Sacred Heart church Yerawada has a rich heritage

Sacred Heart has a rich heritage

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Sunday, 7 June 2015 AT 02:59 PM IST

    

Pune, church, Know Your Church series, Camil Parkhe, Sacred Heart Church

Yerawada: Jesuits from De Nobili College, Nagar Road, started Fatima Tamil Primary School in Yerawada in 1952 and this marks the beginning of the Sacred Heart Parish. In 1974, the Jesuits handed over the school and the parish to the Society of Don Bosco or the Salesians.

The Salesians later renamed the school as Don Bosco High School. The present Sacred Heart Church was blessed in 1984.

This parish was later bifurcated twice, to create St Francis de Sales Parish, Shaanwadi in 1990 and Christ the King Parish at Sainikwadi in Vadgaonsheri in 2001.

It is one of those parishes in the city having largest number of parishioners and the church therefore celebrates as many as seven masses on Sundays.

Quotes
Our parishioners are very active on various fronts including spiritual, social work and environment awareness. The church services are well attended by people. The parish regularly publishes its quarterly bulletin.
-Fr Anton D'Souza, Parish Priest


Sacred Heart Church is one of the most vibrant parishes in the city. Due to its large area and population, the parish is divided into 40 zones, each zone having around 30/40 families. We lay leaders organise a variety of programmes for the parishioners and others.
-Cyril Asirvadam, Vice-President, Parish Council

Our parish has eight choir groups, four English and four Marathi. Various choir groups are assigned for singing at various feasts, including Christmas, throughout the year. We conduct singing sessions and prayers at the church as well as in the residences of people.
-Anthony Kardak, Choir group member

Comments

Fr. Anil SJ - Wednesday, 29 July 2015 AT 01:00 PM IST

Great Article due to its informative nature. i never knew its origin. Of course the Salasians have done a marvelous work there to make the parish and the whole atmosphere around Yerwada a vibrant place with genuine service. Cant thank you enough for the information you provide to the non-Christians about the christian community and its contribution to the majority community and ultimately to the nation building. Keep it up.

 

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Vincent Bagul - Wednesday, 29 July 2015 AT 11:31 AM IST

Very interesting and informative article. Young generation and the Catholics settled in Pune from outside are grateful to know the details of the Church. Thanks.

 

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Diago Almeida - Sunday, 26 July 2015 AT 11:27 PM IST

Congrats Kamil for the information to the Catholic and all people of pune keep up the good work. God bless you Diago Almeida

Khadki’s first Bishop arrives in city

Khadki’s first Bishop arrives in city

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Friday, 17 April 2015 AT 01:07 PM IST

    

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=4806707999328682008&SectionId=5171561142064258099&SectionName=Pune&NewsTitle=Khadki%E2%80%99s%20first%20Bishop%20arrives%20in%20city

Thomas Mar Anthonios Valiyavilayil, Kirkee-Pune exarchate

Khadki: Thomas Mar Anthonios Valiyavilayil, the designate first bishop of the new Kirkee-Pune exarchate (vicariate), arrived here on Thursday for the first time after he was appointed to the post by the Vatican last month.

The new bishop visited St Mary’s Syro-Malankara Catholic Church at Bhau Patil Road in Khadki, which will serve as the cathedral for the new diocese of Malayalam-speaking Syro-Malankara Catholics in six states of south India.

During the day, Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios also called on Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre (Latin rite) at St Patrick’s Cathedral. He was accompanied by Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas of the newly created diocese of St John Chrysostom of Gurgaon. The two bishops also visited Bethany Ashram at Ramwadi on Nagar Road.

Speaking to Sakal Times, Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios said that as the first bishop of the Khadki-based Syro-Malankara diocese, his priority would be to strengthen the Malayalam-speaking community of the diocese.

“Holy Father Francis has fulfilled a long pending demand of the Syro-Malankara community to have a new exarchate in this region. We will conduct various religious activities for the devotees and also several charitable works for people belonging to various castes, faiths and creed,” he said.

“I have studied at the Pune-based Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth. The then bishop Valerian d’Souza had appointed me as the first chaplain and later as the parish priest of the Khadki-based St Mary’s Syro-Malankara Church. The same church site now has been chosen as the cathedral of the new exarchate. In a way, it is a home coming for me,” Bishop Anthonios said.  
“It will also be our endeavour to unite with non-Catholic churches like Orthodox, Jacobites and Marthomites, to foster Christian and also human unity,” he said.  

