Diocese of Gorakhpur to Conclude Twin Silver Jubilee

GORAKHPUR, U.P, Sept. 25, 2009, 15.00 Hrs: (Santhosh Sebastian Cheruvally / CBCI News):

On October 4th 2009, the Syro-Malabar Diocese of Gorakhpur will have a modest concluding ceremony of the twin silver jubilee celebrations- of its Erection as well as of the Episcopal ordination of Mar Dominic Kokkat CS, the first and emeritus bishop of Gorakhpur. The highpoint of the celebration is the Solemn Holy Qurbana (Eucharist) to be presided over by the jubilarian Bishop Dominic. His Excellency Pedro Lopez Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal is to be the Chief Guest at the Public Gathering on the same day to be presided over by Hon’ble Justice Mr Cyriac Joseph, Supreme Court Judge. Civil authorities, bishops, major superiors of different religious congregations, former missionaries, people from the different parts of the diocese and well wishers are expected to grace the occasion. For the smooth organization a jubilee core group committee was formed with different sub committees with the active involvement of every section of the people of God under the guidance and leadership of Bishop Thomas Thuruthimattam CST, the current bishop of Gorakhpur.

The year long celebration had two priorities: Spiritual Renewal of the People of God and Commitment to the Poor. Under the spiritual side, the diocese brought out a special jubilee prayer which includes the past, present and future of the diocese, was recited everyday during the Holy Mass in every parish and mission station community. In addition to this, prayer, fasting and adoration marked the initiatives. Renewal jubilee retreats for priests, sisters, laity, and catholic couples were conducted with the collaboration of eminent preachers and spiritual guides. A Chapel in the diocesan Fatima Hospital Campus in honour of Our Lady of Fatima and dedicated to the Silver Jubilee of the Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Dominic, a perpetual adoration chapel under construction in Campierganj Shantivan Ashram, 40 kms away from Gorakhpur are part of the commitments to spiritual empowerment and renewal.

A plan for construction of twenty five houses for the poor Catholics, ASARA- Home for the Mentally retarded children at Campierganj and St. Joseph’s Boarding House for poor rural girl children at Dumrikhas, about 25 kms from Gorakhpur are part of our commitment to the poor and marginalized. On the concluding celebration of the jubilee day, there shall be also distribution of the keys of the hitherto constructed houses to the poor. These projects are realized through the sharing of the local resources and the generosity of people of good will. A Souvenir depicting the whole event and preparations will be released later on.

The Catholic Diocese of Gorakhpur of Syro-Malabar rite was erected on the June 19, 1984 by His Holiness Pope John Paul II through the Bull "Exquo Divinum Concilium". Rev. Fr Dominic Kokkat,CST, was appointed its Bishop. St Joseph and St Therese of Child Jesus are its heavenly patrons. The diocese is comprised of seven north eastern districts of the state of Uttar Pradesh viz. Gorakhpur, Deoria, Sant Kabirnagar, Basti, Kushinagar, Maharajganj and Siddharthnagar covering an area of 19,070 sq. kms. It has a population of about 17 million, of which the Catholics and other Christians are a very small minority. The region has Hindi, Bhojpuri and Urdu as its principal spoken languages and has a tropical climate with high humidity. Only a night’s journey distance from New Delhi by train, the region shares international border with the Himalayan nation of Nepal.

Ecumenically speaking, the city of Gorakhpur and the region has a presence of CNI protestant churches and other Pentecostal denominations. St Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur currently run by the CNI diocese of Lucknow was started as a primary school way back in 1828 and was raised to the status of a college in 1899. This protestant institution was a pioneer in higher education for this otherwise backward region. The Catholic Christian origin in Gorakhpur could be traced back to a group of native Catholics from the then Bethiaraj who migrated to this city as agricultural labourers in the beginning of 1800 during the British period. However, the Handbook of Bengal Mission mentions about the Roman Catholic Church work undertaken by Fr Joseph Maria around 1740 and some Italian fathers under the guidance of the Vicar Apostolic of Patna appeared to have rendered Pastoral service in Gorakhpur. In 1860 Fr Raphael of Livorno was the first chaplain to be appointed in Gorakhpur. He built St. Joseph's Church, now Cathedral, in 1860. In 1886 Gorakhpur became part of the Diocese of Allahabad.

Gorakhpur – Banaras Prefecture was erected in the year 1947 and was entrusted to the dynamic leadership of late venerable Msgr. Jerome Malefant, OFM CAP. In 1958, the headquarters of the Prefecture was shifted to Varanasi. In 1967, the Gorakhpur-Banaras Prefecture got its name changed into Banaras-Gorakhpur Prefecture. In 1970, this Prefecture became the Diocese of Varanasi with Bishop Patrick D’Souza as its first bishop. The bishop of Varanasi cared for this region ably and earnestly until it was handed over to the active missionary apostolate of the CST Fathers from Thrikkakara, Kerala in the light of the agreement by the Prefect Apostolic with Very Rev. Fr. Basilius Panat CST, the founder of Little Flower Congregation (CST Fathers ).