THOOTHUKUDI: Education and charity are the two main objectives of the Thoothukudi Roman Catholic (RC) Diocese and this has helped it to uplift lakhs of downtrodden people from poverty, said Diocese Bishop Most Rev. Dr. Stephen Antony in an interview with TNIE in the backdrop of the diocese's centenary celebrations.
Thoothukudi RC Diocese was formed on June 12, 1923, after getting bifurcated from the Tiruchirapalli division, with 23 priests and 18 parishes under the country's very first indigenous Bishop Rt Rev Francis Tiburtius Roche. The diocese has grown into 119 parishes consisting of 339 sub-stations, and five vicariates, with a population of at least 4.5 lakh people making it Tamil Nadu's largest diocese and India's third biggest. The diocesan runs over 300 schools and more than 10 colleges. Some of the earliest congregations are at Kayathar (established in 1640), Kamanayakkanpatti (1660) and Vadakkankulam (1685).
Speaking to TNIE, Bishop Stephen Antony said the focus of the diocese has always been to provide education and charity to the downtrodden people cutting across caste and religious lines. "Educating women was the top priority. Our educational institutions have benefitted at least 60% of the poor here," he said, adding that the schools and colleges had helped turn palm tree climbers into skilled labourers and fishermen in areas like Tharuvaiukulam, Vellapatti, and other coastal areas.
On the occasion, the Bishop hailed the dedicated service of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary, who run the St Joseph's Leprosy Hospital at T. Saveriyar Puram since 1949, and has treated over 20,000 patients. "The centre rarely receives any enrollment now. This proves that the hospital has contributed immensely to the mission of eradicating leprosy. The services rendered by 170-year-old St Joseph's Charity Institute in Adaikalapuram, are also commendable. This institute has lent a helping hand to lakhs of orphans, destitute, unwed mothers, and people with mental illnesses. People who get abandoned at Tiruchendur Murugan Temple are protected at the St Joseph's institute," he said.
When asked about the congregations in Vadakkankulam, Kamanayakanpatti, and Kazhugumalai, where the church faced hardships due to casteism, the Bishop opined that the intervention of educational institutions has made a paradigm shift, but still the caste feeling is persistent. Blessed Antony Soosainathar, Augustine Peraira, Peter Paradesi, Aldrin Caussanel, who worked in the diocese are in the process of attaining sainthood. It may also be noted that St Devasahayam of Vadakkankulam from this diocese was the first Indian layman to be canonised as a saint.