’s] , the volume –1 of the school magazine is recently released at the school. All the articles are written by the students under the guidance of teachers – Ms. Manisha Saha, Ms. Mousumi Roy and Ms. Susan Xavier.  Congratulations to Dr. Hilary Lobo, S.J., the Principal, the Staff and Students of St. Xavier’s.  We are eager to have the next issues of VOX !

 

Catholic Ashram, Purulia :  Fr. Henry Sequeira organized a “ HEART CHECK UP” camp with the help of  Rabindranath Tagore International  Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Kolkota, [a unit of Asia Heart Foundation] at the Holy Child School campus on  Sunday, 21^st September. 153 persons got free check up. Congratulations to Fr. Henry and his team and his team at Purulia.

 

Jeevan Jyothi School of Nursing, Telco :The  MIBE Board examination results have brought much celebration to the Staff and students of Jeevan Jyothi. The first years got 9 distinction and cent percent pass while the 3^rd years 12 distinction and cent percent pass. Congratulations to Sr. Fidelis, her staff and the students.

 

Catholic Charities, Sundernagar : The Vikas Bharati  was filled  with activities all through the month :- From the 12^th to 15^th the students of SDA Ranchi School of Nursing with 38 participants, 15^th to 18thth Diakonia Project Teachers & Supervisors, 20^th onwards ‘Brethren Bible Training School Tatanagar’ for a month, 14^th and 15^th evaluation of Tonto Project with Mr. Ralf Tapel of Karl Kubel Foundation, Germany. The Governing and General Body meeting was held on Friday, 26^th September at the Vikas Bharati Sundernagar which  was presided over by Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J.

 

St. Anthony’s Church, Dhanbad: Dean Fr. Edward Kongari called a meeting of the Parish Priests/Assistants/ representatives from the Parish Organizations/ Superiors of the Religious communities on Thursday, 25^th  to chalk out the forth-coming common events in the deanery. It was an occasion to discuss parish boundaries and depute Mass centers to the parishes concerned with regular Masses. The construction work of hall and classroom are ready for inauguration. The new gate and approach to the new building is being done up and the final beautification drive is on under the supervision of the dean himself.

 

St. Joseph’s  Church ,Charbandia : Fr. James Quadros under went  a heart  bypass surgery at Narayan Hirudalaya, Bangalore on 3^rd September. Dr. Shetty himself performed the operation on the 3 blockades of the heart artery successfully. Fr. James took a week’s rest at the Ursuline Convent, Bangalore and later went home for further rest.  His mobile number is – 09845644367. The people of Charbandia are praying that their pastor will be back home soon hale and hearty. Headmaster, Fr. Eugene is very busy with the school sports and various competitions soon after the examinations. The new WLL phone works well and has helped immensely to get in touch with many people at any distance. Even Fr. John Crasta could hear the voice of Charbandia in Louven !

 

St. Mary’s Parish, Omra:  Fr. Paulus Bodra is much relaxed after the casting of the roof of his new presbytery at Omra village. The classrooms are almost ready with asbestos roof already on. The parishioners of Omra are happy that they will soon have their pastor living in their midst.   

 

 

 

How often do you laugh?  Humour makes life lighter and human exchanges more delightful. I think it would be terrible if my family members, colleagues, or students were scared of pulling my leg. I am convinced that wherever people are fond of each other, there will be a certain amount of teasing, and much spontaneous laughter. If laughter has disappeared from a family, or religious community or circle of friends, something is very seriously wrong.   [Joe Mannath, Parables for today]

 

 

Seminary studies in Indonesea  revamped :   Rectors of major seminaries  in Indonesea have decided to revamp seminary studies so as to train priests better prepared for the ministry. To that effect, they have announced that, hereafter, courses on gender justice, ecology issues and media awareness will be included in formation. This commitment to expand seminary curricula is spelled out in a statement that 21representatives of 19 schools of philosophy and theology issued after their meeting in Jakarta on  20-24 July to discuss formation of seminarians.

 

St. Anne’s Feast celebrated at Tihar Jail :  Sisters of St. Anne (Chennai) in Delhi sought the permission of the Jail Authorities to celebrate the Feast of their patroness, St. Anne on 26 July with the jail inmates. The Jail Superintendent permitted them to have the celebration on 19 July in Jail No. 3 of the Tihar Jail, Delhi.

The programme began with a Holy Mass and a short cultural programme and ended with a tea party to the jail inmates. The Sisters were accompanied by a few invitees from Sanghamitra Apartment, nuns and Priests and many lay people. Fr. Paddy, S.J. and 15 other priests celebrated the Mass . [ New Leader,  16-30 September]

 

Peace not possible until we stop slaughtering animals, Says Dada Vaswani :  “killing of animals for food is cruel. Only when man stops killing animals – his brothers and sisters in the order of creation – real peace will dawn on humanity”. Said Dada Vaswani of the Sindhi community from Pune, while delivering the keynote address on the second day of the Asian Youth Conference held in Bangalore. Describing peace as a huge edifice, Dada Vaswani put positive attitude in life as the first of the three foundations for peace. “The second foundation is the spirit of service. You are not for yourself; you are for others. ‘The greatest among you be the servant of all’, said Jesus”, he told the youth. The third foundation, the sadhu said, was a new vision in life ” together we go forward and Godward”. The spiritualist said religion was nowadays decried “ not because religion failed us but we failed religion”. [SAR News]

 

Governor seeks Church’s help in Nagaland’s development : The Governor of Nagaland, Mr. Shyamal Datta, has underscored the need to vitalize all spheres of development in the State through  the intervention of the Churches. Delivering the keynote address on the theme ‘promoting social harmony’ at a seminar organized in Dimapur on 23 August, the Governor appealed to the Church leaders to lay more emphasis on polity than to harp only on social issues.

While recognizing the concern over conflicts within the Nag society, Mr. Datta, recalled that the dynamics of conflict and disharmony were the law of Nature best described in the Darwin’s  theory of the ‘survival of the fittest’. No society was spared of this scourge, he added. The Governor reiterated that social relationships could be built on adopting the ZIP theory [Zest, Intimacy and Purpose].

Church leaders must work for holistic development in all these dimensions, he said. Pastors, educationists and social workers who participated in the seminar deliberated on various issues and came out with some recommendations such as promoting cross-tribal relationship and initiating a process of inter-faith and inter-religious dialogue. The seminar was organized by the various Christian denominations under the banner ‘Joint Christian Forum’. [SAR News]

 

[ Redemptorist Publications India]

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