Formation of Aurangabad Roman Catholic diocese Maharashtra

Formation of Aurangabad diocese  

Fr Gurien Jacquier arrived in the four-year-old Ghogargaon mission centre in November 1896 and breathed his last in the same village five decades later. From October 1915  to January 1922, he had been on deputation to Rahata in neighbouring Ahmednagar district. During his 50 years vocation as a missionary, Jacquirbaba took rest and visited his motherland only once -  from 1926 to 1928 - when he was forced to slow down his work on health grounds.       

Jacquierbaba worked tirelessly for 40 long years in Ghogargaon and Borsar mission centres. It was during this period that Christianity took deep roots in Aurangabad district. It is significant to note that the MSFS priests had been working in Amravati, Chikhaldhara, Akola, Kapustalani and other parts of the Vidarbha region during this period. However, due to various social, religious, political and economic factors, the work of these Catholic missionaries in most of the areas was almost wiped out by the time India gained Independence.

Fr Azarias D’Mello had taken charge of Ghogargaon in 1944. In January 1951, Fr John D’Souza was sent to be his assistant. In May 1951, Bro Ambrose came to help him. In May 1952, Fr Azarias D’Mello was transferred to Achalpur. Fr Olivet Vas took charge of Ghogargaon with Fr Edwin Alvares as assistant.

In 1948, the political situation in Nizam’s Hyderabad princely state became tense. India had gained independence from the British rulers on  August 15,1947. But the Nizam government in Hyderabad in Central India refused to join the Indian Union. Efforts for a peaceful settlement failed. Economic sanctions were imposed by the Indian government. According to the notes written by Fr Monteiro, the blockade paralysed the mission activities. As a result, catechists and masters were discharged and the children’s boardings were closed. At night fall, no one went outdoors. The missionaries also could not go out.

On September 14, 1948 began the Police Action against the Nizam state.  Action was taken against the Razakars, the special army of the Nizam. By September 18, the Hyderabad princely state was taken over by the Indian Government and peace was restored. The Police Action was planned by the then Union Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

 In the meantime, many of the discharged catechists had secured jobs in sugar factories and were not prepared to return to their work and their small pays. The Scheduled Castes Federation was very active and won many adherents form the converts, wrote Fr Joseph  Monteiro.

MSFS historian Fr Moget has dealt in details on the missionary activities and the number of baptisms given to local people in the Vidarbha region. However a glance at the statistics of the Catholic population in the present Nagpur, Amravati and Aurangabad dioceses reveals that some of the people converted to Christianity in the early 20^th century have embraced Buddhism along with other followers of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the 1950s and 1960s.

The factors responsible for the spread of Christianity in Aurangabad district. its stunted growth or subsequent disappearance in some parts of the Marathwada  and also in the neighbouring Vidarbha region can be well illustrated with the parable on the seed of the Word of God narrated by Jesus Christ. The parable goes like this:

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock: and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and chocked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” ¹

Even today, the number of Catholics in Gangapur and Vaijapur talukas of Aurangabad district – the area where Fr Jacquier sowed the seeds of the Word of God – is far more conspicuous as compared to the rest parts of the Marathwada and for that matter, even the whole Vidarbha region. It would be incorrect to solely credit Jacquierbaba for this. But the fact remains this was the missionary who toiled for 40 years for the most downtrodden, the untouchable folks of these two talukas and preached the gospel to them. He was also the first social reformer in this rural area to spread  literacy among local population of mixed castes and religions. He had opened so many schools in villages under his Ghogargaon mission centre. He also tried to various social evil practices like untouchability, child marriages and bigamy.

It is difficult to believe that a great soul existed in this small village which remains obscure to this date. He tried his best to transform the lives of the whole population in this region. The large number of tales associated with this Mahatma, as told by people even today with much reverence to this missionary, are testimony of the great works carried out by Jacquierbaba in this region.      

Jacquirbaba traveled on horseback, in bullock cart or horse cart to various villages which now come under the jurisdiction of the present Ghogargaon, Borsar, Kannad, Vaijapur, Gangapur, Wahegaon parishes.

Fr Stephen Almeida is the present parish priest at the Christ the King in Ghogargaon, a post held for four decades by Jacquierbaba. Ironically Ghogargaon  village to this date remains inaccessible to the world in the absence of asphalted, motorable road. The church parish runs a primary, middle and higher secondary school in the village, attended by hundreds of Christian and non-Christian children from neighbouring villages. The Holy Cross sisters who run a dispensary in the village offer medical facilities to the rural populace here.    

