Brief History of Shamshabad Shrine Parish

Shamshabad Mandal in Ranga Reddy District, though near to Hyderabad city was very much under developed, when Fr. Maramreddy Anthony wanted to start a new mission where no Catholics existed. He explained his proposal to Archbishop Samineni Arulappa to start a Christian Colony in 10 acres of land that was available. Archbishop Samineni Arulappa agreed and the plots were sold to Catholics at a nominal cost. It was his ardent desire that this area should develop materially and spiritually. Initially only the family of Boyapati Prakash Reddy was living in that area, on poultry farming and Fr. M. Anthony rented the vacant house of Balreddy and started living there. Mass was also celebrated in that house. With the financial help extended by Fr. Thumma Francis through HASSS & CFCA, within a year, twenty families moved in. On 15th June, 1997 Vailankanni Nagar, Shamshabad was erected as an independent Parish. In the same year Bala Yesu Vidyalayam was also started to cater to the educational needs of the area. As soon as the School building was ready, Mass was celebrated on the ground floor. The Sisters of St. Ann, Madavaram were also invited to teach in the School.

The future seems very bright for Shamshabad with Vailankanni Nagar itself proposed to have more than 120 families (almost all the families are Catholic middle class families migrating from Lillipur, Pedda Thupra and Kalwakole) and with the coming of the International Airport more families are bound to move in sooner or later. Fr. Allam Arogya Reddy was appointed as Parish Priest and Head Master of the School in 2006. He felt the need for the construction of the Church and took initiative and went from pillar to post with help of his small community and wanted to build huge Church, keeping in mind the growing community. He visited nearly 53 Churches in Archdiocese of Hyderabad and celebrated Mass and raised the funds. When the Church is falling short of funds towards the completion, with help of Bombay.

Auxiliary Bishop, he visited Shrine of Lady of Vailankanni, Irla Parish who contributed Rs. 7,50,000/- (Seven Lakhs and Fifty Thousand only) in one Sunday and helped him complete the Church. Therefore, the then Parish Priest Fr. Allam Arogyam constructed Shrine of Our Lady of Vailankanni, a magnificent new Church, at Shamshabad Parish and it was blessed and inaugurated on 04th May, 2008 by Archbishop Marampudi Joji along with other 7 Bishops. The specialty of this venture is that the entire cost of the Church is locally raised. The fund raising campaign was conducted by Fr. Allam Arogya Reddy, the then Parish Priest along with the Parish Finance Committee headed by Boyapati Prakash Reddy, a veteran of the Parish. He also built St. Joseph’s International Transit House at Shamshabad Parish and on 27th July, 2009 Archbishop Marampudi Joji blessed and inaugurated it. Fr. Vatti Albin as Parish Priest built new Presbytery and on 30th August, 2015 Archbishop Thumma Bala blessed and inaugurated the newly built Presbytery.

Men & Women Religious Congregations

Society Of Jesus, Mary And Joseph (JMJ) : Sisters established their community at Shamshabad on 05th May, 2016. Mission of the Congregation is “Ever Adaptable Apostolic Availability.’’ Mr. Francis And Mrs. Lucy friends of Fr. Allam Arogyam Reddy wanted to donate their private residence to the Archdiocese which was discussed in Archdiocese Consulters’ Body Meeting and it was decided to hand over the same to JMJ Sisters to start a Hospital. JMJ Sisters started St. Theresa Hospital at Shamshabad in 2016. Ministries in the Parish are Health care apostolate in the Hospital, family visits, and Medical camps in Catholic Villages and support in the Parish as and when needed.

Ancillae Sisters - Secular Institute (ASI): : Sisters established their community at Shamshabad on 11th November, 2006. Mission of the Congregation is contemplative life which is their first and fundamental apostolate because it is their typical and characteristic way in God’s special design to be Church, to live in the Church, to achieve communion with the Church and to carry out the mission of the Church (General Constitution Art.161.1). Since they are cloistered contemplative nuns, they are entirely dedicated to the contemplation and excluded from external works of apostolate (Cf. Cor Orans 183, 184, General Constitution Art.1, Art. 11.1). They stitch Church vestments and bake hosts as their tradition of the Order.

Poor Clare Colettines (PCC) : Sisters started their mission in Shamshabad in 1994. They started a tailoring centre for the people of the locality. They established Ancillae Nivas and extended their activities in 2010. They assist in the parish activities and also working in Infant Jesus International School. Their mission consists in making Christ present in the world through their personal witness and share the life of Jesus in unreserved dedication like Mary and reach out to the world in the spirit of the Gospel. They run a hostel for the girls, a tailoring centre and free tuition for the poor children of the locality.