St Anthony’s Church, Model Colony, Shivajinagar, Pune

St Anthony’s Church caters to many communities

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Sunday, 10 May 2015 AT 07:31 PM IST

  

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=5221083755057705775&SectionId=5171561142064258099&SectionName=Pune&NewsDate=20150510&

NewsTitle=St%20Anthony%E2%80%99s%20Church%20caters%20to%20many%20communities

St Anthony’s Church, Pune Bishop William Gomes, Vidya Bhavan

Shivajinagar: In late 1960s, then Pune Bishop William Gomes built a residential hostel (Vidya Bhavan) and a prayer hall in Model Colony in Shivajinagar for seminarians and priests studying in Pune University. The prayer hall later became the existing St Anthony’s Church. A school established on the same premises adopted the name, Vidya Bhavan.
St Anthony’s parish has a vast area under its jurisdiction, from Warje to Jangli Maharaj Road and from Aundh to Juna Bazaar. Therefore, the parish has two mass centres to cater to the devotees, at Loyola School and at St Crispin’s Church at Nal Stop on Karve Road. 
St Anthony’s Church has a mixed congregation of Marathis, Goans, Mangaloreans, Tamils and Malayalees as its members. There are over 600 families and nearly 2,000 parishioners. The parishioners are associated with various religious groups and associations and carry out religious and charitable activities.

St Anthony’s Church, Model Colony
Saturday (anticipated ) mass: 6.30 pm
Sunday: 7.30 am (English), 8.30 am (Marathi), 6.30 pm (English)
Loyola School Chapel : Sunday, 8 am (English)
St Crispin Home, Nal Stop:  Sunday, 6.30 pm (English)
Jurisdiction area: Shivajinagar, Baner, Aundh, Pashan, Juna Bazaar, Maldhakka, Kothrud, Karve Road, Warje and Pashan

AAP should learn from Janata Party experiment

AAP should learn from Janata Party experiment

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Thursday, 9 April 2015 AT 12:47 PM IST

    

The recent unprecedented  victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi state polls reminded me of the landslide victory of the then unborn Janata Party in the 1977 general elections. At that time, for the first time, the country's sitting prime minister Indira Gandhi was defeated and the Congress was routed in nine northern cow-belt states. I, then still a higher secondary school student and so non-voter, was an active participant of this political bloodless revolution (as naively we had then called it). I was one of the polling agents representing the Peasants and Workers Party, one of the constituents of the Janata  Party, in the counting of votes held at Satara. Congress candidates in Satara and Karad Lok Sabha constituencies were  Union Minister Yashwantrao Chavan and Pramila Chavan, mother of former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, respectively. As the counting of votes continued, at around 2 pm, we learnt that Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was defeated by Raj Narain in Rae Bareily constituency and our celebrations knew no bounds. 

In the 1977 polls, the Janata Party of the Jan Sangh, the Charan Singh-led Bharatiya Lok Dal (BLD), the Morarji Desai-led  Organisation (Syndicate) Congress and the Socialist parties led by George Fernandes and Madhu Limaye had contested polls with the BLD's  Haldhar (farmer carrying a plough) poll symbol. After their poll victory, Morarji Desai was sworn in as prime minister. The Janata Party formally came into existence only a few months later when the major non-Congress parties were merged into the new  Janata party, now led by Chandra Sekhar.  The new government at the Center soon called for fresh polls in the nine northern states and Janata Party attained power in those states too. Supporters of  Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan, who had led the political campaign against Indira Gandhi had then dreamt of a Sampoorna Kranti (total revolution). Alas, their joy and aspirations too shattered within few months! 

The squabbling within the Janata Party led to the fall of the Morarji Desai government and another short-lived government of Charan Singh who earned the notoriety of being a prime minister who never faced Parliament. Later, within two and half years after she was defeated, Indira Gandhi returned to power with a majority, which she had never got in the previous polls.

Sketching a similar visual in the eyes of those who lived through this dream of total revolution, the AAP was recently elected to power in Delhi, winning 67 of the total 70 seats.  Soon after assuming the power, AAP  leaders – Arvind Kejriwal, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan - have been indulging in mud slinging, much to the annoyance of the party's supporters. The AAP leaders would do well in learning from history and provide a stable and efficient government for the next five years. The voters from all over the country have been watching their performance with high expectations. These people and also the Delhi voters who reposed their faith in AAP should not be left disappointed. 

