Assumption Church

Established : 1944 Patron : Our Lady of Assumption Address : Assumption Church, Badauli, Dostpur, Tehasil Kadipur, District Sultanpur – 228 131 U. P. Telephone : 05364-242506 Religious : Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) A Brief History Dostpur is an ancient village situated at the eastern end of Sultanpur District, 150 km. away from Allahabad, a famous Hindu pilgrimage city, near the confluence of two holy rivers of India: the Ganga and Yamuna. Ayodhya, another important pilgrimage centre for Hindus, who believe it to be the birthplace of their deity, Lord Rama, is 80 km. away from Dostpur. In spite of its proximity to several holy places of the Hindus, this village is a Muslim stronghold. Within the radius of ten miles of Dostpur there were a hundred villages, forty five of which were inhabited by Harijans. Each village was grouped according to caste. The joint family system was prevalent. One long standing tradition of these people was the custom of child marriage. Today education has brought major changes. The villagers usually called Dostpur “Chawni”, which means cantonment. The Hindu name Dostpur means the Home of Friends or people of good will. The people of Dostpur had never heard the Gospel of Christ until around the year 1944, two Canadian Capuchin Missionaries, Fr. Raymond and a Brother, made their first appearance among these people. A little later, two German Missionary Brothers of St. Francis of Assisi (CMSF) arrived at Dostpur from Bombay. These two groups of missionaries rented two mud houses close to the present Police Thana and divided the new mission field between them. The people were suspicious and hostile, and at the end of two years only two families had become Christians. The Canadian Capuchin Missionaries were working till the division in 1947. The mission remained closed for a year. Nanku a catechist from Dostpur requested Mgr. Raymond D’Mello, then the V.G. of the Diocese to send missionaries and start the mission again. On his request V.G. approached Bishop Leonard Raymond. Two indigenous priests Rev. Frs. Joseph D’Souza and Lawrence Kurien were sent by Dr. L. Raymond, the then bishop of Allahabad, they took up the challenge and lived in a small room in the bazaar. The missionaries had no residence, but in 1949 they acquired four acres of land and set to work to build a chapel and a presbytery with the help of Rev. Fr. Anthony Pinto, the place where the mission is today. Later on some more land was purchased to support and sustain the mission. The people began to come to the new chapel and accept instruction in the faith. Since the villages were very far from the Church, Catechists were employed to visit the villages such as Dullapur, Pahadpur, Kisunipur. Sahangia, Banua, Badauli, Ahlade, Akhandnagar, Masuran, Kunda Bhairopur, Pratapur, Passiapara, Rasulpur, Dihava, Budane, Saraia, Gangapur, Bethra, Narsingpur, Narainpur, Madanpur, Dharmapur, Kalispur, Jalalpur, Kyathi Jalalpur, Golanpara, Biraipur, Pherai, Kallianpur, Bhojpur etc. to instruct the locals. In 1950 regular Sunday Service was held and catechism classes started functioning. In the same year Primary School was opened for the local boys. In the year 1956 Sisters of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) came to Dostpur to assist the Parish in pastoral, social, health and educational activities. In spite of difficulties and opposition the missionary activities at Dostpur increased and the mission property expanded, mostly wasteland which the mission was trying to bring under cultivation. In 1977 Maria Nagar and Mariampur basti (Colony) were formed. In 1977 eight convert families in Mariampur basti were given 6 bigas of land each as a reward for their faithfulness and the land was registered in their name at the cost of the diocese. Unfortunately today two of them have given up their catholic