Church Of Sacred Heart Of Jesus, Madanthyar

Coordinates: 12°56′53.2″N 75°11′29.0″E / 12.948111°N 75.191389°E / 12.948111; 75.191389

Church Of Sacred Heart Of Jesus, Madanthyar
Church Of Sacred Heart Of Jesus, Madanthyar
12°56′53″N 75°11′29″E / 12.948126°N 75.191391°E / 12.948126; 75.191391
Denomination	Roman Catholic (Latin rite)
Website	madanthyarchurch.com
History
Founded	29 January 1893^[1]
Founder(s)	Fr Jacob Sequeira^[1]
Administration
Deanery	Belthangady Varado
Archdiocese	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangalore
Diocese	Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore
Province	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangalore
District	Dakshina Kannada
Clergy
Archbishop	Most Rev. Bernard Blasius Moras
Bishop(s)	Rev. Aloysius Paul DSouza
Vicar(s)	Fr. Lawrence Mascarenhas
Assistant priest	Fr. Clifford Pinto

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, Church is a historic Roman Catholic Church situated at Madanthyar near Belthangady. The church was built in January 29, 1893.^[1] This church comes under Deanery of Belthangady, Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore. This church is dedicated to Sacred Heart of Jesus.

History

Sacred Heart of Jesus church was part of Agrar Church until 1886 and the priest from Agrar Church used to visit these villages once a year to bless the graves at the cemetery opened by local Catholics, to bless the houses and to celebrate. Later, the local Catholics obtained permission from the Archbishop of Goa to build a chapel here, to be served from Agrar Church. Fr. Emilian Alexander DSouza of Agrar Church had chosen a site for the chapel. The Concordat of 1886 came into operation and Agrar Church was transferred to the Diocese of Mangalore. So the people appealed to Bishop Nicholas Pagani SJ and he detached the area from Agrar Church and placed it under the care of Fr. Pascal Mascarenhas, the parish priest of Gaddai (Belthangady). Fr. Pascal Mascarenhas used to go occasionally to Madanthyar and offer mass in a shed in 1887. The people wanted an independent parish.^[2]

Mr Francis Dsouza Prabhu (Porso Porob) of Kolkebail endowed his vast property to the new parish. On March 16, 1889, Fr Rosario D’Souza was appointed the first parish priest.^[2]

Fr Jacob Sequeira (1890-1900) constructed the church and it was blessed by Bishop Pagani sj on January 29, 1893. He was successful in securing 50 acres of land for the parish. There were Konkani speaking and Tulu speaking Catholic families in the parish.^[2]

The seventh parish priest Fr Denis D’Souza (1925–1942) bought some land for the new church and started the construction of the church and the presbytery. The incomplete church and the presbytery were blessed by Bishop Victor Fernandes on May 7, 1940. Fr Gasper Baptist Pinto (1942-1959) completed the presbytery and flooring work of the new church. The present new presbytry is built by Fr Charles Noronha.^[2]

Demographics

The parish has 673 families with a population of 3500 members.^[2] The parish consists 23 wards.^[3]

Significance

Fr. Jacob Sequeuira began Guardian Angels’ Primary School in a small shed in 1898. Fr. Denis Dsouza had upgraded the school to Higher Primary level and took over St Antony’s School at Gardady in 1920. In 1927 Fr. Denis Dsouza established St Joseph’s Primary School at Nainadu. The Guardian Angels’ new School building was inaugurated during the tenure of Fr Ligory D'Souza (1977-1983) on January 25, 1980. St Joseph’s and St Anthony’s Schools were upgraded to Higher Primary level on July 4, 1981. Permissions for Sacred Heart High School, P.U. College and Degree College were obtained by Fr Ligoury Dsouza. The buildings for both the colleges were done during the time of Fr Fred V. Pereira, who rendered service as a parish priest and correspondent of the educational institutions (1983–1992).^[2]

Parish Associations

The parish community are engaged in social service, helping the poor and other services which helps the needy. The list of associations in this parish is below.^[4]

St Vincent De Paul Society
Marian Sodality
Womens Association
Catholic Sabha
Altar Boys
Legion of Mary
Young Catholic Students Movement
ICYM
Medical Relief Fund
Maria Kripa Salesian Sisters
Small Christian Community (Started in 2000)

Former Parish Priests

Fr. Rosario D’Souza 1890–1890
Fr. Jacob Sequeira 1890–1901
Fr. Jacob Sequeira 1890–1901
Fr. Rosario Lewis 1901–1903
Fr. Rosario Lewis 1901–1903
Fr. Joseph P Fernandes 1903–1906
Fr. Joseph P Fernandes 1903–1906
Fr. Aloysius E Menezes 1906–1923
Fr. Aloysius E Menezes 1906–1923
Fr. Denis J D'Souza 1923–1942
Fr. Denis J D’Souza 1923–1942
Fr. Gasper Baptist Pinto 25-1-1942 – 10-5-1959
Fr. Gasper Baptist Pinto 25-1-1942 – 10-5-1959
Fr. William E Veigas 10-5-1959 – 10-5-1972
Fr. William E Veigas 10-5-1959 – 10-5-1972
Fr. Ligory D'Souza 10-5-1972 – 25-7-1983
Fr. Ligory D’Souza 10-5-1972 – 25-7-1983
Fr. Fred V Pereira 3-6-1983 – 25-5-1992
Fr. Fred V Pereira 3-6-1983 – 25-5-1992
Fr. Alexander Lobo 25-5-1992 – 13-6-1994
Fr. Alexander Lobo 25-5-1992 – 13-6-1994
Fr. Charles Noronha 4-7-1994 – 1-6-2001
Fr. Charles Noronha 4-7-1994 – 1-6-2001
Fr. Harold Mascarenhas 1-6-2001 – 14-5-2005
Fr. Harold Mascarenhas 1-6-2001 – 14-5-2005
Fr. Valerian Frank 14-5-2005 – 29-5-2010
Fr. Valerian Frank 14-5-2005 – 29-5-2010
Fr. Lawrence Mascarenhas is the present parish priest.

References

1 2 3 "Parish History". http://madanthyarchurch.com/. External link in |publisher= (help)
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sacred Heart of Jesus, Madanthyar". http://dioceseofmangalore.com/. External link in |publisher= (help)
↑ "Parish Wards". http://madanthyarchurch.com. External link in |publisher= (help)
↑ "Parish Associations". http://madanthyarchurch.com/. External link in |publisher= (help)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.