When Fr Jacquier arrived from France to work in India, the then  Nagpur province was entrusted to his MSFS religious congregation. The Catholic Church has in the latter years bifurcated this giant province into the present Nagpur, Amravati, Chanda and Aurangabad (all in Maharashtra) Jabalpur, Khandwa, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). Each of this diocese are headed by an archbishop or bishop.

During the past 100 years, the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales (MSFS) of which Jacquirbaba was a member preached Christianity in the then Central Province, Berar, and Marathwada. The MSFS congregation priests purchased land, built on them schools, churches, dispensaries and hostels for the girls and boys. Later the Catholic Church established new dioceses in these areas and the secular or the diocesan priests under the new bishops started working in this villages. In keeping with the Catholic Church tradition, subsequently the MSFS congregation took a back seat and handed over the huge real estates, schools, churches, hostels and other  establishments to the bishops, the heads of the newly created dioceses in the respective areas. 

Similar transfer also took place in the neighbouring  Ahmednagar district after the Nashik diocese was carved out of the Pune diocese in 1987. There, the Jesuits – members of the religious congregation Society of Jesus -  handed over the land and institutions to the new diocese and shifted their attention to work in the area where no one had trodden.  

This novel tradition of handing over ownership of real estate and reputed institutions to others exists only in the Catholic Church and there cannot be any other parallel to this custom.

The diocese of Aurangabad was erected by the Decree 'Qui Arcano' (No. 1139/78) dated December 1997. It comprises of eight revenue districts. Of these, Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani and Nanded were taken from the diocese of Amravati while Latur,  Beed and Osmanabad were detached from the archdiocese of Hyderabad. This entire region under the Aurangabad diocese constitutes a political unit named Marathwada in Maharashtra. Fr Dominic Abreo, a diocesan priest from Vasai in Thane district who had presided over the seventh Marathi Christian Sahitya Sammelan (literary meet) held in 1973 was appointed the first bishop of Aurangabad diocese. Bishop Edwin Colaco who was appointed as bishop of Amravati in 1995 has been bishop of Aurangabad diocese since 2007.    

As per the statistics provided by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), there are 16,000 Catholics in Aurangabad diocese.  As far as the Christian (Catholic and Protestants) population and the number of Church establishments are concerned, Aurangabad diocese is one of the most important dioceses in Maharashtra, next only to Mumbai, Pune and Nashik dioceses.

Aurangabad Catholic diocese has  22 parishes. There are 15 high schools, one higher secondary schools, 15 upper primary schools, 12 hospitals, nine hostels and five orphanages. ²

References:

1) Gospel according to St Mathew, 4:1-9,

2) Directory of Aurangabad Catholic Diocese, published by Bishop’s House, Aurangabad (2003)  

Dalit Christians in pre-independence era

Dalit Christians in pre-independence era

From  Fr Gurien Jacquier of Ghogargaon

 (Catholic Mission in Aurangabad diocese - 1892  onwards)

By Camil  Parkhe

published by SFS Publications, Bangalore 

            During the  last quarter of the 19th century and early 20^th century, many Dalit families from several villages in Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Nashik, Jalna and Amravati districts in Maharashtra embraced Christianity. Most of the families were from the Mahar and Mang castes which were then the untouchable communities. The upper caste people continued to regard them as untouchables even after the religious conversion and now called them  as  'Mahar Christians' or 'Mang Christians'. This practice continues even to this date in the rural areas of Maharashtra.

From the viewpoint of the upper caste community, the conversion of the untouchables to Christianity did not change their social status. Conversion did not allow them to move upward in the established social hierarchy. No one would touch them physically for fear of being defiled.  Even as members of the Hindu community, the untouchables were forbidden entry in Hindu temple. But at least now they could enter the church, their own temple. Nevertheless, there was no change in their daily plight as they continued their hereditary occupations like removal of cattle carcasses and begging for food in the village.

 In the pre-Independence days, one Iganti Salwe of Pune had written an article in Marathi monthly Niropya in which he had highlighted the sufferings of the untouchable Christian community and remarked that conversion had not brought any significant changes in the life of the Mahars.

            ‘Untouchability is not a religious but a social matter. However some people believe it has  religious sanction and treat the Mahars and other untouchables as slaves and force them to perform several dirty works. These untouchables are not allowed to know about their basic human rights. Hard labour works and even village night watchman duty were the only means to eke out a living.  Hindu religion practices such unjustified traditions.  In fact, it is a stain on humanity and such cruel practice was not justified by any other religious scriptures of the world.”

