Christians all over the world are celebrating Pentecost, the birthday of the church on 23-05-2010. It reminds us the day the Holy Spirit descending on the disciples as they gathered in Jerusalem in the famous “UPPER ROOM,” Where they got different tongues of fire and thereby speaking the gospel in every language known to man. One of the disciples St. Thomas came to Kerala in India to spread the Gospel and was martyred in Tamilnadu in India while spreading the Faith.
Today as we all are celebrating Birthday Of The CHURCH would also like to talk about the History of Gujarat CHURCH.
The present Ahmedabad Diocese covers the entire area of the three civil districts of Ahmedabad, Anand and Nadiad. Area wise, Ahmedabad is the smallest of the four dioceses in Gujarat but with 63,962 Catholics Ahmedabad is the biggest diocese! Ahmedabad is also the oldest diocese in the state.
Historically too the Ahmedabad diocese has great significance. The freedom struggle was directed from the Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad which was the headquarters of Gandhiji for meeting the leaders of the freedom movement and the British officials till he started the Dandi March on March 12, 1930. Karamsad in Anand District which comes within the boundaries of the Ahmedabad diocese was also the birth place of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the iron man of India.
The Ahmedabad Diocese has a long history. There are indications of Christians living
at Khambhat and Ahmedabad from the beginning of the sixteenth century when the Portuguese arrived in Goa in 1510. All through the 19th century Catholics from outside the states have come and settled in several towns of Gujarat. Ahmedabad city had a church from 1842 at Sabarmati.
But the beginning of local Christians is traced to the baptism of 18 people at Mogri on December 11, 1893 by Fr Manuel Xavier Gomes, a diocesan priest from the Archdiocese of Bombay. A team of German and Swiss Jesuits followed Fr Gomes. Then came more diocesan priests followed by the Spanish Jesuits in 1922.
In 1934 the entire area of Gujarat State north of the Mahi river including Kathiawad and Kutch became the independent Ahmedabad mission separated from Bombay Archdiocese, with an Ecclesiastical Superior in the person of Fr Joaquin Villallonga, SJ. There were only five mission stations in 1934 : Anand established in 1895, Vadtal in 1897, Karamsad in 1907, Nadiad in 1911 and Amod in 1914.
The Daughters of the Cross (FC) were the first congregation of nuns to start work in Gujarat from 1898. Then came the Sisters of The Apostolic Carmel (AC) to work in Gujarat in January 1923. They opened their first school at Ahmedabad in 1929. In 1936 a local congregation of the Little Daughters of St Francis Xavier (LD) was founded by a Jesuit Priest, Fr Carlos Suria in collaboration with Sr Xavier.
The steady growth of the Ahmedabad mission resulted in the establishment of the Ahmedabad Diocese on May 5, 1949 covering the entire Gujarat area north of the river Mahi much before the present Gujarat state was carved out of the Bombay state on May 1, 1960.
The tenure of the first Bishop of Ahmedabad, Bishop Edwin Pinto, SJ (1949-73) was a period of consolidation of the Christian community and also the beginning of the expansion of the Church to north and south Gujarat.
Meanwhile a second diocese in Gujarat was established on September 29, 1966 as Baroda diocese with the six districts in South Gujarat, south of Mahi river curved out of Bombay Archdiocese with Bishop Ignatius D'Souza as its first bishop.
In Ahmedabad diocese Bishop Charles Gomes, SJ succeeded Bishop Pinto in 1974 and he saw to the expansion of the Church of north and central Gujarat as well as to the growth of Church personnel especially diocesan priests and religious sisters.
A new development took place in 1977 with the formation of the Rajkot Diocese under Bishop Jonas Thaliath, CMI as its first bishop. The new diocese was separated from the Ahmedabad Diocese, covering the entire area of Saurashtra and Kutch-Bhuj.
Then, in 1990 Bishop Stanislaus Fernandes, SJ took up the reins from Bishop Gomes in Ahmedabad Diocese and saw to the further consolidation of the Christian communities in the north and central Gujarat. The steady growth of the Church then saw the establishment of the new Archdiocese of Gandhinagar headed by Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes, SJ. The new archdiocese was separated from the Ahmedabad Diocese in November 2002.
Bishop Thomas Ignas Macwan became the first local Catholic Bishop Ahmedabad Diocese in January 2003 indicating the coming of age of the Church in Gujarat.
The diocese has 4 congregations of men : They are, 1. The Society of Jesus (Jesuits - SJ), 2. The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), 3. The Society of St Francis Xavier (Pilars Fathers-SFX) and 4. Missionary Brothers of St Francis of Assisi (CMSF). These religious Priests and Brothers are engaged in all sorts of services like education, pastoral ministry, social service and vocational training, etc.
There are about 27 Religious congregations of women working in the diocese. They run schools like Mount Carmel School in Ahmedabad by the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel or St Xavier's High School at Vatva by the Sisters known as the Little Daughters of St Francis Xavier. St. Ursula School, Dabhan run by St. Ursula Sisiters Dabhan near Nadiad, St Mary's Mahila Shikshan Kendra and Social Service Centre at Gomtipur managed by the Dominican Missionaries of the Holy Rosary (O.P.) Most of the sisters work in small towns and villages running dispensaries, boardings for girls and mahila mandals, etc.
The Diocesan Social Service Centre headquartered at Hansol, Ahmedabad, Behavioural Science Centre (BSC) and St Xavier's Social Service Society, both run by the Jesuits, are three of the best known social service organizations in the Diocese. They are also the three biggest centres in terms of their services extending far and wide in the Diocese and beyond. But we have also social service wings which are part and parcel of many of our parishes and schools and through which we reach out to the most needy people of the locality.
The example of their founder Jesus Christ who went about doing good to all, the Christians in Ahmedabad Diocese extend services to all people irrespective of their caste and religion but especially the poor and the needy.
BBN thanks and prays for all the catechists of Gujarat and all the clergy who died for the FAITH.
-Information Courtesy: C.B.C.I.
-And Ahmedabad Diocese.
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May is the month when Catholics traditionally focus on Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The practice dates back at least 700 years and is still observed around the world today. May is seen as the beginning of new life and the start of summer, which makes this a logical time for the celebrations of Mary, who brought life into the world.
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