LAL BAZAR CHURCH, BHARUCH, GUJARAT
Lal Bazar
means the Red Market. For
centuries, in this ancient city of Bharuch (Broach for the British) it was the
location of the Catholic Church. The ancient church has been just in front of a
colourful Moslem Masjid and only few yards away from a large Hindu temple. The
three together make a veritable expression of the tolerant and beautiful India.
A Moslem youth remarked joyfully:”we had the mosque and the temple, and now the
church has come back”!
On August 5th
2012, on the feast day of Our Lady of the Snow, I offered Holy Mass in the
ancient sanctuary with a select group. Present were families of Rojan and Davis, Malayalees, of Kirit Bhagat, Gujarathi and of Antony Robin
Das, Bengali. We missed Kanthu Master. These are the people who helped me
lovingly by their guidance and labour. I
would have liked the presence of my Provincial, Rev.Fr. Jose Changnachery, my
benefactors and friends, Rev. Fr. Joseph
Auer, Lorraine Czachor, both of Chicago, Rev. Deacon Raymond and Marilyn Heap of New Orleans, and, Anibal and Natividad Rojas
of Carracas. These people provided me with the finance needed for the recovery
and the repairing of this most ancient foot print of the Catholic Church, not
just in Bharuch, but in the whole of Gujarat!. In all it has cost us rupees
worth twenty thousand dollars.
As I
was offering Mass in the ancient sanctuary on a temporary altar, I was
overwhelmed with the thought, that for centuries from the same sanctuary Jesuit
Missionaries from various lands offered the Sacred Body and Blood of Jesus to
the glory of the Heavenly Father. The little group present was surprised to
hear, that Bharuch has a special place in the history of Catholicism in India. Bharuch is the only port in the list of Greek
historian Ptolemy, between the Mediteranian and the Malabar coast. St. Thomas. the
Apostle of India, could have very well been here before he reached the present
day Kerala The first Bishop of Latin Church in India, that too in Kerala, was a
Missionary in Bharuch almost eight hundred years ago. As per records in Rome,
he had baptized ninety people in Bharuch!
The present
structure, the church for the small number of families and the rectory, was entirely
rebuilt in 1861 by Fr. Jacques S.J. chaplain of Surat, Bharuch and Baroda. I
noticed that the Golden Bridge, a national heritage structure across the mighty
Narmada, was built years later. As there was no possibility of expansion in the
crowded ancient city, around the year 1960, Fr. Samada S.J. bought the property
on the Station Road. Besides a new church, two high schools and two hostels for
the tribal students, came up in the new property and all gradually forgot the
existence of the old church building.
Through a chance conversation with Kanthumaster, I came to know that the
church building was still there and was rented out to a Parsi gentleman. I was
excited. I had spent as seminarian three days with Fr. Samada in the old church
and probably I am the only Jesuit alive who has slept in the old church. Being
in the hands of a Parsi gave me great hope, as I had once received a gift of
five acres of land from a Parsi to build the school in Hingoria village.
I suggested that he vacated the
place and gave me some money, as he had used it for many years. I did not
succeed in convincing him. I left the matter to the new parish priest Fr.
Andrew Silveira and to our lawyer companion Fr. M.V. Joseph. They settled the
matter for a just sum of Rupees four lakhs. I wanted to keep the building as it
was. But the engineers decided that lack of maintenance during the last fifty
years and the leaking roof had weakened the ancient walls and they would not be
safe for the new asbestos roof.
So the new roof has
been put up on strong iron pillars. The old walls were plastered and painted
anew. But the old floor was left as it was. The old building had no ceiling
below the asbestos. Now the rooms and
the church have beautiful ceilings. A water tank is installed above the
kitchen. The kitchen and the toilet are all beautifully made. Altogether new
wiring for electricity has been installed. Tube lights and seven fans are
provided. Fr. M.V. Joseph and his friends did all these jobs and presented the
building back to me. On my request, the outside of the walls was left as it
was.
People are asking me what am I going to do
now? People of the local are expecting some new institution to come up there. I
do not know anything about the future of this project. My object was to recover
this oldest vestige of Catholicism in Gujarat. We know that there were
Catholics in Bharuch centuries before the Western colonial era. We know that at
least for a couple of centuries Worship was held in the very sanctuary of the recovered
church building. Now I hope that
something beautiful will happen for the glory of God.
Immediately, I visualize a small
programme. I will spend most of my time
in the Lal Bazar church. I plan to separate the sanctuary area with a curtain
and keep always the Blessed Sacrament there. About ten people can pray in the
sanctuary area any time undisturbed. We Jesuits are expected to pray about four
hours a day. Besides, my next appointment will be, “to pray for the Church and
for the Society of Jesus”. I will already start this final apostolate of long
living Jesuits. Besides I will spend
time praying for Bharuch, Gujarat and for the whole world. At the same time, I
will look around for opportunities for apostolic action and seek guidance for
the same from the Lord and from people. I wish and hope that the project is Lord
Jesus returning to the ancient port city of Bharuch on the banks of Nrmada.
Ad Majoren
Dei Gloriam
Anthony Moonnu S. J.
02640 – 240119
moonnu@jesuits.com
09879804971
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3 comments:
Looking back, I remember, we were happened to go this church to pray in old church situated at lal bazzar. It is matter of great appreciation that this old worship place is remembered out and for keeping as heritage of catholism in bharuch.
rsmahida
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