Ignatius Church, Khadki set for Vailankanni feast

Ignatius Church, Khadki set for Vailankanni feast
- CAMIL PARKHE Tuesday, 27 August 2013 - 10:52 AM IST
Tags: church, St Ignatius Church, festival, Mother Mary, Vailankanni feast, Khadki, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Camil Parkhe

PUNE: St Ignatius Church in Khadki has geared up to conduct the novena in honour of Our Lady of Vailankanni, starting on Thursday, August 29. The feast of the birthday of Mother Mary will be celebrated on Sunday, September 8. The novena prayers and the feast will also be celebrated in all churches in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad during the same period.

St Ignatius Church will be the main centre of the novena and feast of Our Lady of Vailankanni. Thousands of devotees from various churches in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad are expected to visit the church during the 11-day-long novena, masses and feast celebrations.

The annual novena and feast celebrations will be launched at St Ignatius Church with the hoisting of the flag by Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza on August 29 evening. Bishop Thomas Dabre will be the main celebrant and preacher at the feast celebrations on September 8 evening.Like every year, a huge pandal has been erected at the church complex to accommodate the large number of people attending the religious services as a part of the novena and feast celebrations. There will also be various stalls selling religious articles, books and also a canteen run by the members of the St Vincent De Paul Society.

Everyday, main masses will be celebrated at 12 noon and at 6.30 pm. The masses will be conducted in English, Marathi, Tamil, Hindi, Konkani and Malayalam. This is the 41st year of the novena of Our Lady of Vailankanni at St Ignatius Church which was inaugurated in 1876.

At St Patrick's Cathedral, the flag will be hoisted on August 29 by Pune Jesuit Provincial Fr Bhausaheb Sansare while Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza will celebrate the feast mass on September 8.

FEAST CELEBRATIONS

The novena and feast celebrations will be launched at St Ignatius Church with the hoisting of the flag by Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza on August 29.

Singing bishop to take final bow

Singing bishop to take final bow
Camil Parkhe
Thursday, September 18th, 2008 AT 5:09 PM
Tags: Bishop
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DIVINE RHYTHM: Bishop Valerian D’Souza
PUNE: Bishop Valerian D’Souza, the bishop of Pune and country’s longest serving bishop, who turns 75 on October 3 has urged Pope Benedict XVI not to grant him extension after his retirement.
In his resignation letter submitted to the Holy See, the bishop, who is known in the international religious circles as the singing bishop, has said he should be relieved of the post with effect from October 3.
As per the Canon Law, which governs the Catholic Church, a bishop’s retirement age is 75 while a cardinal retires at the age of 80.
Pope Paul VI had appointed D’Souza as Pune Bishop in 1977 when he was only 43. Normally only priests who are in their 50s are appointed to this important post in the church hierarchy.
Talking to Sakaal Times on Wednesday, Bishop D’Souza said that it was up to the Vatican to take a decision on his successor. It is probable that the Vatican may have launched its search for the new incumbent in the local Bishop’s House and that D’Souza may be asked to serve a few more months as an interim arrangement.
When D’Souza was appointed bishop, the jurisdiction of Pune diocese included 11 revenue districts - from Nandurbar in the Khandesh to Sawantwadi in the Konkan region.
At that time, Pune was the third largest diocese in India. Subsequently, Nashik diocese was carved out of Pune diocese in 1987 and Sindhudurg diocese in 2005.
Now the Pune diocese comprises Pune, Satara, Solapur, Sangli districts and also Kolhapur city.