Aid to the Church in Need: India: Multipurpose centre for the mission parish of Tissa

India: Multipurpose centre for the mission parish of Tissa

Posted by Project of the Week on 22/6/2009, 9:24 am
Board Administrator

INDIA

Multipurpose centre for the mission parish of Tissa

The diocese of Miao in north-east India is young but very dynamic. Here in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, there are 26 different groups of tribal peoples. Out of a total population of around half a million souls there are now around 100,000 Catholics, of whom some 30,000 have been added since the establishment of the diocese three years ago. The majority of the population in this region belong to a variety of different cults, however. For example, many worship a god of the sun and the moon, known as the Dounyi-polo. Others are Buddhists. A great deal has been done here by the Church, especially by the Fathers of the Vincentian congregation that was founded in 1904 in Kerala in southern India. There are retreat days, evangelisation programmes, popular missions, training programmes for catechists, a fruitful apostolate and a pastoral outreach that is welcomed far and wide. Even many non-Christians ask the Fathers to pray for their needs. Their vocation also includes the care of the poorest of the poor, for street children, orphans, the homeless, prisoners and the elderly. And they likewise offer literacy courses for adults, programmes to combat alcohol and drug addiction and the spread of AIDS, legal assistance for the poor, while also trying to combat child labour, above all in the factories. On top of all this they also provide precious social and development aid, above all in the poorest and most underdeveloped villages, where the people live in extreme poverty and there is no medical provision, no sanitation or electricity and where almost no one can read or write.

Now the Vincentian Fathers want to build a multipurpose hall in the parish of Tissa, which includes nine Catholic villages and a number of non-Christian villages, so that they can better support the local population, both spiritually and charitably. For without a place where people can come together, it is much harder to offer a full range of possible activities. The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has promised a grant of over $25,000.

To help this cause please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

These children still have to pray and study in the open air.
(Code: 317-01-19)

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org