By John Paul
Jaipur, Oct. 10, 2021: The mother church of the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan on October 10 celebrated its 150 years of existence.
Because of the Covid-19 protocol, the number of participants was limited to around 200. They included Archbishop Raphy Manjaly of Agra, Bishop Oswald Lewis of Jaipur and Bishop Emeritus Ignatius Menezes of Ajmer and 40 priests.
The Sacred Heart Church sits amid palaces, forts and several historical places of Jaipur, known as the Pink City, some 260 km southwest of New Delhi. Since it is located near Ghat Darwaza, the church is locally known as Ghat Gate Church.
The church is known as the mother church of because Christianity spread to other parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh from there.
Its roots date back to Maharaja Jaisingh ll who built Jaipur city in 1727. The great warrior king, who was interested in arts and astronomy, came to know about some Jesuits astronomers of Portugal living in Surat, a port city in Gujarat and sought their help. Jesuits sent Father Emmanuel Figuredo together with Pedro D’Silva, a lay person, to Jaipur in 1728.
Father Figuredo wanted to start a mission in Jaipur but the king was only interested in astronomy, so the Jesuit went back disappointed, but D’Silva stayed back. The kind then invited two other Jesuits from Bengal, who also went back disappointed.
Then at the request of the king, the Vatican sent two Bavarian Jesuits Fathers Andrew Stroble and Anthony Gabelsperger to Jaipur in 1725. They first lived in the palace. But later the king offered them land to build their residence and a church. Father Gabelsperger died in 1741 while the other Jesuit went back.
Meanwhile D’Silva who stayed back made a name as a physician. He cured one of the Queens and was honored with a huge properly and the title “Jagirdar” (landlord). He played a role in construction of the famous monument Jantar Mantar. He never left his faith. When the king died in 1747 D’Silva came to Delhi. But his descendants stayed on in Jaipur and practiced medicine. Even today they are active members of the Church.
Besides the D’Silva Family another family called Alexanders from France who had first come to work for the Gwalior king’s army. Maharaja Mansingh invited them to join his army. Since then the family has lived in Jaipur.
Another family now living in Jaipur is the descendants of scholar Luis Francis, who had come to Allahabad. In 1894 the Jaipur invited him to help in printing Bhagvad Gita and to establish a printing press.
Before the church was built, priests from Agra, who were military chaplains, came to Jaipur to cater to the pastoral needs of the first Christians. They also visited places such Bandikui, Naseerabad, Chittorgarh and Mhow, which later became mission stations.
The Sacred Heart Church was built in 1871, but no priest stayed there for at least 20 years. They came from Agra. At that time this was the only mission station in Rajasthan with 123 Christians. Meanwhile Rajputana and Malwa region was separated from Agra diocese and made prefecture in 1891 with Capuchin Father Bertram as its first prefect. Initially it had only 5 priests and 5 mission stations.
The church damaged the church in 1893. Prince of Austria Franz Ferdinand, who visited the church at that time, donated a big sum to restore it.
When an epidemic broke out in 1897 the then parish priest Father Raphael served the affected people, especially the youth. The disease killed thousands and turned many orphans, who were rehabilitated in Mhow, Khurda and Suket
In 1897 the church started catechism training for the youth drawn from various mission stations. These catechists were the instrumental to spread the faith.
In 1913, Capuchin Father Fortunatus Henry Coumont became the first bishop of Ajmer-Jaipur diocese and the catechist training was shifted to Bhavanikheda the following year.
The setting up of St. Angela-Sophia School for girls by the Mission Sisters of Ajmer was another milestone. Although the school was meant for European it started admitting local children soon. The school now stresses the education of poor girls.
The setting up of St. Xavier’s School was another milestone. In 1942, Sir Mirza Ismail, the prime minister of Jaipur state, invited the Jesuits to start a school in Jaipur. The Jesuits took over St. Mary’s School, which was then functioning in the campus of Sacred Heart Church. They built a new school, St Xavier’s, and shifted there. In 1979 St. Xavier’s was made a parish.
It was 2005 Jaipur became an independent diocese and Bishop Oswald Lewis as the first prelate.