St. Antony Church

The most important substation of the Holy Rosary Church parish had been Palanganatham till it was made an independent parish in May 1985, with Fr. S.K. Britto as the first parish priest. Fr. S.K. Britto was transferred within three months due to ill health and Fr. G. Packier became the second parish priest. Starting the Parish Council, Vincent de Paul Society, Tuesday devotion to St. Antony and putting up the strong fence around the cemetery which till then was unprotected and easily encroached upon by others are the praiseworthy achievements of Fr. G. Packier. Fr. Packier was succeeded by Fr. A.J. Christian on 14 June 1988. With his genial temperament, he was able to enlist the co-operation and support of all sections of the parish. The church and the surroundings were whitewashed, which had not been done for 14 years. He got new churches built at Irudayanagar and Bykara and a school building. He erected a stage for conducting parish programmes.
 There were 18 Mill Workers who, due to a lock-out were left jobless. The parish priest made arrangements for the sanction of a loan to them, amounting to Rs. 30,000/-. A typing institute for young girls has been begun and is run by the Sisters of Louis Gonzaga. The middle school which has 30 teachers and 1,500 students is raising the educational level of the parish. Fr. Antony Packiam constructed a new building for the school as well as a shopping complex whose revenue is used for parish maintenance. Fr. Edward Francis took charge as the parish priest of Palanganatham on June 16, 2004. His tenure is considered as the period of renaissance in Palanganatham. He organized the people and cleaned the cemetery which was in a decaying condition. He built a stage to celebrate mass and made water facility available with a bore in the cemetery. The parish council which could not be changed for 17 years was changed and new persons came in to serve in the parish council. Anbiams, Holy Family movement, youth movement, altar boys associations were started. Though the school celebrated its centenary, it did not have proper buildings and toilets. The buildings were in a dilapidated condition. In memory of the centenary year, the old buildings were demolished and new school buildings were built with all facilities with the help of foreign aid. Water facility was made available with a bore and new water connection from the corporation. A separate stage was built for the school. The presbytery was renewed. The old church was demolished in 2008 and the new church was built with the donation of 40 lakh from the people and consecrated in 2009 by Archbishop Peter Fernando. A new bell was bought for the church. Eucharistic Sutrupraharam was started on the Sundays that fall before the feast. During Fr. Siluvai Michael Raj’s period, the Parish Silver Jubilee was celebrated on 6 June 2010. The history of the parish was released by the Archbishop. The middle school was upgraded as a high school. On 19 March 2011, the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes was constructed. The altar and the front portion of the church were modified and blessed on 10th Sep 2013 with the donation of the people. The parish has 570 Catholic families with a population of 1800. Substations: Indiranagar - Infant Jesus Church M.M. Colony - Sacred Heart Church Sundararajapuram - Our Lady of Good Health Bykara - St. Paul the hermit Vasantha Nagar - Our Lady of Fatima Church The Succession of Parish Priests: Rev. Fr. S.K. Francis Britto (1985) Rev. Fr. G. Packiar (1985-88) Rev. Fr. A.J. Christian (1988-91) Rev. Fr. N.P. Alphonse (1991-92) Rev. Fr. Fatimanathan (1992-95) Rev. Fr. L.G. Jeganivasakar (1995-97) Rev. Fr. Mudiappan (1997-98) Rev. Fr. Maria Arul Selvam (1998-2002) Rev. Fr. Antony Packiam (2002-04) Rev. Fr. Edward Francis (2004-09) Rev. Fr. P. Siluvai Michael Raj (2009-2015) Rev. Fr. A.Vedamanickam (2015-2018) Rev. Fr. G.Gabriel (2018- Till Date)

Thandalkaaranpatti 2nd Street, Palangantham - Madurai 625 003 - India