faith. In Maria Nagar four families were given land to cultivate for themselves. A carpentry school was started to train young boys in Maria Nagar basti which is now closed due to unknown reason. Later in the year 1981 a beautiful Church and Priest house was built and blessed by Rt. Rev. Baptist Mudartha, the then Bishop of Allahabad. A boarding house for boys was also constructed and it was blessed by Rt. Rev. Isidore Fernandes on 22 April 1994. A plot of land was set aside for cemetery. Boundary wall was built to protect it from encroachment in 2009. Today there are twenty five practicing catholic families in the Mission. The renovation of the Church began in 2017 under the supervision of Rev. Fr. Stephen Joy Rodrigues and Rev. Fr. Archibald D’Silva from Akbarpur. Parish Mission Team (Proclamation Team) was formed on 5th December 2010 Activities of the Mission: The Priests, Sisters and Mission team members visit the families and villages, hold prayer meetings, conduct Rosary, break the Word of God and administer sacraments to strengthen the faithful in catholic faith. Every Friday two hours adoration, praise and worship, intercessory prayers are conducted by the mission team. Second Friday of every month we have whole night adoration, praise and worship and intercessory prayers. Every Sunday half an hour benediction before mass. Once a month Mission team members meet to evaluate the activities. Parish council and youth team are very active in the Parish. Youth and children are encouraged to go for confessions every month. For this purpose first Saturday of every month is set aside. Catechism classes are held on every Saturday after the school gives over. Special instructions are also given on Sundays for those preparing for Sacraments, such as First Holy Communion, Confirmation and adult catechism. One coordinator, Supervisor and four animators are set apart to visit the villages for social work. Awareness on education, health, legal aid and literacy has been given. As a result we have formed hundred self help groups (SHGs) in 20 villages consisting of women and men from below poverty line. These groups take up issues and problems of their village and also do the saving in their day to day life. They are taught to take income generating activities. The Mission runs a formal School for the villagers up to class 10 – (High School). Main stress is given to the integrated development of the students. We also run Nav Jeevan Bal Newas Boarding house for poor boys. Priests who Served in Dostpur: Parish Priests Fr. Raymond OFM Cap 1946-1947 Fr. Joseph D’Souza 1947-1953 Fr. Paul Menezes 1953 – (?) Fr. Dayanand Kamath 1976-1978 Fr. William D’Souza 1978-1986 Fr. Ambrose DeSouza 1986-1988 Fr. Thomas Serrao 1988-1992 Fr. Vincent Cornelio 1992-2000 Fr. Aveline Lewis 2000-2001 Fr. Baptist D’Souza 2002-2007 Fr. Valerian D’Souza 2007-2015 Fr. Joseph Sagayanathan 2015-2017 Fr. Stephen Joy Rodrigues 2017 – to date Assistant Parish Priests: Fr. Lawrence Kurian 1947-1949 Fr. Anthony Pinto 1949 - (?) Fr. Vijayanand (Substitute Asst. P.P) Fr. Aveline D’Silva (?) Fr. Benedict Pereira 1961-1962 Fr. Dayanand Kamath 1964-1965; 1967-1968 Fr. Henry Suares 1972-1973 Fr. J.B. Castelino 1976-1977 Fr. Eugene Mascarenhas 1978-1981 Fr. Ambrose DeSouza 1981-1983 Fr. Kevin Pradhan 1983-1984 Fr. Damien Gomes 1984-1986 Fr. Gregory D’Souza 1986-1987 Fr. William Mathias 1987-1990 Fr. Rolfie D’souza 1991-1993 Fr. J. B. Fernandes 1993-1995 Fr. Alfred George 1995-1997 Fr. Herald Tauro 1997-1998 Fr. Rajesh Simon 1998-2000 Fr. Maria Selvaraj 2000-2001 Fr. Wilson Cornelio 2001-2003 Fr. Sunil Noronha 2003-2005 Fr. Titus Lobo 2005-2007 Fr. Prabhunath 2007-2009 Fr. Anand John 2009-2012 Fr. Ignatius Kujur 2012-2014 Fr. Stephen Joy Rodrigues 2015-2017 Fr. George Medepalli 2017 – to date

Assumption Church, Badauli, Dostpur, Tehasil Kadipur, District Sultanpur ? 228 131 U. P.