Mangalore : Parishioners demolish church for social cause

By Francis Rodrigues
Bellevision Media Network

Mangalore, 25 Febraury 2012: Catholics of a parish in Mangalore, southern India, have won over the local administration by voluntarily demolishing an old church for a social cause.

 

 

 

“We appreciate the Catholics’ cooperation to widen a major road. Their amicable response to our request is an inspiration for all,” Kashinath Nethri, manager of the National Highway Authority of India in Mangalore, told ucanews.com.

The church in Kulur, a Mangalore suburb, was built in 1911 and it sits on a hillock adjacent to the National Highway 17 that connects Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala states on the southwestern Indian coast.

 

 

Parish priest Father Harold D’Souza said they could have used the church as a prayer house for another 30 years. “We decided to demolish it to help better transport infrastructure for society,” the priest told ucanews.com.

He said no shrine in the name of Saint Anthony of Padua exists in Mangalore town area. “Even now local people claim to have received special favors after praying at the church,” the priest added.

The demolition work began yesterday. More than 150 parishioners offer voluntary service to demolish the old church and build a new one away from the highway by cutting down the hillock.

The parish has some 550 families, most of them poor. “Yet every month we make some collections for the new church,” said Valerian Lobo, another lay leader.

Isidore Monteiro, a local lay leader, said a geologist is guiding their work.

The parish priest said the whole process “is a big nuisance” for his parishioners, but they are willing to sacrifice their interest for “a better public cause.”

He said lay leaders evaluate the progress of the work daily. “God is with us. We hope to build the new church within one and half years,” he added.

(Courtesy: UCAN-India)