St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Baramulla)


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St. Joseph's Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Baramulla,[1][2][3] Jammu and Kashmir, India.[4][5] It was established in 1891, by the Mill Hill Missionaries, making it the oldest Catholic church in Jammu and Kashmir,[6] and currently belongs to the Jammu Srinagar Diocese.[7][8] St. Joseph's Church, St. Joseph's Hospital and St. Joseph's School are located on the same campus as the parish church. It is the only church in the town, and there are only few Christian families in the community.

St. Joseph's Catholic Church
St. Joseph Catholic Church, Baramulla 2
St. Joseph Catholic Church, Baramulla 2
Map
34°12′13″N 74°21′07″E / 34.203620°N 74.352078°E
LocationBaramulla
CountryIndia
DenominationRoman Catholic
Weekly attendance20
History
StatusParish church
Founded1891; 133 years ago
Founder(s)Mill Hill Missionaries
DedicationSaint Joseph
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architectural typeGothic Revival
Specifications
Capacity500
Bells1 (1)
Administration
ArchdioceseRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi
DioceseRoman Catholic Diocese of Jammu–Srinagar
ParishSt. Joseph's Parish
Clergy
ArchbishopAnil Joseph Thomas Couto
Bishop(s)Ivan Pereira

History

St. Joseph's Church was started by Mill Hill Missionaries who came from the Apostolic Prefecture of Kafiristan and Kashmir, under the Diocese of Lahore. After their departure, the mission was cared for by the Capuchin Fathers, and later still by the Society of Jesus. It is now part of the Diocese of Jammu Srinagar. Father Jim Borst MHM, a well-known missionary and former parish priest, lives in Srinagar City.

The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1910 noted:

At Baramulla, in Kashmir, Father Simon, assisted by a staff of twelve lay teachers, conducts an important school for native Kashmir boys. The pupils number three hundred. The prefecture comprises about fifteen million inhabitants. Twelve million five hundred thousand of these are Mohammedans, two million are Hindus, five hundred thousand are Buddhists and about five thousand are Catholics.[9]

The church was affiliated to the University of Lahore in 1919.[10]

Persecution of local Christians

In late October 1947, leading into the Kashmir Conflict of 1947, local tribesmen attacked the church, school, and hospital, killing the Mother Superior and Assistant Mother Sister M. Teresalina Joaquina FMM.[11]

Fr. Jim Borst MHM, who has been working in Jammu and Kashmir since 1963, including serving as the principal of St. Joseph's School, was given a Quit India Notice from Kashmir's Foreigners Registration Office in 2004.[12]

References

  1. ^ Dhar, D. N. (1 January 2001). Dynamics of political change in Kashmir: from ancient to modern times. Kanishka Publishers, Distributors. ISBN 9788173914188.
  2. ^ Misra, Neelesh (12 March 2012). The Absent State. Hachette India. ISBN 9789350093665.
  3. ^ Raina, Dina Nath (1994). Kashmir - distortions and reality. Reliance Pub. House. ISBN 9788185972527.
  4. ^ "St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Baramulla) : IndiaFree.org". indiafree.org. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  5. ^ "St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Baramulla, India Tourist Information". TouristLink. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  6. ^ GreaterKashmir.com (Greater Service). "Christmas celebrated with fervor Lastupdate:- Thu, 26 Dec 2013 18:30:00 GMT GreaterKashmir.com". greaterkashmir.com. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  7. ^ The Catholic Directory of India. St. Paul Publications. 2005. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  8. ^ "Diocese of Jammu Srinagar | A diocese was erected on September 7, 1986, with St. Mary's Jammu Cantt, as Cathedral". jammusrinagardiocese.org. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  9. ^ Charles George Herbermann; Edward Aloysius Pace; Condé Bénoist Pallen; Thomas Joseph Shahan; John Joseph Wynne; Andrew Alphonsus MacErlean (1912). The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Robert Appleton Company. pp. 591–.
  10. ^ Emanual Nahar (1 January 2007). Minority politics in India: role and impact of Christians in Punjab politics. Arun Pub. House. p. 51. ISBN 978-81-8048-085-0.
  11. ^ John C. B. Webster (15 November 2007). A social history of Christianity: North-West India since 1800. Oxford University Press. p. 276. ISBN 978-0-19-569045-3.
  12. ^ Senate (U S) Committee on Foreign Relations (August 2005). Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, 2004. Government Printing Office. pp. 638–. ISBN 978-0-16-072552-4.