            Salwe further states; "By the grace of the Almighty, Christian political rulers have come to this country, followed by the Christian missionaries. Moved by the plight of the untouchables, they offered them a new religion, made them aware of their rights and tried to free them of their ancestral shackles of social slavery. To achieve this, they established many schools and other educational institutions for this community".

Under such circumstances, the lives of many Dalit Christians were dependent on the missionaries for a long time. Before the Independence, both Mahar and Mang Christians were victims of social injustice. The British rulers of that time, though Christians, did not contribute to the betterment of this underprivileged community. After the Independence, the Constitution of India made a provision for reservations or affirmative action to ensure upliftment of the Dalits. However the Dalit Christians continued to suffer  discrimination even in free India. While the reservations were made available to the Dalit Hindus, Dalit Buddhists and Dalit Sikhs, the Dalit Christians have been denied these facilities. ¹

Reference:

^{1) Camil Parkhe, ‘Dalit Christians: Right to reservations’, Published by Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK), Post Box 1585, 1654 Madarasa Road, Kashmere Gate,  Delhi – 110 006 (2005)}

Cong, NCP go aggressive in ZP, civic polls

Home  >>  Editor's Pick  >>  Detail News Sakal Times http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20120131/4962113731651249476.htm
Cong, NCP go aggressive CAMIL PARKHE Tuesday, January 31, 2012 AT 10:58 PM (IST) Tags: Civic polls 2012,   Cong,   NCP The elections to zilla parishad, panchayat samitis and 10 municipal corporations in Maharashtra have will be yet another political battle fought by the five main parties in the state. The polls have come just a couple of months after the municipal councils polls, in which the Congress and the NCP had fared well. The battles-lines are expected to on the same lines as in the municipal polls. That is why the Congress and the NCP are in an aggressive mood while the opposition Shiv Sena and the BJP have been forced on the defensive.   The elections to 27 zilla parishads and 309 panchayat samitis will be held on February 7 and polls to 10 corporations, including Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Aurangabad, on February 16. Civic elections are also due in Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Amravati, Kolhapur and Akola. The main contestants are the two constituents of the Democratic Front, the Congress and the NCP; the saffron alliance of the Shiv Sena and the BJP, which has been reinforced this time by the Republican faction led by Ramdas Athavale; and the comparatively new entrant in the state politics, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray. All the parties are gearing up for the polls and finding ways to woo the voters.   The crucial polls are being held as the Congress-led ruling front is completing half of its third consecutive term. In such circumstances, the ruling combine often faces the heat of the anti-incumbency wave. But thanks to the acts of commissions and omissions by both the Congress-NCP government and the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, the municipal council poll verdict indicated that the ruling front faces no such wave. In fact, because of some turbulence in its own camp, it is the saffron alliance which  has been forced to lick its own wounds, leaving it with little strength to attack the ruling front with some effectiveness. The only political party outside the ruling front thoroughly enjoying the present political atmosphere and ready to exploit it for its advantages is the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The local self-government poll will serve as a rehearsal for the state polls, scheduled two years later.    The panchayati raj and municipal council poll should have served as an ideal opportunity for the opposition to attack the ruling front on corruption scandals like the Adarsh housing complex in Mumbai and the nine-month imprisonment of Pune's suspended Congress MP, Suresh Kalmadi, in Tihar jail in the Commonwealth Games scam. But most opposition parties are busy setting their own house in order.   Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde is the party's only mass leader in the state but he has been facing major setbacks in the past couple of years. He has little time to consolidate the party's base. He has been fighting a battle for survival in his own party with party president Nitin Gadkari. After threatening to quit the party and knocking at the door of other parties, Munde decided to stay put in the BJP but not without damaging his credentials. Now, the former deputy chief minister is facing a serious challenge on his home turf of Beed district from his nephew and MLC, Dhananjay Munde, who is openly hobnobbing with the  NCP. Gadkari and other Munde detractors are doing everything to marginalise Munde. So the BJP leaders have no time to train their guns on the ruling party or to give a fight in the panchayati and civic body polls. A wounded Munde is no position to play a vital role in galvanising the BJP and reviving its poll prospects. The  Shiv Sena is fighting a battle to retain its two-decade hold on power in Brihamaumbai Municipal Corporation. It faces a major threat from the combined forces of the Congress and the NCP. This is for the first time the two Congresses have come together in Mumbai civic elections. The presence of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the previous State Assembly polls had helped the Congress-NCP to defeat the saffron alliance in Mumbai and to return to power for the third consecutive term. The ruling front hopes that the Raj Thackeray-led party will play a vital role in dethroning the Shiv Sena. The revolt of the Shiv Sena's Thane MP Anand Paranjape -- the party's only victorious nominee in the Mumbai-Thane belt in the last Lok Sabha polls -- has dealt a severe jolt to the party. It will have repercussions on the civic poll in Thane.     So it is no wonder that the ruling Congress-NCP front hopes to romp home at the hustings without much difficulty. All the opposition parties will really have to really work overtime during the remaining few days to deny a cake-walk for the ruling front, although the ruling front has performed no great wonders to stake claims to uninterrupted power. The opposition has to expose the misdeeds of the government and prove its own credentials. The verdict of the electorate will show who among the ruling group and the opposition plays its role effectively.

