Fr Diogo D'Souza with parishioners at the Chapel in Ghodda Farm in Hisar-Haryana.
The Society of Pilar ventured out into north India in 1950 and deputed two of its members Fr Assumption D’Souza and Fr Gustavo Alvares to serve in north India, at the request of the then Archdiocese of Delhi-Shimla.
Fr Gustavo was stationed in Shimla to take charge of St Edward’s School and Fr Assumption pitched his tent at Sirsa in Haryana to assist Fr Luke, OFM Cap., in taking care of the spiritual needs of Christian communities in the far-flung villages. In 1959, when the Diocese of Shimla-Chandigarh was created from the Archdiocese of Delhi-Shimla, Bishop John Burke requested the Society of Pilar to send members to take up mission work in his diocese. In 1961, the Pilar Fathers were given the charge of Sirsa mission with the arrival of two dynamic priests Fr Mariano Pereira and Fr Ovidio D’ Cunha.
Sirsa is a big bustling town about 258 kms northwest of Delhi. Earlier, Franciscan Capuchins nurtured thriving communities in different places of this belt. The working method of the two Pilar priests was very simple, relying mostly on personal contact and life witness. While one stayed at the centre, the other would tour the villages from the beginning of the week and return to the parish by weekend. They engaged the services of catechists to assist them in the apostolate. It was a humble beginning. The priests’ only source of income was the proceeds from the sale of the produce of the 12-acre agricultural land given to them by the diocese.
Fr Rosario Antao and Fr Menino Gomes during a fellowship meal (langar) at St Anne's Church, Rania-Haryana.
With a view to extending welfare services, the Fathers requested the bishop to open a Boys’ Home to cater to poor children from remote villages to study. Presently, there are 110 Catholic families and 13 village Mass Centres. The Sisters of ‘Holy Family of Nazareth’ from Goa and the Sisters of the Secular Institute, ‘The Disciples’ collaborate in the mission work of the Fathers. The parish has St Xavier’s Higher Secondary school which was opened by Fr Francis Diniz in 1974.
In 1970, Fr Filomeno Almeida and Fr Agnelo Pinto launched a mission in Mandi Dabwali, 57 kms from Sirsa. On February 5, 1971, the St Joseph’s School was opened in a rental house with just 6 students on its roll and in 1972, a Bal Niketan was opened for poor village boys. The Church was built in 1983 by Fr Joseph Vaz.
The Sisters of ‘The Disciples’ Institute and ‘Presentation Sisters’ are collaborating with the Pilar Fathers serving 145 families. Satsang, an indigenous form of evangelisation, is regularly organised in villages in one common place or community hall in the evenings as part of faith formation which is also attended by people of other faiths. The Satsang has Praise & Worship session, preaching of the Word of God and healing session.
In 1972, Fr M T Anthony embarked on a new missionary venture at Rania in Sirsa district which in the course of years developed into a parish dedicated to St Anne. The mission has St Xavier’s School where the Sisters of Our Lady Pilar from Goa are teaching and Jyoti Niwas for poor girls looked after by the Sisters of ‘The Disciples’ Institute. Today, Rania unit caters to 60 Catholic families spread over 16 villages.
In 1991, the St Francis Xavier School was opened in Urban Estate II in a rented building at Hisar and was eventually shifted to a new plot of land at Talwandi Rana village. In the parish campus there is also an Apostolic School, a formation house for the candidates to priesthood. The parish has three Mass Centres: Army Cantonment, CNI Church and Equine Breeding Stud (Ghodda Farm) owned by the military.
A mission station was opened in 1990 at Narnaul, in a place where there was no Christian presence. Fr Jesuino Almeida began the pioneering work by conducting English coaching classes for college students for nearly two years. One day, he was confronted by radical elements and was asked to leave the place. A complaint to civil authorities was made against him accusing him of converting students, which was a fabricated case. To his good fortune, the college students defended him.
In April 1992, a school named Mata Mariam Jan Seva Vidyalaya was opened. In 1993, I was posted there as principal of the school and I took the charge reluctantly being aware of this difficult place, where there was not a single Christian and the incident which took place there before I arrived. But to my surprise, I was taken up by the school children, who greeted me on the first day of school, held my hand and shared with me their snacks during recess.
After the school was opened, the fundamentalists never disturbed us since we loved and cared for their children. With the help of the Sisters of Our Lady of Graces, the mission used to organise adult literacy for nomadic people in their huts and villages, stitching classes for girls, street plays for social awareness, health awareness programmes, self-help groups and remedial classes for weak students.
In 2020, another mission was established at Uklana in Hisar district. It runs a school and has a sizable Christian Community. The mission in Haryana also has 20 Learning Centres imparting education to underprivileged children in villages and 3 Skill Training Centres.
The Pilar Fathers are committed to their task of breaking paths and crossing horizons, braving the extreme cold and fog in winter and extreme heat and dust storms in summer.
[The writer is Director of Apostolic School & Assistant Parish Priest of St Francis Xavier Church, Hisar, Haryana]
