Neyyattinkara: Blood is among various offerings accepted at a pilgrimage center in Kerala.
St Anthony’s Church in Neyyattinkara in Thiruvananthapuram district manages a blood donation camp in its premises. The donors are mostly devotees and the blood donated is offered in the church and later given to blood banks. People queue up to make the offering.
Parish priest Fr Valsalan Jose says people offer a lot of things at their pilgrim center. The shrine authorities decided to conduct blood donation to help more people.
The parish is located 25 km south of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala state.
After the parish received 100 donations, it screens the applicants and select healthy eligible donors.
The camp is held once a month and a medical team from one of the hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram collects the blood. Each person donates 350-450ml of blood.
PV Sulochana of Sri Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Science and Technology, which conducts the blood donation camp, says they get more female donors at the Catholic shrine. “At other camps we see less than 5 percent women. Here it is more than 10 percent. There’s good response,” she told India Today.
The offering began on June 14 on World Blood Donation day. Belief that blood donation is a noble cause draws many people to the shrine.
“The belief is that Jesus will give us good health when we donate blood for others. It is a noble deed,” says Prasanna Kumari, a devotee.
Fr Jose said blood donation is part of the shrine’s way of observing the Holy year of Mercy as declared by Pope Francis. However, those coming to offer blood are not Catholics alone.
“I was on my way back from a temple when I came to donate. I had registered at the church for donating blood. It is an offering in this church,” said Suresh Kumar, a Hindu.