Media Release
Udupi, May 7: The grand inauguration of the renovated church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Church Parapady, Belfry Tower, grotto of our Lady of Lourdes and the golden jubilee celebrations will be held on Wednesday May 9.
Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo, Bishop, diocese of Udupi will preside over the celebrations. A felicitation programme at the church premises will follow which will also be presided over by Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo. V Sunil Kumar, MLA, Karkala, Gopal Bhandary, former MLA, Fr Joswey Fernandes, dean, Karkala deanery, Fr Denis Lobo, Pilar Fathers, Goa, Fr John Stany D’Silva, diocese of Bareilly, UP, Lakshmi Shetty, president, Nitte, panchayat, Ganesh Poojary, member, Nitte panchayat, Hemalatha Ravi Salian, member, Nitte panchayat, Fr Vincent Lobo, parish priest, Ronald D’Sa, vice president, parish pastrol council, Precilla Lobo, secretary, parish pastrol council, Jacintha D’Sa, co-ordinator, 18 commissions will be present on the occasion.
About the church
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Church formerly known as Parapady located at Nirmala Padav, is at a distance of 13 km from Karkala.
Two wards of Attur parish namely Sanoor and Kemmannu were the farthest wards of Attur. Fr Salvador D'Souza, parish priest of Attur saw the need for a church for these two wards and in 1948 built a chapel with a thatched roof at Herady, which was at a distance of 4 km from the present church. However, the place did not serve the purpose as it was inconvenient for the devotees and so Fr William Lewis, the parish priest of Attur at that time built a chapel and offered the first mass on June 27, 1958. Masses were offered every Sunday.
The chapel was declared a parish on May 12, 1968 and Fr Stany J Pereira, assistant parish priest of Attur became the first parish priest of the new parish.
Fr Stany John Pereira (1968-1983) was an ardent devotee of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and he felt compelled to build a church in her name. Accordingly, Dr Basil D'Souza, Bishop of Mangaluru diocese laid the foundation stone for the new church on December 8, 1968. Due to financial constraints, the work prolonged for 10 years and the church was inaugurated on May 12, 1979. Soon after the inauguration, the foundation stone for the belfry was laid on December 25, 1981 and it was blessed on May 19, 1982.
A building comprising of a shop and post office was built and the same was blessed by the bishop on May 19, 1982. During this period there were just two wards in the church. Along with spiritual ministry, he focused on socio-economic development of the people of all castes and creeds. Many locals benefitted from tailoring, sericulture, rice mill, cultivation of sugar cane, cattle rearing, goat farming, cattle rearing and several others. After 15 years of selfless service to the people, Fr Stany Pereira was transferred to Gurpur church on June 28, 1983. He died on January 7, 1997.
He was succeeded by Fr Rosario Fernandes (1983-1987) who continued his work. Fr Rosario Fernandes divided the two wards into four wards for a smooth running of the spiritual needs of the devotees. He was succeeded by Fr George D'Souza who gave more importance to the development of agriculture. Fr George D'Souza was responsible for the establishment of Catholic Sabha in the church in 1994. He helped a number of poor children to get education. With the help of the people, he repaired the Nitte - Parappady road. Fr Assissi Rebello (1994-2001) continued the good work of the previous parish priests and gave importance to promoting agriculture. He had great affection for young children. Fr Assissi Rebello renovated the flooring and altar of the church. In addition he formed the ICYM for youth in 1998. He further divided the four wards into five.
Fr Peter Nazareth (2001-2003), an elderly priest succeeded Fr Assissi and served his best. As he neared retirement age, he served the parish for just two years before retiring from active ministry.
In 2003, Fr Pascal Menezes (2003-2007) was appointed as the sixth parish priest of the church. He was a musician and trained many youngsters to sing devotional songs in the choir. He also installed the statue of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour on the road in front of the church. He built a new parochial house as well.
Fr Vijay Lobo (2007-2008) served for six months in the church and motivated the people toward spiritual growth.
Fr Alex Aranha (2008-2013) served for five years in the parish. In spite of his ill health, he instilled the importance of spiritual life in the people. He voluntarily retired in 2013.
Fr Vincent Lobo (2013-Present) took charge of the parish on June 5, 2013. He was a deep thinker with foresight. He changed the entire face of the church. In addition to being a good musician, he was kind hearted and a philanthropist who loved people. He has trained the young children of the church to play the keyboard. His discourses on the Holy Bible were embedded in the minds of the parishioners.
Due to the hard work of Fr Vincent, groups like ICYM, YCS, Sthree Sanghatan, St Vincent De Paul Society, Catholic Sabha, Secular Franciscan Order, Holy Childhood Society offer excellent service to the parish. The Pastoral Plan 2025 was implemented successfully in the church. Besides spiritual and social ministry, he was a lover of agriculture and farming.
In June 2017, the front compound wall of the church and the grotto of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour collapsed due to heavy rain and storm. It was rebuilt with the help of generous people and the grotto was rebuilt with the help of James D'Silva's family and inaugurated on September 8, 2017. The building of the church and its roof which were in bad condition needed renovation which began on January 1. A grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was also built with the help of a donor.
Daijiworld.com will bring in live web streaming on Wednesday May 9 from 9.00 am onwards.