Diocese of Gorakhpur in India to Conclude its Twin Silver Jubilee

The Catholic Diocese of Gorakhpur of Syro-Malabar rite was erected on the June 19, 1984 by His Holiness Pope John Paul II.

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GORAKHPUR, India (Catholic Online) - On October 4th 2009, the Syro-Malabar Diocese of Gorakhpur will hold a modest concluding ceremony of the twin silver jubilee celebrations - of its Erection as well as of the Episcopal ordination of Mar Dominic Kokkat CST, the first and emeritus bishop of Gorakhpur. The highpoint of the celebration is the Solemn Holy Qurbana (Eucharist) to be presided over by the jubilarian Bishop Dominic. His Grace Most Rev. Pedro Lopez Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal is expected to be the Chief Guest of the day.

His Grace, Most Rev. Albert D' Souza of Agra Archdiocese will preach the homily. Hon'ble Justice Mr Cyriac Joseph, Supreme Court will preside over the public meeting. Civil authorities, bishops, major superiors of different religious congregations, former missionaries, people from the different parts of the diocese and well wishers are expected to grace the occasion. For the smooth organization a jubilee core group committee was formed with different subcommittees with the active involvement of every section of the people of God under the guidance and leadership of Bishop Thomas Thuruthimattam CST, the current bishop of Gorakhpur.

The year long celebration had two priorities: Spiritual Renewal of the People of God and Commitment to the Poor. Under the spiritual side, the diocese brought out a special jubilee prayer which includes the past, present and future of the diocese, was recited everyday during the Holy Mass in every parish and mission station community. In addition to this, prayer, fasting and adoration marked the initiatives. Renewal jubilee retreats for priests, sisters, laity, and catholic couples were conducted with the collaboration of eminent preachers and spiritual guides. A Chapel in the diocesan Fatima Hospital Campus in honour of Our Lady of Fatima and dedicated to the Silver Jubilee of the Episcopal Ordination of Bishop Dominic, a perpetual adoration chapel under construction in Campierganj Shantivan Ashram, 40 kms away from Gorakhpur are part of the commitments to spiritual empowerment and renewal.

A plan for construction of twenty five houses for the poor Catholics, ASARA- Home for the Mentally retarded children at Campierganj and St. Joseph's Boarding House for poor rural girl children at Dumrikhas, about 25 kilometers from Gorakhpur are part of our commitment to the poor and marginalized. On the concluding celebration of the jubilee day, there shall be also distribution of the keys of the hitherto constructed houses to the poor. These projects are realized through the sharing of the local resources and the generosity of people of good will. A Souvenir depicting the whole event and preparations will be released later on.

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The Catholic Diocese of Gorakhpur of Syro-Malabar rite was erected on the June 19, 1984 by His Holiness Pope John Paul II through the Bull "Exquo Divinum Concilium". Rev. Fr Dominic Kokkat,CST, was appointed its Bishop. St Joseph and St Therese of Child Jesus are its heavenly patrons. The diocese is comprised of seven north eastern districts of the state of Uttar Pradesh viz. Gorakhpur, Deoria, Sant Kabirnagar, Basti, Kushinagar, Maharajganj and Siddharthnagar covering an area of 19,070 sq. kms. It has a population of about 17 million, of which the Catholics and other Christians are a very small minority. The region has Hindi, Bhojpuri and Urdu as its principal spoken languages and has a tropical climate with high humidity. Only a night's journey distance from New Delhi by train, the region shares international border with the Himalayan nation of Nepal.

Ecumenically speaking, the city of Gorakhpur and the region has a presence of CNI protestant churches and other Pentecostal denominations. St Andrew's College, Gorakhpur currently run by the CNI diocese of Lucknow was started as a primary school way back in 1828 and was raised to the status of a college in 1899. This protestant institution was a pioneer in higher education for this otherwise backward region. The Catholic Christian origin in Gorakhpur could be traced back to a group of native Catholics from the then Bethiaraj who migrated to this city as agricultural labourers in the beginning of 1800 during the British period. However, the Handbook of Bengal Mission mentions about the Roman Catholic Church work undertaken by Fr Joseph Maria around 1740 and some Italian fathers under the guidance of the Vicar Apostolic of Patna appeared to have rendered Pastoral service in Gorakhpur. In 1860 Fr Raphael of Livorno was the first chaplain to be appointed in Gorakhpur. He built St. Joseph's Church, now Cathedral, in 1860. In 1886 Gorakhpur became part of the Diocese of Allahabad.

Gorakhpur - Banaras Prefecture - was erected in the year 1947 and was entrusted to the dynamic leadership of the late venerable Msgr. Jerome Malefant, OFM CAP. In 1958, the headquarters of the Prefecture was shifted to Varanasi. In 1967, the Gorakhpur-Banaras Prefecture got its name changed into Banaras-Gorakhpur Prefecture. In 1970, this Prefecture became the Diocese of Varanasi with Bishop Patrick D'Souza as its first bishop. The bishop of Varanasi cared for this region ably and earnestly until it was handed over to the active missionary apostolate of the CST Fathers from Thrikkakara, Kerala in the light of the agreement by the Prefect Apostolic with Very Rev. Fr. Basilius Panat CST, the founder of Little Flower Congregation (CST Fathers).

