| Missions in Andhra Pradesh ( Hyderabad Archdiocese ) |
 |
| |
| Introduction |
| Andhra Pradesh is the biggest and the most populous state in the South of India. It is the fifth largest state and has also the fifth largest population in the country – 275068 Sq.km., in area and 66508008 person in its population according to the 1991 census. |
| The State us broadly divided into three main regions: the Circars of coastal districts which are well developed and enjoy a greater degree of affluence than the other two regions: Rayalaseema which is close to the coastal districts and in Telangana region of the former princely state of Nizam’s Hyderabad. |
| Andhra Pradesh receives rainfall from the south-west monsoon as well as the northeast monsoon. The first begins in the second week of June and lasts up to September while the second occurs in October-November. The state is one of the agriculturally rich and food self- sufficient states of the country and it makes the surplus rice available for consumption in other states. |
| The State lags behind in the matter of literacy. Andhra Pradesh is one of the states where literature is below the national average of 52.21 per cent. Its achievement is 1991 was only 44.09. |
| Language |
| Main language spoken in the Andhra Pradesh are Telugu, Urdu and Hindi. |
| 1. Alirajpet ( Estd. In 1963 ) |
 Alirajpet mission comes under the civil district of Medak and 70 Kms from the state capital Hyderabad. The total population of the village is more than 5000 of whom 1190 are catholics (including the outstations). The parish was established in January 1963 with Fr. Bala Showry as its first parish priest. The Catholics of this parish are migrants from Kethepally, Thalacheruvu and Warangal. Theegul is an out station 6 kms away and Medinipuram is 25 kms away. |
| Due to the initiative of Archbishop S. Arualappa and missionary enthusiasm of Fr. Engelbert Zeitler, the Society entered Andhra Pradesh in 1972. Medak district was one of the poorest and difficult mission territories in ther state and had only two mission stations: Alirajpet and Ramachandrapuram. |
| Rev. Fr. George Muthanatt, the first SVD priest to come to the Archdiocese (Medak) of Hyderabad arrived in the Archbishop’s house. Secunderabad on 18th July 1972. After a short stay in the Archbishop’s house, the Archbishop himself took him to Alirajpet on 22nd July and installed him as the parish priest. This was a historical event in the history of the SVD Society as well as of the Church in Medak. Fr. Thomas Akkara, A Roman Doctor of Divinity, joined him on 30th August, 1972. |
| Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul joined our missionaries in June 1974. Since then they too our collaborators in the evangelical work in and around this mission. |
| |
| 2. Ramachandrapuram ( Estd. 1974 ) |
 Ramachandrapuram is situated along the National Highway No:-9 (Hyderabad-Mumbai high way) some 30 kms from Hyderabad. A sleepy village came suddenly in national prominence with the establishment of Bharat Heavy electicals (BHEL) a central Government undertaking in 1962. Almost simultaneously, in 1963, another company, Aluminium Industries (ALIND) with its hearquaters in Kollam, kerala, was established in Lingampally, ten Kms from Bhel. There were some Catholics among the new recruits who joined these companies. They came from traditional Christian backgrounds of kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Their number increased slowly but steadily and thus the birth of St. John’s Church took its root here. |
| Later Fr. Joseph Puthumana SVD came to Ramachandrapuram on June 18th 1974 and took over the station. He completed the church construction and the same was blessed on 15th January 1980 by Most Rev. Arualappa, the Archbishop of Hyderabad. Today the church is at a central place serving the pastoral needs of the faithful spread all over BHEL, Alind, Ramachandrapuram, Ashok Nagar, Lingampally, Huda colony, Reddy colony, Gangaram and beyond. |
| 3. Chintalacheru ( Estd. 1975 ) |
 Chintalacheru is about 30 kms from Ramachandrapuram and is in Narasapur taluk. It was bifurcated from Ramachandrapuram in July 1975 with Fr. Kuriakose Pereppadan as the Parish priest. The congregation of Carmelite Missionaries came to Andhra Pradesh in 1978 and opened their first house in this village. Since then they work in close cooperation with the Divine Word Missionaries. They are in involved in medical apostolate, Social promotion of women, run a hostel for primary school children and an English medium school too. |
| 4. Sangareddy ( Estd . 1978 ) |
 Sangareddy is the headquarters of Medak district and is situated 60 Kms from the state capital, Hyderabad. When Chintalacheru was made a separate parish in 1975 it was a station attached to it. Later in the year 1978 it was raised to the status of a parish and Fr. John kalayil was the first SVD priest to be assigned to Sangarddy. Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and Nirmala Dasikal sisters are our collaborators in this mission endeavours. |
| 5. Pattancheru ( Estd. 1984 ) |
 Patancheru was an outstation of Ramachandrapuram until when made an independent parish in 1991 with Fr. Paul Jeyakuamr as the first parish priest. He built the parish house, was the principal of the school and got the property registered. Fr. Cajatan mascharenhas succeeded him in 1993. It he who built the spacious beautiful church which was blessed on April 2nd 2000. This parish has more than 400 catholics. Sisters, Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSPS) a sister congregation of the Divine Word Missionaries, founded by Arnlod Janssen, arrived in 1987 are collaborating in the different activities, like pastoral and educational.
