ST. MARY'S CHURCH

Established : 1862 Patron : Mother Mary Address : St. Mary’s Church, 31 Cantonment, Faizabad – 224 001 Telephone : 05278 - 221075 Religious : Canossian Daughters of Charity (FDCC) A Brief History St. Mary's church Faizabad situated on the bank of river Saryu, north of Allahabad is one of the oldest churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allahabad opened for the British Troops. We do not have anything before 1861 in the archives of the church except there are some entries in the cemetery register including a Catholic Chaplain but difficult to trace the graves. In 1861 it was separated from the Vicariate of Agra and annexed to Allahabad which is quite clear in the directory of Roman Catholic Diocese of Allahabad in 1912. In 1862 its foundation stone was laid by Rt. Rev. Bishop A. Hartmann and a few years later it was blessed and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. At that time the number of the Catholics was 135, of whom 102 were Anglo-Indians and 33 Indians. Rev. Fr. Cajetan Boccaccio an Irish missionary was the first parish priest who stayed in this church till the end of his life for almost 38 years. At that time the first Bishops of Allahabad Diocese Rt. Rev. Dr. Francis Pesci, Rt. Rev. Dr. Charles Gentili and Rt. Rev. Victor Sinibaldi also visited and participated in the church activities. Due to poor conveyances, arrival of Bishops was a great event in the Church. The number of the families were 63 and all were Anglo-Indians. There wasn't any proper House for the Priests. They used to stay together with military officials. After Fr. C. Boccaccio in 1901 Fr. Francis, Fr. Alexander and Fr. Gabriel looked after the church for 6 months each In 1902 Fr. Cherubim took charge of the church. He rendered his service for 4 years.Inhis time Catholics visited nearby places like Jaunpur and Pratapgarh Later Fr. Saverian. Fr. Henry and Fr. Francis stayed here from 1907 to 1913. In 1947 Rt. Rev. Bishop Petronius visited the church. In 1913, Fr. Lawrence under look the responsibility of this church and committed 3 years of his life for it. Who can forget the period of 1914 as this was the time of the First World War and many soldiers of this church had given their valuable contribution. After the end of the World War in 1917, Fr. Francis Mary worked hard selflessly for 6 years to strengthen the faith of the Catholics and their families Later on, Fr. Cosmos continued the humble services of Fr. Francis Mary from 1923 to 1932 . Further from 1931 to 1943, Fr. Go-Hens, Fr. Anthony, Fr. Bartholowmeo, Fr. Paul and Fr. Andrew Capechino devoted their services. In 1937 the presbytery was built and blessed by the Bishop. In 1943 the boundary wall of this church was raised by the then parish priest Fr. Bernard who toiled day and night for the internal security of the church by collecting the funds from Diocese of Dublin and Rome. In 1946, Fr. Francis Pillay the first diocesan priest became the Parish Priest. Meanwhile Rev. Bishop Angelo Poli, the 5th Bishop of our Diocese visited during his tenure and asked the Parish Priest to renew the lease papers. Looking at the decreasing number of Catholics and to keep himself busy Fr. Pillay presented the wise and appreciable proposal of opening a school with Bishop Angelo Poli, as a result of which St. Mary's school was founded and dedicated to Mother Mary. Together with this in 1947, Fr. Pillay was also appointed as a Religious preacher in the Railways. Subsequently the tribal population gave their presence in the church. In 1956, Fr. Steven, a very dynamic priest took over the responsibility of the church and school and prepared for the centenary celebration. Meanwhile in 1961, the centenary celebration of this church took place at a grand scale. The church was painted in different colours. In 1959, St. Mary's community rejoiced when Canossian Daughters of Charity a Religious association founded by St. Magdalen arrived with 3 sisters to Faizabad. From 1964 to 1986, Fr. George Desouza, Fr. A. Mendonca, Fr. Stanley Mascarenhas and Fr. Stanny, Fr. Germaine Desouza rendered their precious service for this church. In 1971 the Garrison Cemetery was handed over to Roman Catholic Church and Church of North India for its upkeep and maintenance. The Church is grateful to 2 of its members Mr. George Reneaux and Mr. Alfred Donald Carter for their committed efforts in this regard. Today Mr. Cecil and Dr. Charles are members of the Cemetery Board. In between Rev. Bishop Alfred Fernandez visited the church. On 1st July 1986 Fr. Michael Martin took over as the parish priest who could walk even at midnight freely around the campus. In his 6 years stay at Faizabad he constructed additional school buildings and classes till 8th standard. In 1993, an enthusiastic and visionary priest Fr. Aveline Lewis arrived and did a lot of alterations and reconstruction of the church, school building and the parish house. He was a very diligent and prayerful person so people remember him as a simple person any time they could knock his door for help. His contribution to the church and school will never be forgotten. He celebrated the golden jubilee of the school. In 1999 a young, energetic Fr. John Louis D'Souza took over as the Parish Priest. During his 8 years tenure he obtained recognition of high school classes so that the students could obtain education right from Nursery to class 10. For the spiritual development, he beautifully organized the family prayers and rosary etc. It was conducted from house to house by Parishioners themselves. He also rendered service for the poor and needy village children. He gave them a chance to get education in the school. He arranged many cultural, educational programmes and activities with a new zeal and enthusiasm. It was a great occasion when he celebrated his priestly silver jubilee. In 2007 Fr. Baptist D'Souza a charismatic and revolutionary leader, built strong relationship between the members of cantonment board and civil officers. In the very beginning for the security of the campus he raised the boundary wall and gave a strong protection to the compound. Due to the decline of the CNI Church in Faizabad there was a resurgence of new churches in Faizabad. To resolve the incumbency and confusion he organized many Common Christian Programmes. They came together for carol singing, candle light procession etc. and people were invited from different denominations. He got the cemetery wall built and cemetery was in a much better condition than any time before. In 2009 Canossian Sisters celebrated their golden jubilee of their arrival in Faizabad. He also started English medium section in the school and set the Church for the sesquicentennial Jubilee Celebration. In the year 2011, Fr. Anil Michael arrived. On 13th November 2011, Bishop Isidore Fernandes inaugurated the jubilee year with Fr. Anil Michael, Parish Priest and Fr. Stephen Manoj as assistant. On this occasion we are highly indebted to the valuable and selfless contribution put forth by all the Rev. Bishops, Rev. Priests, Canossian Sisters and laity of the St. Mary's Church, Faizabad. Presently, Rev. Fr. Damein Gomes and Rev. Fr. Ravi Joseph work tirelessly for the spiritual growth of the people under their care.

St. Mary?s Church, 31 Cantonment, Faizabad ? 224 001