Vision:1. VISION
Rooted and grounded in the person of Jesus Christ, we carry on his mission and pursue the formation of a human community characterized by love, justice and life in all its fullness.
2. MISSION
We, as companions of Jesus Christ in partnership with our collaborators in pastoral ministry, and together with the Christian community, are committed to:
- Forming vibrant faith-filled Christian communities, living the Gospel values of freedom, fellowship, justice and love, which will be catalysts in building up the Kingdom of God. - Collaborating with the Sisters and Brothers of other Churches and faiths towards building a peaceful and harmonious social order. - Creating awareness on ecological imbalances and social evils that diminish life. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PASTORAL MINISTRY IN BIHAR
Though the Jesuits had begun a mission at Patna in 1620, it was short-lived. Later the Italian Capuchins founded their mission at Patna in 1706. Beginning with the founding of a Christian community at Bettiah in 1745, the Italian Capuchins established strong, traditional Christian communities wherever they set up mission centers or houses. They had pastoral centers at Patna, Bankipur, Kurji, Danapur, Jamalpur, Bhagalpur, Purnea, Bettiah, Chuhari and Chakhni.
The first Jesuits who arrived in Patna from America in 1921 began their mission work in these parishes founded by the Capuchins. Pastoral work took a new direction in 1925 when Jesuits pastors began to evangelize Santal Tribals in South Bihar and Dalits in Central Bihar since 1936. As the Santal converts swelled the Catholic fold, due to personnel crunch, the flourishing Tribal Mission of Bhagalpur was handed over to Franciscan Missionaries of the Third Order in 1938. The steady increase of Dalit converts in central Bihar necessitated opening of new mission centers towards the south, east and west of Patna. The new mission centers at Gaya, Mokama, Biharsharif, Nawada, Barbigha, Jehanabad, Ara, Piro, Patna City, Barh, Maner etc. were looked after mostly by Jesuit Pastors who were assisted by newly ordained diocesan priests since the early 1940s. Pastoral involvement continued to grow in the next decades. Some of the mission centers opened in the 1950s were: Gulni, Tinkonua, Sheikpura, Itarhi, Koath, Buxar, Shahpur, Baktiarpur, Dumraon, Dhibra, Sasaram and Darbhanga. As more diocesan priests began to shoulder much of the pastoral ministry in Patna Diocese, the Jesuits limited themselves to a few pastoral centers presently spread in four diocesan territories (Patna, Buxar, Bettiah and Muzaffarpur). Today there are only 13 parishes (in four dioceses) managed by Patna Jesuits. We have 13 full time Parish Priests and 4 part timers. Our parishes are multi-apostolate centers. Most of the parishes have schools, hostels, social-action centers and in some even dispensaries. Back to Top Parishes:
Contacts:
Fr. Alwyn D’SouzaCatholic Church, Mokama P.O., Patna Dt.,
Bihar 803 302 Mobile: 9430061157 Email: fralwynsj@rediffmail.com |
No comments:
Post a Comment