By Stanislaus Alla
New Delhi, Oct 10, 2022: Few parishes in Delhi or in India are visualized to look after the spiritual needs of the faithful, be they Indians and foreigners, who would be coming from institutes such as Indian Institute of Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru University and All India Institute of Medical Sciences besides others from the nearby Embassies.
St Thomas Church in RK Puram (Rama Krishna Puram) in South Delhi is a parish that was planned to have global and pan-Indian appeal from its inception. What began as a little flock that gathered to have the Eucharist at the house of a devout Catholic, Philip Nair, in the 1950s eventually emerged into a parish in 1972.
Archbishop Angelo Fernandes, tall in person and equally so in heart and thought, established St Thomas Parish and got a beautiful Church constructed. Delhi School of Architecture was involved in the designing and it drew upon the Mughal architecture: this sublime building gets an abundance of natural light and ventilation and attracts many visitors.
The parish happily welcomed several Catholic students and staff from the nearby educational centres and hospitals and provided them with pastoral care. Bala Reddy Gopu, a businessman from Hyderabad and who was at JNU in the early 1990s gratefully remembers St Thomas Church and how it looked after the sacramental needs of many.
The Church’s space was an oasis of peace, he recalls. Similarly, the African youth, students at IIT-Delhi, found a welcome in the Church. Others from the embassies also had easy access. With the emergence of other parishes the composition of the parishioners began to change but St Thomas always evolved to be vibrant, responsive and active.
What Archbishop Fernandes or those who were there at the inauguration of the Church fifty years ago could not have imagined was ‘who would be the new constituents who would migrate to Delhi and largely fill the pews later, and what changes they would bring in:’ changes are really nothing but dramatic!
While the Catholic migrants from southern India continue to the bedrock of the parish (and several parishes in Delhi and in large sections of north India), tens of thousands of Catholics from the Chhotanagpur Adivasi-belt and the Northeast India have brought not only color, (literally their dresses are strong and rich, in refreshing colors) but their music and dance, gifts and talents, dedication and devotional practices. The mainland Adivasis have come as public servants and officers, managers and software engineers while the poorer women have come as domestic workers. helpers. From the Northeast also many have come as students while others have found jobs in various sectors.
Similarly, we do not know who were on the stage when Archbishop Fernandes inaugurated the Church but certainly there would have been few Adivasis. At the Golden Jubilee Mass celebrated by Archbishop Anil Couto on 9th October 2022, not only the Adivasi women performed the entrance dance, but many of them were there in various leadership roles.
Just note the following: Ajit Dungdung leads the parish animation team, Kevin Minj was the emcee, 1st Reading was proclaimed by Mukti Prakash Minj and several of the altar boys and girls were from the Adivasi community; similarly, the Responsorial Psalm was rendered by Mr Damein Lalthansiama Khiangte and 2nd Reading was proclaimed by Ms Haveinai Ngaopuni, both from the Northeast.
Certainly, there have been many from southern India in various leadership roles at the parish level and what is appreciable is this phenomenal change that prepares all to integrate themselves into a multicultural, multi-lingual, pan-Indian Catholic community. It truly illustrates how parishes in metropolitan cities are changing fast in their composition and also in the pool of talents and skills they have and what the youth aspire for. The new generation of parishioners is more of participants, and givers: they actively support the parish in its various activities and programs, and also regularly provide ration to the poor.
Father Vijay Baretto, the parish priest and Father Remjius Tirkey his Assistant, are actively involved in the parish: in light of the synodal model of the Church envisaged by Pope Francis, they are committed to revitalize the pastoral and financial councils, and ensure that the faithful remain active and vibrant participants in the building up of the parish and of the Church.
At the Golden Jubilee, Archbishop Anil Couto exhorted all that ‘faith is the true gold’ that we have inherited and there is an urgent need for us to cherish and foster it. Certainly, some of the children who were there at the Golden Jubilee celebrations would be also there at the Centenary celebrations and loudly proclaim that Catholic faith was the greatest treasure they were gifted with for which they would be eternally grateful.