Brief History of Sanathnagar Parish

In the late 1950’s, Sanathnagar, the industrial area needed spiritual assistance. Catholics were scattered in the area. Mass was celebrated in one Allwyn Officer’s House for the convenience of people. In the meantime JMJ Sisters from Guntur were looking for a place in the city for the extension of their medical services. They bought 12 acres of land and their Provincial was good enough to give permission to build a Church in their land, close to the main road. In two years time it was completed and blessed on 05th February, 1968 by Archbishop Mark Gopu. The total cost of the construction of the Church was about Rs.1,75,000/-. In 1973, Sanathnagar was separated from Shrine of Our Lady of Health, Khairatabad Parish and erected as an independent Parish. The new Parish covered about 18 kms and had about 1000 Catholics. Almost all the Catholics were employed in the industrial belt. Fr. Thallapalli Chinnappa Rayappa was appointed the first Parish Priest. While the Presbytery was still under construction on 22nd August, 1975, Archbishop Samineni Arulappa entrusted the Parish to the pastoral care of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

Being an Industrial area, on the outskirts of the twin-cities, constant migrations from the Villages took place. Unfortunately since these migrants were not skilled, they ended up in slums, settling for meagre daily wages. It was a challenge to work in these conditions, but the Salesians were prepared for it. This was the beginning of the Salesians’ presence in the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.

Along with pastoral care, the Salesians also provided educational facilities and created other developmental activities in the Parish. Don Bosco School was started in 1978, in the Church premises, to cater to the poor children. In May 1979, some land was bought at Sultanbagh, about 2 kms away from the Parish,where 5th - 6th standards were started. In the same year, the School also started non-formal job oriented courses such as Tailoring & Embroidery,Typing & Shorthand in the Church premises. In 1984, 2nd , 3rd & 4th classes were also shifted to Sultanbagh and it was made a separate Salesian Community in order to attend to the education ministry. Now the School has about 2500 students studying in both English and Telugu Medium.

On 31st January, 1980 a new Multipurpose-Hall and Hostel for working youth was blessed and inaugurated. In March 1981, a library was set up. On 12th August, 1982 Fr. Jacob Malayatty took charge of the Parish that very year, Bosco Institute of Electronics (BIE) was started to impart technical training for the youth. In January 1983, a Typing Institute was started. Self- employment schemes for women were also started in various works such as making laces, stitching and embroidery. In June 1984, Don Bosco High School, Sultanbagh was made into a new community, however, attached to St. Theresa’s Parish. A small asbestos-roof Chapel dedicated to St. Francis Xavier was constructed at Borabanda for better pastoral care and animation of the people of the locality. BIE was shifted to Don Bosco School Campus and was established as an independent institution on 16th August, 1986.

The Calvary Chapel, to the left of the Church, was blessed on 17th April, 1987. In 1989 Bosco Media Centre was also started. A facelift for the Sanctuary and Altar along with false-ceiling was planned and executed over a period of three months. It was completed on 24th March, 1991. Kukatpally, one of the Sub- stations, kept constantly growing in numbers. Hence construction of a new Church was undertaken on 7th April, 1991 and its completion coincided with the erection of Kukatpally as an independent Parish on 29th March 1992 along with two Sub- stations. Kukatpally was entrusted to the pastoral care of the Archdiocesan Priests. Don Bosco Youth Services was launched on 29th June, 1992 to coordinate pastoral, educational and recreational efforts of the Parish towards the young people. In collaboration with BDPS, job oriented formal and non-formal Computer-Courses were started in 1995. Every year almost 300 students benefit from these Courses.

Fr. M. Balaswamy SDB as Parish Priest built St. Theresa’s Church at Sanathnagar and on 09th September, 2011 Archbishop Thumma Bala blessed & inaugurated it. Fr. P. Jayapaul Reddy SDB as the Parish Priest celebrated Golden Jubilee of St. Theresa’s Church on 01st October, 2018. Archbishop Thumma Bala was the main celebrant for the Golden Jubilee Celebrations. In commemoration of the Silver Jubilee of the Salesian presence in the Archdiocese, two beautiful monuments-one for spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart and another for Mary Help of Christians, were constructed. Over the years many initiatives have been undertaken and the ones still flourishing are YCW, YCS, Vincent de Paul Society, Salesian Cooperators Association, Basic Christian Communities, Sponsorship Programmes and Non-formal Vocational Training Courses in Tailoring & Embroidery, Typing & Shorthand, Computer Courses, and small scale Income Generating Projects.

Men & Women Religious Congregations

Society Of Jesus, Mary And Joseph (JMJ): : Sisters established St. Theresa’s Convent at Sanathnagar in 1974. The mission of the Congregation is Healthcare, Education, and Orphanage. Through all these apostolates, they fulfill the mission of Christ and reach out to the unreached. St. Theresa’s Hospital is a 300 bedded hospital, established in 1973 to provide quality healthcare with affordable cost to the poor. St. Theresa’s High School (T/M, E/M, and CBSE) was established in 1968 to give education to the poor and thousands of children are given value education and now slowly the school has taken wings to CBSE with good strength. St. Theresa School and College of Nursing (GNM, BSC, and MSC) established to provide professional skills and support the healthcare sector, the society initiated General Nursing in 1984 and again with the felt need was upgraded to BSC in 2001 and later upgraded to MSC in 2008. St. Theresa Orphanage Home was established in 1995 for completely orphan and abandoned children. St. Theresa’s Lodge Home for retired Sisters established in 1991. It’s a home of rest for the retired JMJ Sisters, who have attained the age of 80 and above. Ministries in the Parish are visiting families, distributing Holy Communion and helping in the Parish activities.