|
| 6. Zaheerabad ( Estd. 1984 ) |
 Zaheerabad is the entry point of Medak district from Maharastra on National Highway no:- 9 and bordering Karnataka (Bidar) and is 100 kms from Hyderabad. With the arrival of a young and enthusiastic missionary in the person of Fr. Vijay Amalraj, the mission took a turn for the better. He pioneered to work among the lambadas and tried to uplift their lot. After surveying and studying the mission he built Presbytery. The missionarie who succeeded him continued the same methods successfully. A modern spacious church dedicated to our lady of health was built by Fr. Mary John and the same was blessed by Most Rev. Arulappa on 21st March 1997. |
| 7. Siddipet ( Estd. 1987 ) |
| Siddipet is the largest city in Medak district and is 105 kms away from Hyderabad.Late Fr. Philip Koran had purchased three acres of land in 1978 when he was the parish priest of Alirajpet. It was the pioneering missionary spirit of Fr. Thomas Akkara who ventured into this almost God-forsaken mission, where others dared not, soon after his return from Vigyan, phiippines where he taught theology for four years. On 3rd of July, 1987, feast of St. Thomas the Apostolic of India, he started living in a reted building and later laid the foundation for a residential building. The building was completed and blessed by Late Archbishop Arulappa on 6th April, 1988. |
| The crowning glory of Fr. Akkara’s tenure here was the construction of a magnificent church, dedicted to St. Andrew, the Apostle, which was blessed and inaugurated by Late Archbishop Arulappa, on 30th of November, 1999. The catholic population of this parish is around 200. The sisters belonging to the congregation of Preshitharam are our collaborators. |
| 8. Toopran ( Estd -1988 ) |
|
Toopran is one the National highway No:- 7, at adistance of 40 kms from Hyderabad. It is a mandal headquarters and was started in 1988 as a frontier mission with Fr. Blaise SVD. He built the Presbytery and the same was blessed by Late Most Rev. Arulappa, the Archbisop of Hyderabad and inaugurated by Fr. Ashok Kumar SVD, the Provincial Superior of Southern Indian Province in 1991. |
| 9. Jogipet ( Estd. 1988 ) |
| Jogipet derives its name from the local deity “Joginath” whose temple adorns the highest hillock in this town. Jogipet is 30 kms away from Sangareddy, the district headquarters and 90 kms from Hyderabad, the state headquarters. Fr. Jeyakumar SVD rented a small house and started staying there from 29th June 1988. Fr. S. Devadass SVD joined him a few months later and both together started the evangelical work among the non Catholics. Currently Fr. M. Xavier is catering to the pastoral, socio-economic needs of the people of this mission as well as begun Leprosy Centre. |
| The total population of this town is above 30,000 and is thickly populated by the Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Since the mission is situated amidst the non catholics we found lot of opportunities for the evangelical work in and around the town. Above all the missionaries working here felt the compelling need to have a clinic for the leprosy patients for there are many suffering from this disease in and around this mission. Upon the felt need of the leprosy patients this mission had turned to be one of the missions which aims at catering to the needs of the leprosy patients. The credit goes to Fr. M. Xavier. |
| 10. Gajwel ( Estd 1993 ) |
 Gajwel, a Taluk headquarter in Medak district, is 85 kms away from Hyderabad. Fr. Arulappa built the shrine of Infant Jesus in Gajwel and the same was blessed on 7th November, 1988. A pilgrim’s quarters was built in 1995. Gajwel was made an independent parish in June 1995 with Fr. A. Joseph as the first parish priest. There are about 65 catholic families reside in this mission amidst the non catholics. |
| 11. Sadashivpet ( Estd. 1994 ) |
| Sadashivpet is a municipal town situated beside the national Highway No:- 9 (Hyderabad –Mumbai high way). It is a distance of 68 kms from Hyderabad and 20kms from Sangareddy, the district head quarters. With the establishment of priyadarshini Spinning Mills and MRF Company in Sadashivpet some catholics came from Coastal Andhra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu for jobs and settled down here. The catholic population is around 100. The Station was made an independent parish with effect from 3rd July, 1994, under the patronage of St. Thomas the Apostle of India. Sacred hear sisters from Kerala are our coworkers. |
| 12. Yeddumailaram ( Estd 1998 ) |
| Medak Ordinance Factory was established in early 1982 at the extreme border of the district, touching Rangareddy district. It is 50 kms from Hyderabad. When the factory was established several catholics from Kerala and Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (Coastal) migrated to this place either as defence personnel or as their dependents. |
| Yeddumailaram was established as a separate parish in 1999 with Fr. Victor Jeyaraj as its first parish priest. Living in a rented room he looks after the scattered flock of Catholics. The Society has acquired 7.5 acres of land to construct a church and other related establishments. The total number of Catholics are around 200. |
