missionary activities in the four civil districts of
Sangli, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. The
Region owes much to Fr. Kavukatt for what it is
today since he pioneered the mission work. The
region progressed under the dynamic leadership
of his successors Rev Frs. Peter Kavumpuram,
Mathew Moothasseril, Thomas Chirackal and
Thomas Karamel.
The mission, in its infacny in this virgin land with
feeble faith and simple life style, had to undergo
lots of struggles to cope up with the people of a
totally different culture and traditions. In all these
years God’s providential care and loving presence
were felt in the life and growth of the Sangli
Mission. Countless men and women have lent
their helping hands for building up the mission.
Never can we ignore the dedicated service of
our missionaries in the years gone by. Through
these twenty five years Sangli Mission has been
adapting itself to changing circumstances and
responding to the various sitz im leben of the
mission. We had to first learn the local language,
taboos, culture, rituals in order to fit ourselves in
it. The first mission centre was started at Miraj in
1990 followed by another at Ichalkaranji in the
same year. Since the policy of the mission was
‘from centre to the periphery”, English medium
schools were started in these two centres. Utilizing
the resources and influence of the institutions the
20
SANTHOME MISSION
policy was to move to the peripheries to help the
needs of the poor and the marginalized.
Sangli Today
Now after 24 years of untiring and committed hard
work, Sangli Mission has seven parishes and 31
mission centers distributed in the four civil districts
of Sangli, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg . It
is running many developmental activities such as
formal education, special education, health care,
care of the aged, hostel facility for poor students,
women and child development, HIV prevention
and awareness, Care of Persons Living with HIV/
AIDS and rehabilitation of children and adults with
disabilities and mental illness. There are 40 MST
priests and 58 women religious belonging to nine
different congregations working in the region.
The growth of the Church is clearly visible in the
pastoral care of the faithful, institutions, charitable
and apostolic works. Through all her institutions
and various ministries Sangli Mission strives to
make known the love and message of Jesus Christ.
Pastoral Care of
the Syro-Malabar Migrants
The eparchy of Kalyan was erected in view of the
pastoral care of the migrants and evangelization.
Small Syro-Malabar communities had settled
themselves in most of the major towns in these