ST. THOMAS CHURCH

Established : 1784/2012 Patron : St. Thomas Address : St. Thomas Church, Lower Lines, Chunar P.O., Mirzapur Dt - 231 304 Telephone : 05443-222435 Religious : Congregation of Jesus (CJ) A Brief History St. Thomas Church is situated in the Tehsil of Chunar, in Mirzapur district in Uttar Pradesh (U.P) India. Chunar is a small township on the bank of the River Ganga to the southwest of Banares (Varanasi). It is a place of religious and historical importance and has one of the oldest forts of India built in 56 B.C. Chunar is one of the oldest mission stations in the whole of North India. It is listed among the only six parishes/mission stations in the whole of north India in the 17th century the others being Patna, Bettia, Lucknow, Agra and Delhi. It was one of the few stations, which had the privilege of being visited by one of the great missionaries venerable late Bishop Hartmann. Chunar has one of the oldest cemeteries in India with its beautiful marble statues, monuments and remains as beautiful memorial of the past. It has the tombstones dating back to 1726. According to the written record in the book History of a Mission with a Vision by Bro. Melchior and companions and published at the occasion of the Centenary Jubilee of Franciscan Missionary Brothers in the year 2002, the Catholic presence at Chunar dates back to the beginning of 18th century. “On 10th March, 1785, Fr. Joseph of Rovato, the Prefect, writing to the Prefect of Propaganda, tells him that he had sent Fr. Peter dale Fratte, a missionary of the 24th expedition, who had arrived in India on 31st October 1784 to Chunar, where the wife of the Officer Commanding was a Catholic and had asked for a resident priest to minister to the Catholics of the place. Fr. Peter, however, remained in Chunar only for a few months owing to illness. Fr. Joseph of St. Marcello replaced him. Chunar was without a Church and a parochial house all these years. It was on 5th November 1793 that Fr. Juvenalis purchased a small bungalow together with the ground and the adjoining areas, for a sum of Rs. 150/-, in the name of Patna Mission. He built a chapel and set aside a piece of land as burial ground for the Christians” (cf: page 480). Another record says that there were two Chapels built before Fr. Marcellenus of Ancona, the Chaplain of Ghazipur and Chunar, built a new CHURCH which was consecrated and dedicated to St. Finbar by Bishop A. Hartmann on Sunday, 22nd October 1848. Among these two chapels one was built by Rev. Fr. Juvenalis in 1793 and the other was built by Rev. Fr. Gregory Mary de Bene and was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8th August 1838 (cf: plaque of the Chapel preserved in St. Finbar’s Church). Chunar was primarily a military base. With the abandonment of Chunar by the troops in the middle of 19th century, its importance diminished and with it the life in the Church as most of the Catholics were military men. According to the Catholic Calendar and Directory of 1896, Chunar was only visited by a priest from Banares (part of the Diocese of Allahabad then) and had only 38 Catholics. In 1927 Bishop Angelo Poli sent late Fr. A. Bader (who died in Germany in 1983) and his brothers of The Society of the Queen of the Apostles of Austria for the purpose of evangelizing the area. Subsequently, in 1934, the Indian Nuns of the Third Order of St. Francis established a convent there and visited Ahraura, Mirzapur and Robertsganj. Till January 1935 they were in charge of Robertsganj as an independent station. But nothing much was done in Chunar due to unsuitable conditions. One of the main reasons was Chunar being on the river bank often there were devastating floods submerging the whole area and the Church. In 1975 the flood waters submerged the Church up to eight feet. The Church could not be used in the course of time on account of the floods. The Church was shifted to the Priest-house that too in course of time was used as a school in1940. Being the oldest Mission Station of the Diocese of Allahabad the Bishops wanted to keep the light of faith shining bright at Chunar. Thus, braving all the odds the missionary activities continued in Chunar. Thus, in 1980 Rt. Rev. Baptist Mudartha built a new school building for the quality education of the poor and also a presbytery as priest’s residence under the supervision of Late Frs.Aveline Lewis and Francis Pereira. The IBMV sisters, presently known as Congregation of Jesus (CJ), joined in 1983 on 21st June to help in the School administration and pastoral work. In 2000 Late Rev. Fr. Henry Suares built a hospital for the care of the sick which was also administered by the sisters. With the passage of time the Chunar Mission has grown from strength to strength under the dynamic leadership of Rt. Rev. Isidore Fernandes, through efficient, committed and hard working managers to date. Today, on account of the determined and dedicated hard work of Rev. Fr. Walter D’ Silva, the manager, the School is upgraded from Junior High School to St. Thomas Inter College and has 936 students.His hard work yielded in the form of having repossession the property of the Church. Moreover, Chunar has a gorgeous and spacious new Church dedicated to St. Thomas (the Apostle) as the Bicentenary Jubilee memorial, after almost 72 years of abandonment of the previous one due to dilapidated conditions on account of constant floods. It also has the newly built Intermediate block and a renovated presbytery with 4 additional rooms. All the three were blessed and inaugurated on 10th November 2012, by Rt. Rev. Dr. Isidore Fernandes, the bishop of the diocese of Allahabad, at the occasion of the Bicentenary Jubilee of the Church.

St. Thomas Church, Lower Lines, Chunar P.O., Mirzapur Dt - 231 304