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In the year 1970 Msgr. Jerome Malefant invited the CST Fathers to come and work in Gorakhpur. In the CBCI meeting held in January 1970 in Ernakulum Msgr. Malefant had expressed his willingness to entrust the three districts of Deoria, Gorakhpur and Basti to the Catholic Oriental Churches for evangelization. Fathers Robert and Boniface are the pioneer CST missionaries of this area. In 1974 a contract was signed by Bishop Patrick D' Souza and the Superior General of Little Flower Congregation. Accordingly in 1975 a batch of six priests came to work in the diocese of Varanasi. In 1976 Bishop Patrick withdrew all the diocesan priests from the districts of Deoria, Gorakhpur and Basti and CST fathers were given charge of the mission stations and the main undivided parish of St. Joseph's Church, Gorakhpur. Rev. Fr. Robert Kalaran CST Fathers was appointed the first CST Parish Priest of St. Joseph's Church, Gorakhpur. More and more CST Fathers came to work in the area assigned to them. The dedication and hard work of the CST Fathers and the cooperation of the laity led to the erection of this diocese. CST Fathers continue to do apostolate within the diocese from the eight CST ashrams established here and in Nepal under the guidance of the Little Flower Province, Gorakhpur- Nepal.

The diocesan apostolates are largely managed and run by the 43 young diocesan priests with the active collaboration of about 200 religious sisters, 8 religious brothers and lay representatives. This leading presence of the diocesan clergy was made possible through a dream Mar Dominic Kokkat CST cherished for the diocese in its very inception. Immediately after the establishment of the diocese, he started a diocesan minor seminary to form the future clergy in accordance with the culture and climate of the place. In this effort, the CST fathers generously collaborated with him by way of forming the diocesan clergy in the minor seminary stage until 1998. To speed up the rural mission work, the diocesan Congregation of LST sisters with the theresian spirituality (Little Flower) was founded by him in the 1988. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Thomas Thuruthimattam CST as successor to Bishop Dominic.

He involves himself in tirelessly inspiring the missionary personnel and the people of God to be faithful to Christ, Church and to the poor and the marginalized. His motto itself "The liberated human being is the manifest glory of God" reveals his vision and message.
Taking into consideration the problems typical to this vast area, the diocese has worked out pastoral, ecumenical, Inter religious, educational, rural developmental and health care apostolates under the guidance of Bishop Dominic. They continue to thrive and expand under the new leadership of Bishop Thomas. Desiring to reach out to all categories, the diocese has entered into higher education for girls through the establishment of St Joseph's Degree College for Women and the newly established Fatima School of Nursing with a batch capacity of 40 students towards creation of local health care resources. The works carried out by PGSS (Purvanchal Gramin Seva Samiti), the diocesan social service society, in over 1000 villages of seven civil districts are often considered and admired for its pioneering intervention in the social empowerment and upliftment. Education was another thrust as the region still suffers from illiteracy. Hence the diocese has an education system of rural and urban, formal and informal and vocational to reach out to the neglected and the poor.

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Although backward in social and human development, the region has, ironically, a rich cultural heritage. Gorakhpur is named after the renowned Guru Gorakshnath who performed "Hath Yoga" and is the seat of the Nath sect with the well known temple Gorakhnath. Gorakhpur is also the home to the Gita Press, publishers of major Hindu scriptures, including the Bhagavad Gita. Kushinagar, 53 km in west of city Gorakhpur, is revered as the site of Buddha's Mahaparinirvana. It is known as the place of death and cremation, that marked his final liberation from the cycles of death and rebirth which is a very holy site for the followers of Lord Buddha. The mystic poet and famous saint Kabir lived and worked in Maghar, a village 20 km from Gorakhpur. Here, most of his poems urging his countrymen to live in peace and religious harmony were composed. Kabir's burial place in Maghar attracts a large number of pilgrims. Munshi Premchand, one of India's great Hindi novelists, had lived in Gorakhpur. Firaq Gorakhpuri (Raghupati Sahay), the famous Urdu poet, grew up in Gorakhpur, where his childhood home still stands. Gorakhpur became one of the major centers of the famous 1857 uprising towards the freedom struggle with the 'Chauri Chaura' incident of 1922. Yet, regrettably Gorakhpur is also a region infected by communal troubles and fundamentalistic challenges. The considerable presence of Muslims adds to the demographic diversity and richness of this region.

Palpably, with preparations and plans, the diocese stands renewed and enthused at the jubilee juncture. One can feel this from the words of Bishop Thomas given in the circular letter. He writes, "I feel happy for the prayerful expectation we have created as a local Church family committed to God in Jesus Christ. During the past one year we were praying to God with grateful and renewed hearts. We took time to evaluate, rethink our life and ministries and to bring about renewal in our personal life and diocesan life. May our jubilee celebration give us the grace of a new vision and conviction in witnessing to our Master and Saviour Jesus Christ." To this Bishop Dominic, the jubilarian adds, "25 years back I came here with empty hands, the Lord has filled my hands and heart with people and programmes for his glory. Let us continue to be grateful and faithful." The Diocese remembers gratefully in its prayers all those who have been associated with it in big or small way, all those who toiled and slept in the Lord and all those who continue to render a helping hand to it.

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Father Dr Santhosh Sebastian serves as the Chancellor of the Diocese of Gorakhpur.

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