(I do remember baptizing around twenty boys
and girls of Chengena parish in Songea diocese
of Tanzania where our fathers do wonderful
mission work. It was during my visit to this
parish and Frs Prakash Njallany, Biju Pullappallil
and Soby Thannickapara were there at that
time.) There was a big feast on Easter Sunday.
After the solemn holy Mass, there were long
prayer sessions, instructions and preaching by
different pastors of the locality and a sumptous
lunch for all. People were very happy because
it was for the first time that they had a priest to
officiate the liturgical celebrations of Easter Vigil
and Easter Sunday.
I do not know much about Christianity in
Arunachal Pradesh. It came through lay people
Catholic faith. Today 99% of people of Sagalee are
Christians, of whom Catholics constitute 40%.
The Christian Brothers Congregation came to
Sagalee and started a school in the 80s. But in
1998 the school was washed away by a flood. So
the brothers left Sagalee and later a Salesian priest
Fr. C.C. Jose sdb priest came to Sagalee and started
the present mission. Under his able guidance
Sagalee Catholic parish became a prominent
centre with several sub-stations, school and
hostell.
At present Sagalee parish consists of 20 village
churches with around 5000 catholics. Distance to
the last village church from Sagalee is about 70
kms, that is, about 5 hours drive. All these churches
are managed by one priest, helped by catechists
in the village churches. Catechists manage the
Church, conduct prayer services on Sundays and
all important feast days like Christmas and Holy
week. The priests visit occasionally for Mass and
house blessing. People have faith and they believe
in Jesus and Catholic Church. But they do not
have much knowledge about Bible or faith. The
Catechists preach but their knowledge is limited.
In the absence of priest and sacraments they are
often tempted to join other denominations.
Pakkekasang is parish under Sagalee and consists
5 catholic villages around. It is in the neighboring
district of East Kameng and is about 45 kms
from Sagalee. Bishop John Thomas has recently
entrusted the parish to the MST for pastoral care
and evangelization. The people of Pakkekesang
are eager to get an English Medium School and a
hostel for children and have already acquired land,
leveled it Bishop has laid the foundation stone for
the School. With the arrival of two newly ordained
priests Fr. Emmanuel Manikombel MST and Fr.
Vipin Vanmelil MST, the Sagalee and Pakkekesang
Missions are throbbing with missionary
enthusiasm and action.
SANTHOME MISSION
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