| INDIA
The
Province of
St. Thomas the Apostle, India
The Minister General, Fr. John
Parisi sent a circular letter dated March 12, 1937 to the whole Order inviting the
Provinces to be open to new apostolates, especially the acceptance of foreign missions.
The first Province to respond to this call was the Province of the United States
of America. The Province offered to establish a mission in India. The "Propaganda
Fidei" assigned it a vast territory cut off from the Diocese of Patna (Bihar) in the
easternmost part of which dwelled mostly the people of the Santal tribe. In 1938, the
first group of missionaries departed for India accompanied by Fr. Eugene George, the
Minister Provincial. 8 more missionary friars were sent out in 1940. The mission was under
the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of Patna. In 1947 the work of preparing for
a province and forming a native clergy was begun. In 1956-7, the first 4 Indian priests of
the Order were ordained. Pope Pius XII, on August 3, 1956 raised the mission to an
Apostolic Prefecture with Fr. Urban McGarry TOR of Sacred Heart Province named the
Apostolic Prefect. The Prefecture was elevated to a Diocese on January 11, 1965 and
Monsignor McGarry was ordained Bishop on May 10, 1965. He served as the local Ordinary
until his retirement in 1987 and continued to serve the diocese as professor and spiritual
director of the seminarians.
The commissary expanded its pastoral
activities to the mission stations of Baccha, Kusumba, Godda and Sundarmur. Several of the
friars learned to give basic medical care to the Santals. The commissariet elected Father
Anthony Rammanattu its first Indian leader.
The Commissariate of
India became a Province of the Order in 1971 under the title of St. Thomas the Apostle.
Friars from this Province have served on the General Curia, and lent assistance to the
Provinces of France, Sicily and to the first friars of Bangladesh. The Province has also
helped prepare the union of the TOR Congregation of Sri Lanka to the Order and Fr. Anthony
Ramanattu served as the first Provincial in Sri Lanka.
Today the Province
has 123 professed friars. The friars minister in twelve parishes and ten schools, attended
by Hindu, Muslim and tribal children. They have friars who assist local churches in
Austria, Germany and the USA. In August 1999 the province sent two friars to help in South
Africa. The Province gave birth to a new vice province on December 8, 1999.
The
Vice Province of
Saint Francis
Ranchi, India
The goodness of God
graced the Province of St. THomas with marvelous growth. From the modest beginning of four
missionaries in 1938, it grew to 155 friars.
The great distances between houses in the province and
the lack of good roads make it difficult to govern a large province. The Chapter of 1996
decided to establish two commissariats, one in Ranchi, under the patronage of St. Francis
and the other in Bangalore under the patronage of St. Louis of France.
The minister provincial, Father Mathew Puthenparampil,
realized that the commissariat in Ranchi was ready to become a vice province after three
years. Thirty three friars chose to become members. A special chapter in July 1999 planned
the formation of the vice province. The Chapter entrusted seven schools and nine parishes
to the vice province.
Father Bonaventure Midili, general minister, erected
the vice province on December 8, 1999 and appointed Father Aloysius Kattady as its
provincial minister. It was a historic moment in the life of the Province of St. THomas
the Apostle, a dream come true. The Order thanks God for this development in Asia. |