New Syro-Malankara exarchate at Khadki

New Syro-Malankara Exarchate at Khadki
Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Friday, 27 March 2015
Khadki: In a major decision, Pope Francis on Thursday has established a new Kirkee-Pune exarchate (vicariate) for Malayalam-speaking Syro-Malankara Catholics in south India having its cathedral at St Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church in Khadki.
Thomas Mar Anthonios Valiyavilayil will be the first bishop of the new exarchate.
With this Holy See announcement, Pune will now have two Roman Catholic bishops, the other being Latin Catholic rite Bishop Thomas Dabre.
Roman Catholic Church recognises 21 rites worldwide and three of them are in India, namely Latin rite, Syro-Malabar rite and Syro-Malankara rite.
Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios is at present in Australia to lead the Holy Week celebrations of the Syro-Malarkara community there.
Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios, belonging to the Order of the Imitation of Christ (OIC), was born in 1955 at Adoor. He was ordained a priest in 1980 and elected bishop of the curia in 2010. Apart from English and Malayalam, he speaks Italian, German, Hindi, Syriac and reads Greek and Latin.
The new Kirkee-Pune exarchate will be spread over six states in south India except Kerala. The states include Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and some parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The new exarchate will have  27 parishes. There are 21 priests dedicated to pastoral care, 13 convents of nuns and a dozen schools, including a college of higher education.
Fr Mathew Varikkattu, vicar of St Mary’s Malankara Church in Khadki, has expressed joy over the creation of the new  exarchate. The church has 80 families as parishioners.
On Thursday, Pope Francis also erected a new eparchy (diocese) of St John Chrysostom of Gurgaon with Jacob Mar Barnabas Aerath as the first eparchial bishop.
With this, the Vatican has granted the Syro-Malankara Church ecclesiastical authority for the whole territory in India.
Speaking to Sakal Times, Bishop Thomas Dabre welcomed establishment of the new exarchate in the city. “It is good news for the Catholics, especially the Syro-Malankara community in Maharashtra and other parts of south India,” he said.

Investiture ceremony
Thomas Mar Anthonios will be consecrated the first bishop of the new Kirkee-Pune exarchate at a ceremony to be held at the new cathedral in Khadki on Saturday, May 30. The ceremony will be attended by the Vatican  ambassador in India Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India president Cardinal Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos and Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre.

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Comments
शशिकांत बोर्डे - Friday, 3 April 2015 AT 06:37 PM IST
कमिलजी मराठी भाषेला थोडतरी महत्व द्या कारण आपण मराठी मातीतूनच शिकलो सावरलो बागडलो तेव्हा मराठीला विसरू नका 

Vatican announces new Syro-Malankara Exarchate at Khadki Pune

Vatican announces new Syro-Malankara Exarchate at Khadki Pune

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Friday, 27 March 2015 AT 11:17 PM IST

    

Syro-Malankara Catholics, St Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church

Khadki: In a major decision, Pope Francis on Thursday has established a new Kirkee-Pune exarchate (vicariate) for Malayalam-speaking Syro-Malankara Catholics in south India having its cathedral at St Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church in Khadki.

Thomas Mar Anthonios Valiyavilayil will be the first bishop of the new exarchate.

With this Holy See announcement, Pune will now have two Roman Catholic bishops, the other being Latin Catholic rite Bishop Thomas Dabre.

Roman Catholic Church recognises 21 rites worldwide and three of them are in India, namely Latin rite, Syro-Malabar rite and Syro-Malankara rite.

Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios is at present in Australia to lead the Holy Week celebrations of the Syro-Malarkara community there.

Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios, belonging to the Order of the Imitation of Christ (OIC), was born in 1955 at Adoor. He was ordained a priest in 1980 and elected bishop of the curia in 2010. Apart from English and Malayalam, he speaks Italian, German, Hindi, Syriac and reads Greek and Latin.

The new Kirkee-Pune exarchate will be spread over six states in south India except Kerala. The states include Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and some parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The new exarchate will have  27 parishes. There are 21 priests dedicated to pastoral care, 13 convents of nuns and a dozen schools, including a college of higher education.
Fr Mathew Varikkattu, vicar of St Mary’s Malankara Church in Khadki, has expressed joy over the creation of the new  exarchate. The church has 80 families as parishioners.

On Thursday, Pope Francis also erected a new eparchy (diocese) of St John Chrysostom of Gurgaon with Jacob Mar Barnabas Aerath as the first eparchial bishop.

With this, the Vatican has granted the Syro-Malankara Church ecclesiastical authority for the whole territory in India.

Speaking to Sakal Times, Bishop Thomas Dabre welcomed establishment of the new exarchate in the city. “It is good news for the Catholics, especially the Syro-Malankara community in Maharashtra and other parts of south India,” he said.

