Brief History of Begumpet Parish

On 1st June, 1979 Begumpet was erected as an independent Parish carving it out of three neighbouring Parishes, namely, Secunderabad, Sanathnagar and Khairatabad. When Fr. Kandula R. Charles first took over the Parish, there were just about 500 Catholics within its jurisdiction. Since there was no Parish House, he resided at Shantinilayam, the JMJ Provincial House and the liturgical services were conducted at Jeevan Jyothi Retreat House. The Archbishop was looking for some suitable place for a Parish Church and Presbytery, the management of Jeevan Jyothi came forward and donated a little more than an acre for the purpose. Since the property was abutting the backwaters of Hussainsagar Lake it had to be raised before any construction could take place. Fr. Selvam Bonaventure initiated the work and the foundation of the Church was laid on 2nd February, 1982. While the work was in progress Fr. Thumma Solomon took over the Parish and successfully completed the construction. Archbishop Samineni Arulappa blessed the Church on 17th June, 1984. Fr. Thumma Solomon also constructed the Presbytery, which was blessed on 5th January, 1986 by Fr. Thumma Rayappa, the then Vicar General of the Archdiocese.

In 1989, Mr. Ganshyam Lal, a business man, though a non- Catholic but a great devotee of Infant Jesus, approached Fr. Marneni Solomon Joseph and with the approval of Archbishop Samineni Arulappa pledged to bear the entire cost of construction of a Shrine at Begumpet. The novena to Infant Jesus is conducted every Thursday and first Sunday of the month; the Annual Feast is celebrated on the Second Sunday of January. The Shrine, as it is located in the heart of the city and accessible to all the twin city Infant Jesus devotees, gained momentum and became popular to the extent that people began to identify the Church as Infant Jesus Church, Begumpet.

Fr. Yeddanapalli M. Joseph has rekindled the active participation of the community with the help of a vibrant Parish Pastoral council, by a detailed and thorough planning of all the liturgical celebrations during the year and also other pastoral and social activities of the Parish. Fr. Valentine D’Mello as Parish Priest built Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes at Begumpet Parish and on 08th December, 2014 Archbishop Thumma Bala blessed & inaugurated it. And also during his tenure, when there were heavy rains in the vicinity the entire Church and the campus was inundated with backwaters of Hussainsagar for a week there was the strenuous job of cleaning the entire Campus to make it habitable. This is the situation every year during rainy season and would be worst when there are heavy rains and floods. Therefore, the present Parish Priest Fr. Aloysius Ephrem Raju Alex, with a plan to work out a solution, has come-up with a plan to raise the ground level upto 10 feet from the present level and to raise pillars from the present ground level and build the new Church at that height in the first floor and the existing church would be cellar used for catechism, children’s Mass and at other times for parking. This plan to be further worked out. Meanwhile he has already taken initiatives to raise money from the Parish Community and local sponsors and also applying to donor agencies for help.

Men & Women Religious Congregations

Congregation of Sisters of Charity St. Bartolomea Capitanio & Vincenza Gerosa (SCCG), Capitanio Convent : Sisters established Capitanio Convent on 3rd June, 1980. The Apostolate of their Congregation is education, health care, formation, boarding,hostel, pastoral and social welfare, Home for the Aged, HIV/ AIDS centre, Children’s Home, Service at the Home for the Disabled Children, Home for the Destitute, Tailoring and Embroidery Class, Sisters’ Infirmary, Grihiny School, Rehabilitation Centre for Mentally Challenged, Creche, Mobile Clinic, Play School. They have Vijaya Marie College of Nursing and Vijaya Marie College of Nursing Hostel established in 2003. The Apostolate of their Community is Education, Pastoral and Social Welfare. Their ministry in the Parish are choir, catechism, taking care of altar linen.

Second Community of Congregation of Sisters of Charity St. Bartolomea Capitanio & Vincenza Gerosa (SCCG), St. Francis Convent : Sisters have another Community (St. Francis Convent) at Begumpet just 2 kms far from the Church established in 25th June, 1977. They have St. Francis Degree & P.G. College for Women at Begumpet established in June 1959. Mission of the Congregation is education, health care, formation, boarding, hostel, pastoral and social welfare. Ministries in the Parish are teaching catechism, helping in Choir, washing Church Linen, preparing the Altar for Sunday Masses and decorating the Altar.

Society of Jesus, Mary Joseph(JMJ) : Sisters established their Community on 2nd January, 1991. Their mission is to continue the mission of Christ by adapting themselves according to the need and signs of the times. They serve the humanity through their apostolates of Health Care, Education, Pastoral, Evangelization and Social Activities. They have Provincialate at Somajiguda. They do pastoral work in the Parish. They have mainly students’ community and they are attached to the Provincialate, so therefore, some of them help in the Provincial Administration.

CRI-Jeevan Jyothi : 1. Jeevan Jyothi Institute & Jeevan Jyothi Retreat House, Andhra Telangana Regional CRI Secretariat (ATRCRI) was established in 1974. Jeevan Jyothi Hostel was established in 2013. At present Jeevan Jyothi Retreat House is taken care of by Sisters of St. Ann, Luzern (SAL). Different groups come and conduct various Courses, Seminars, Meetings and Retreats in this Retreat House. Accommodation and food is provided in this Retreat House.

2. At present ATRCRI Secretariat is taken care of by Sisters of St. Ann, Luzern (SAL). It brings together the Clergy, Religious and Laity in their work in proclaiming the Word of God and Gospel values to society, to make combined effort to achieve more fully the purpose of the group or organization and to co- ordinate and collaborate in evangelical work and mission of the Church.

3. At present Jeevan Jyothi Girl’s Hostel is taken care of by Sisters of St. Ann, Luzern (SAL). This Girls Hostel is for Degree & PG Students and for working Women. Faith formation and Councelling is given to the Students. Three Institutions offer their services in the Parish as per need.