| 13. Narayankhed (Estd 2000) |
| Narayankhed is a Taluk and madal headquarter, situated at the north-west border of Medak district. It is situated 155 kms from Hyderabad and 90 kms from Sangareddy, the district head quarters. When the SVD administration searched for a candidate to start a mission in the new millennium they could find no better candidate than Fr. Thomas Akkara who pioneered and established Siddipet mission. He moved into a rented building, named the new centre as Catholic Centre and laid the foundation of this new mission on June 26th, 2000, in a simple ceremony, attended by a few SVD members and some sisters. |
| Diocese of Guntur |
| History |
| Till 1940, Guntur formed a part of the diocese of Nellore. On Feb, 23, 1940, the Civil District of Guntur was detached from the Diocese of Nellore and constituted into the new diocese of Guntur with Msgr. Thomas Pothakamury as its first Bishop. |
| The diocese of Guntur originally corresponded to the civil district of Guntur. In 1970, when Prakasam district was formed some twluks of Guntur district were taken over in the new district. Hence in 1977, by a decree of Propaganda Fide all the Taluks in Prakasam district were handed over to the diocese of Nellore except Addanki Taluk, which belongs to the Diocese of Guntur. |
| Divine Word Missionaries’ activities in Guntur diocese is inseparably associated with three decades of untiring and uninterrupted services of the pioneer frontier missionary Fr. S. Bernard. The Provincial chapter of 1972 held in Poona decided to take up mission territories in Medak district of Hyderabad Archdiocese and Addanki taluk of Guntur. Fr. Bernard reached Bishop’s house on June 9th 1972 and Bishop Ignatius Mummadi took him to patibanda parish for Telugu language study. |
| The diocese of Guntur owned 4 acres of land here as the site was not sufficient, Fr. Bernard acquired 30 acres of land and began his missionary activities here in February 21st, 1973 in the rented room of a Hindu family. A charitable trust was registered in order to carry out social, educational, medical, evangelical and religious apostolates. Education especially of girls, was one his top priorities and on 20th August 1973, a Co-educational primary school was started in a temporary shed which eventually grew into the unique and impressive St. Arnold’s High school. The school is symbol of hope for the rising generations and it plays a very important role in the social structures of the rural communities of Addanki Taluk with population of 2,55,000 non Christians spread out in 103 villages within 1,426 sq. miles. Sisters belonging to the congregation of St. Vincent de Paul are collaborators in this mission field. |
| Karampudi Mission |
| In 1984, Fr. Bernard went to Europe to attend the tertiate renewal course in Nemi. On his return to India, Most Rev. Dr. Gali Bali, Bishop of Guntur, was only too happy to get the services of Fr. Bernard for his diocese. An agreement was reached whereby the Superiors allowed Fr. Bernard to be lent to the diocese for a period of five years which turned out to be a blessing in disguise to establish another frontier mission, Karampudi. After developing this mission, Fr. Bernard handed over the mission to the Diocese of Guntur on July 7th , 1993. |
| Sankavarapadu Mission |
| On April 24th 1994, Fr. Bernard took up residence in Scnkavarappadu. The number of baptisms increased and the church was rebuilt and dedicated to St. Joseph and blessed. A rectory for the SVD personnel has also been built. An Englishmedium school and hostles for boys and girls were constructed, 44 houses for the poorest of the poor have been constructed and handed over to the most needy ones. |
| Addanki Mission |
| Fr. Bernard calls Addanki mission his mega project, “evangelization 2000 mission”. Addanki is the taluk headquarter of the same name, and though it is under under the civil district of Prakasam, ecclesiastically it is part and parcel of Guntur diocese. On March 4th 2000, Bishop Gali Bali blessed the parish house, in the presence of the local leaders, government officials and the local people. From June 15th 2000, Fr. Bernard has taken up residence here, making a new era in the missionary apostolate in Guntur mission. |
| Diocese of Warangal |
| On 25-01-1982 Bishop Barretta invited Divine Word Missionaries to his diocese. The parish of Janagaon was officially opened on 29th June, 1983 with Fr. Sylvester Rego as the first parish priest. |
| Diocese of Khammam |
| Khammam diocese, bifurcated from Warangal diocese, on February 11th, 1988, comprises the renvenue district of Khammam with its four revenue regions: Khammam, Kothangudam, Palavancha and Bhadrachalam. It has 46 mandals, 9 legislative assembles and 2 parliamentary constituencies. The diocese has an area of 16,029 sq. km with a population of 22,15,809 of whom 1,25,000 are catholics. |
| Pinapaka Mission |
| Pinapaka parish was erected in 2001 July and the first SVD members Fr. Luke and Fr. Mathew Joseph started living in a rented house on 14th August in E-Bayyaram, the biggest village of pinapaka mandal. |
| |
