Bangalore: Archbishop Moras blesses new Claretian Provincial House building

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Feb 3: Archbishop of Bangalore Most Rev Dr Bernard Moras blessed the new building of the Claretian Provincial House at Malleswaram, adjacent to the St Peter’s Pontifical Seminary in Bangalore on Sunday.
 
The local BJP MLA Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, who has been a friend and supporter of the community, was the lone political leader to attend the simple function, which was preceded by a meaningful prayer service.

The Archbishop of Bangalore unveiled the plaque of the building and a statue of St Anthony Mary Claret, the founder of the Congregation of Claretian Missionaries, erected at the entrance of the new building. Rev Dr George Vanchipurackal, former Rector of Claretian Seminary, unveiled the statue of Mother Mary in the lobby.

The blessing and inauguration of the new building, whose foundation stone for the building project was laid by the Provincial Superior of the Claretians in Bangalore, Rev Dr James Kannanthanam, on May 31, 2011, who had the privilege of offering a solemn mass on the day of inauguration along with many other concelebrants

The Founder

St Anthony Mary Claret, the founder of the Congregation of Claretian Missionaries (Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary), founded the Congregation in Spain on July 16, 1849 and the Claretian Missionaries are presently working in 64 different countries across the world. St Anthony Mary Claret was born at Sallent near Barcelona in Spain on December 23, 1807. He worked in several countries, especially Catalonia and Canary Islands, Cuba and Madrid. He was also the Spiritual Director and co-founder of several other congregations.
 
The swanky new and spacious new provisional house building also accommodates the, St Claret Educational Society, Claretian Publications, Hope: Anti-Addiction Group and the Indian Bible Foundation, depicting the multi-faceted activities of the Claretian Missionaries. Incidentally, one of the social service activity of the Bangalore Claretian Province is looking after the care of leprosy and HIV positive patients.

The Beginning in Bangalore

The Claretian community at Jalahalli, on the Jalahalli Outer Ring Road, was canonically erected in 1988 in the Archdiocese of Bangalore. The house was blessed by Most Rev Arulappa, Archbishop of Hyderabad, on May 15, 1989 and the provincial government of located at the Claretian Seminary at Malleswaram was shifted to the new house in the same year, marking the transformation of the community as a Provincial House.
 
The Claretian Seminary at Malleswaram is the theology study house of the Province of Bangalore, which began in a small house at Shanti Nivas. With the purchase of a small piece of land from the St Peter’s Pontifical Seminary later, the present building of the seminary was constructed in 1976. The seminary in the new building was inaugurated by Very Rev Antonia Leghisa, the then Superior General, and blessed by the then Archbishop of Bangalore, Most Rev Dr P Arokiaswamy on February 29, 1976. The seminary was expanded to accommodate larger number of student novices and the extension of the building was blessed by Very Rev Fr Aloys Hornung, the then Provincial Superior of Germany, and Rev Fr Dirnberger inaugurated the seminary’s St Thomas Hall.

Other Activities

The Claretian Publications, which has the distinction of compiling and publishing the Catholic Directory of India for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), New Delhi, in the year 2004-05 and 2012-13 and also the popular Bible Diaries in English, Kannada and Konkani every year besides several religious titles began its activities from September 27, 1988,
 
The care of the Syro-Malabar Christians of Bangalore North was entrusted the Bangalore Province of Claretians by the Archdiocese of Bangalore and the ministry was subsequently expanded to form three parishes and two sub-stations.
 
St Claret School, another major ministry of the Claretians in Bangalore, began in 1988 at Jalahalli under the aegis of St Claret Educational Society for providing quality education to the students of the area. In 2002, the St Claret Pre-University College was established and was followed by the establishment of the St Claret Degree College in 2005 with arts and commerce courses. In 2007, the Anthony Claret (AC) School commenced with ICSE Syllabus. In 2009, the new building of St Claret College was completed and the degree courses were shifted to the new building with BA, BSC, BBA and additional diploma courses in banking and insurance.