Investiture ceremony

Thomas Mar Anthonios will be consecrated the first bishop of the new Kirkee-Pune exarchate at a ceremony to be held at the new cathedral in Khadki on Saturday, May 30. The ceremony will be attended by the Vatican  ambassador in India Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India president Cardinal Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos and Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre. 

Attacks on Christians 'beyond tolerance'

Attacks on Christians 'beyond tolerance'

Sakal Times Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Thursday, 19 March 2015 AT 03:32 PM IST

    

German Hospital, Shrirampur, Ahmednagar district, Christian community, attacks, Pune, India, Nuns,RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, ghar-wapsi, Constitution

German Hospital in Shrirampur is one of the oldest hospitals in Ahmednagar district. Although named as St Luke's Hospital, it is popularly known as German Hospital. This is because it was founded by German Jesuit priest Fr Ivo Meyer with the help of five German nuns belonging to the Medical Mission of Secular Institute congregation in 1952. As a young boy, I had watched Fr Meyer serving as Shrirampur parish priest, travelling in his jeep to visit villages in his parish.Years later I realised that Fr Meyer had baptised me as an infant on July 18 and also christened me as Camil as according to the Christian liturgical calendar that day was the feast of St Camil or St Camillus de Lellis.

Many new hospitals providing more high-tech facilities to patients have sprung up in Shriramapur and nearby areas but the 200-bedded German Hospital continues to be a special hospital for the local populace. German or European nuns are now replaced by Indian nuns but the special treatment and service offered to the patients at very nominal cost continues to be the specialty of this hospital even today.

Nityaseva Hospital at Shevgaon also run by Medical Mission of Secular Institute nuns offers medical services to the rural populace in Shevgaon taluka of Ahmednagar district. German Hospital and Nityaseva Hospital are a few of the several institutions including hospitals, schools, training centres and hostels run of the Christian priests and nuns in Ahmednagar district. These Christian religious personnel render service to the Hindu-dominated society, irrespective of the caste, religion or economic status of the patients. It is the same scenario at the national level as well.

The Christian religious people have been serving in educational, health, social work and other sectors, seeing Jesus Christ in those people to whom they serve. They do not serve with an ulterior motive of converting the people among whom they work although the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat would like to insist otherwise.

This untiring and selfless service of these priests and nuns to local people comes to my mind while reading the news related to the recent assault on nuns in West Bengal and the sudden spate in the number of attacks on the Christian community in the country. These Christian religious men and women have been working in various parts of the country for the past many decades and have never experienced any kinds of hostility.

On Sunday, I attended a meeting of Christians convened by Bishop Thomas Dabre in Pune to discuss the situation faced by the Christians in the country. There were many nuns and women and one could notice the tension and sense of insecurity felt by the gathered people. Expressing his anguish over the rape of the septuagenarian nun, bishop Dabre said that the situation in the country for the Christians was 'beyond tolerance'. Indeed very harsh words to be uttered by a Church official but they only expressed his strong feelings over the current situation.

Christians in the country are certainly experiencing tension, insecurity and indignation due to the present situation. This is because the response of the authorities to the attacks on their community has been too late and too little. The attacks on the Christians seem to have some connection to the change of power in the country. In the past, it was mainly the Muslim community which was made target for violence and attacks by the fundamentalist organisations. This is for the first time that the Christian community as a whole is being threatened.

India has been a secular country; the Constitution permits the citizens to live as per their religious values and customs without encroaching on others' similar rights. Breaking his long silence over the attacks against Christians, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a month back assured to take steps to prevent the ongoing hate campaign against the community. Unfortunately things have not changed despite his warning to the trouble makers. There is furore among the members of the Christian community all over the country. The government needs to act urgently to prevent further damages to the secular and multi-religious fabric of the country.

Comments

prakash bhalerao - Friday, 20 March 2015 AT 04:38 PM IST

Dear Camil its a nice one. just being the voice of the voiceless.raising concerns over it is good keep writing.

 

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Kuru SJ - Thursday, 19 March 2015 AT 06:39 PM IST

Very good personal sharing. Let us remember the good work done by so many simple, sincere and committed persons, whatever be their religions. That is how India has always been functioning.

 

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Diago Almeida - Thursday, 19 March 2015 AT 06:08 PM IST

Appreciate the article on the German hospital though I had been there I was not aver of its history thanks for the info we Christian are not seeing the writing on the wall it is only when we hit back hard will the government open it's eyes like it has happened in Be ngaluru

 

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