Celebrations galore as Cordel church turns 100

Mangalore, February 19: Directory, book on church released; Foundation for Rosary Park laid

Fireworks blazed, music echoed, a banquet was set and parishioners of Holy Cross Church in Kulshekar rejoiced celebrating the centenary celebrations of their dear parish on Saturday.

The celebration started with a Eucharistic celebration with Mangalore Bishop Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza as the main celebrant. Bishop of Shimoga Rev Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo broke the word of god.

The foundation stone for the Holy Rosary Park was also laid by Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza on the occasionand this was followed by a formal programme.

Addressing the gathering Rev Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo said that a jubilee is made of five main elements such as Smarana (Remembrance), Santhapa (Tribute), Sandhana (Compromise), Sanmarga (Showing the path) and finally Sambramha (Celebration).

Most of the programmes start with Smarana and end with Sambrama, he said. Speaking on the life lead by the early Christians, he said that they met often and had a spirit of sharing.

There was no shortage of anything as all lived like one big family. People of the present generation should take inspiration from these early Christians. One should remember the words of Jesus, “What you do unto other, you do unto me” and help the poor, he said.

“We should live like Christians and our actions should be a witness to god,” he added.

“The 14 parish priests and 47 assistant priests have contributed a lot to this church. The church which started with 150 families have grown to 1540 families. I am also happy that the St Joseph's school established by the Kulshekar church has secured 100 per cent result since 9 years,” said Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly N Yogish Bhat.

“Great Journeys have started with a single step. Rev Fr Alexander Dubois who laid the foundation for the church, would not have realised on how great his contribution was.

The Christian missionaries have contributed immensely to the field of education and health. Mangalore has an amalgamation of all cultures. A true spirit of India is reflected,” said IGP (Western Range) Pratap Reddy.

Reddy also released the Cordel Parish Directory 'Cordel-100' on the occasion.

The book written by Rev Fr Devadutta Kamath SJ 'Frad Saib and the Cordel Church' was released on the occasion by High Court of Karnataka Justice B V Pinto. Kamath was felicitated on the occasion.

Justice Pinto lauded the efforts of priests and congratulated the parishioners, especially the youth who went to jail during the church attack.

He regretted that very few Christians have done their IAS, IPS and are working in the field of law.

He called upon the youth to take a pledge that they will serve the nation.

Presiding over the programme, Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza said that Fr Alexander Dubois had sowed the seed 150 years ago, all the parish priests who served the church nurtured it and the present parish priest Rev Fr Valerain Pinto is reaping the yield.

He called upon the parishioners to pray so that more youth may take up the religious vocations.

While speaking about the various milestones achieved by the church, Parish priest Valerian Pinto became emotional.

Felicitations

St Aloysius Institution Rector Rev Fr Joseph Rodrigues SJ was felicitated on the occasion for the immense contributions of the Jesuit community.

Former Parish Priests Rev Fr Valerain D'Souza, Rev Fr Gregory William Vas, Rev Fr Lawrence D'Souza and the present parish priest Rev Fr Valerain Pinto were felicitated on the occasion.

'Shathamanik Zalak,' a brief history of Cordel church in sound and light was presented.