Rev Martin Luther King's civil rights rally in Washington

St Peter's Square, Vatican, Rome

सेंट मेरीज चर्चची वास्तू सर्वांत जुनी

सेंट मेरीज चर्चची वास्तू सर्वांत जुनी

कामिल पारखे - सकाळ वृत्तसेवा

Friday, December 23, 2011 AT 04:15 AM (IST)

Tags: Saint Mary's Church,   old,   pune

सेंट मेरीज चर्चची वास्तू 

पुणे - पुण्यात पहिले चर्च बांधण्यास माधवराव पेशव्यांनी परवानगी दिली. त्यानुसार 1792 मध्ये क्वार्टर गेटजवळ पहिले चर्च बांधण्यात आले. मातीच्या बांधकामाचे हे चर्च 1852 मध्ये पाडून नव्याने बांधण्यात आले. त्यामुळे 1825 मध्ये बांधून पूर्ण झालेले लष्कर परिसरातील सोलापूर रस्त्यावरील सेंट मेरीज चर्चची वास्तू पुण्यातील चर्चची सर्वांत जुनी वास्तू ठरली आहे.

पुणे व पिंपरी-चिंचवडमध्ये सध्या कॅथॉलिक आणि प्रोटेस्टंट पंथीयांची ऐंशीहून अधिक चर्च आहेत. ख्रिस्ती समाज बहुभाषिक असल्याने अनेक चर्चेसमध्ये इंग्रजी, मराठी, तमीळ, कोकणी, मल्याळम वगैरे भाषांत उपासनाविधी होतात. काही चर्च मात्र केवळ मराठी भाषक ख्रिस्ती समाजासाठी आहेत आणि तेथील सर्व प्रार्थना, गायन आणि उपासनाविधी केवळ मराठी भाषेतच होतात. ही सर्व चर्च सध्या नाताळनिमित्ताने रोषणाईच्या झगमगाटात सजली आहेत.

नाताळनिमित्त शहरातील चर्चचा इतिहासाचा आढावा घेतल्यास अनेक महत्त्वाच्या गोष्टी पुढे येतात. पुण्यात पेशव्यांच्या सैन्यात गोव्यातील, तसेच मूळचे पोर्तुगीज असलेले ख्रिस्ती अधिकारी आणि सैनिक होते. त्यांच्यासाठी पुण्यात चर्च बांधण्यासाठी सवाई माधवराव पेशव्यांनी जागा दिली आणि त्याजागेवर 1792 मध्ये सिटी चर्च बांधण्यात आले. क्वार्टर गेटपाशी असलेले हे चर्च पुण्यातील सर्वात जुने कॅथोलिक चर्च. मातीच्या बांधकामाचे हे चर्च पाडून त्यानंतर तेथे 1852 मध्ये नवे चर्च बांधण्यात आले. पुणे कॅम्पातील सोलापूर रोडवरील सेंट मेरीज चर्चचे 1825 मध्ये उद्‌घाटन झाले, त्यामुळे शहरातील ही सर्वांत जुनी चर्चची वास्तू ठरते. एकोणिसाव्या शतकात शहराच्या विविध भागांत चर्च उभारली गेली. डॉ बाबासाहेब आंबेडकर रोडवरील सेंट मॅथ्यूज मराठी चर्चचा पायाभरणी समारंभ 1893 मध्ये झाला होता. दगडी बांधकाम असलेली ही सव्वाशे वर्षांची वास्तू अजूनही सुस्थितीत आहे. पंचहौद चर्चला गेल्या वर्षी 125 वर्षे पूर्ण झाली, त्यानिमित्त मोठा समारंभ आयोजित केला होता.

