by Adolf Washington - Bangalore
Bangalore, Jun 25: Over a thousand Atleast a thousand people gathered at the Sacred Heart Church on Richmond Road on 24th June to witness the unveiling of a 7 ft (1.5 ton) monolithic statue of Mother Teresa. The Church that saw the participation of Mother Teresa on 24th October 1995 during its Centenary celebrations. The Statue is erected at the Mother Teresa road junction.
Addressing the gathering, the archbishop, Most Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras said "Sacred Heart Church in Bangalore has been a historical landmark for the people of Bangalore and is well known as a hub of devotion drawing people of different faiths to its sacred portals. This Church was honoured by the visit of Mother Teresa’s and now we are glad to unveil for public veneration, the statue of Mother Teresa near the very road named after her. Mother Teresa is an icon of simplicity, sacrifice, service and surrender to God’s will. Her undying love for God and for the poor has drawn people of all Faiths to pray to her and emulate her…I hope this statue of Mother Teresa will be an inspiration and reminder of the life of sacrifice and service God calls us to…. The Inauguration of a PUC College is one more effort of the Church to provide quality education to the poor. The new Adoration chapel will serve as a centre of prayer, hope and peace in the midst of the humdrum and tensions of daily life. ..”
Those present were the parish priest of the church Fr. S Sagayanathan, Fr. John Solomon the former parish priest who was instrumental in brining Mother Teresa to Bangalore, fr. Adolf Washington the PRO of Bangalroe Archdiocese among other priests and dignitaries. Mr.John Zechariah the principal of Cathedral Composite attended the later part of the programme.
The statue that took over six months to be sculpted was sculpted by octogenarian Putten Acharya from Hegdedevana Kote.
The Archbishop who also blessed open the Sacred Heart PU College for the marginalized and underprivileged saying "If Christ asked us to go to the lost sheep, we must understand our mission as reaching out to those poor people deprived of education. The Church will reach out to any underprivileged regardless of the faith they profess..."
On the same day, an adoration chapel was also inaugurated. Sacred Heart Church has significance in the Catholic Church in bangalore also because its hosts a priests cemetry (priests of the diocese are buried in the sacred heart Cemetry).