प्रामुख्याने मराठी भाषकांसाठी असलेल्या शहरातील प्रोटेस्टंट पंथीय चर्चेसमध्ये क्वार्टर गेट नजीकचे क्राईस्ट चर्च, सेंट मॅथ्यूज मराठी चर्च, खडकी येथील सेंट मेरीज चर्च, गुरुवार पेठेतील होली नेम किंवा पंचहौद चर्च, घोरपडी येथील सेंट जॉन्स चर्च, कसबा पेठेतील ब्रदर देशपांडे चर्च यांचा समावेश होतो. कॅथॉलिक पंथाच्या चर्चमध्ये मात्र बहुतेक सर्व चर्चेसमध्ये इंग्रजी भाषेत त्याचप्रमाणे मराठी भाषेतही वेगळी उपासनाविधी केली जाते. दर आठवड्याला मराठी मिस्सा साजरा करणाऱ्या कॅथोलिक चर्चमध्ये ताडीवाला रोडवरील अवर लेडी ऑफ पर्पेच्युअल हेल्प चर्च, पिंपरी येथील अवर लेडी कन्सोलर ऑफ द ऍफ्लिक्‍टेड चर्च आणि चिंचवड येथील सेंट फ्रान्सिस झेव्हिअर चर्च वगैरेंचा समावेश होतो. या मराठीभाषक ख्रिस्ती समाजातर्फे नाताळानिमित्त यंदा विविध कार्यक्रम आयोजित करण्यात आले आहेत. नाताळाआधी एक आठवडा प्रत्येक ख्रिस्ती कुटुंबाच्या घरी जाऊन नाताळची गाणी म्हणण्याची जुनी परंपरा आहे. सांताक्‍लॉजला बरोबर घेऊन ख्रिस्तजन्माची गीते गाणारा युवक-युवतींचा ग्रुप लहान मुलांबरोबरच प्रौढांचेही आकर्षण असतो. नाताळाची ही गाणी गाण्यासाठी हे तरुण संध्याकाळी बाहेर पडतात आणि रात्री उशिरापर्यंत हा कार्यक्रम चालू असतो.

फराळाची लगबग सध्या मराठी ख्रिस्ती कुटुंबात नाताळनिमित्त फराळ करण्याची लगबग चालू आहे. कुठल्याही मराठी कुटुंबात सणानिमित्त होणाऱ्या मिष्ठान्नांचा या फराळात समावेश होतो. करंज्या, लाडू, शेव, चकल्या, शंकरपाळे आणि त्याचप्रमाणे अनारसे वगैरे पदार्थ या कुटुंबांत केले जातात. दिवाळीनिमित्त या ख्रिस्ती कुटुंबात शेजाऱ्यांकडून फराळाची अनेक ताटे आलेली असतात. नाताळाच्या सणाच्या वेळी फराळाची ताटे पाठवून ही परतफेड केली जाते. गेली अनेक वर्षे ही परंपरा चालू राहिली आहे

Christmas spl issues get good response

Christmas spl issues get good response

Sakal Times 

CAMIL PARKHE

Tuesday, December 27, 2011 AT 05:04 PM (IST)

Tags: Christmas,   magazine,   Christmas magazine,   special issue,   Pune,   Camil Parkhe

Cue taken from Diwali issues’ success

 

PUNE: Taking a cue from the special Diwali issues which make a turnover of crores of rupees in the Marathi publication industry every year,  some Christian magazines and mediapersons in Pune and other parts of the State have now started publishing Christmas special issues, which are getting a good response.

 

City-based 'Dnyanodaya,' a monthly which is being published since 1842 and is the oldest Marathi periodical, has been publishing a Christmas special issue for the past few years. The issue edited by Ashok Angre has special articles related to the Christmas festival. Another Christian monthly 'Niropya,' published since 1903 and edited by  Fr Joe Gaikwad from Snehasadan here, has also brought out its 72-page Christmas special.

 

'Suvarta', a Catholic Marathi monthly published since the past few decades from Vasai in Thane district too has come out with a special Christmas issue.  

 

'Marathi Power' weekly which has completed two years of publication released  its December 17 issue as the Christmas special issue.

 

The weekly is edited by senior journalist John Gajbhiv. The 154-page special issue had Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre  as its guest editor.  Gajbhiv said that the special issue has generated more revenue as compared to last year. The issue has articles by Christian literates Fr Francis D'Britto, Dr Cecilia Carvalho. Sunil Shyamsundar Adhav and Dr Subhash Patil.

 

‘Alaukik’ is another Christmas issue published for the first time this year. The 154-page issue too has several colour pages and articles by  Mrudula Ghodke, head of Marathi news division of Delhi All India Radio station, and an interview of comedian Johny Liver.  The issue is edited and published by Akash Dayanand Thombre.

 

Join Sakal Times on Facebook:
http://sakaaltimes.fbfollow.me/

Photo Gallery