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Karkala-Hirgan Maria Goretti Church to celebrate Silver Jubilee on Feb 21

Karkala: In order to fulfill the religious duties of the Catholics of Hirgan, the then parish priest of Christ the King Church, Karkala Town, Fr. Immanuel D’Souza built a chapel  in 1977 which was blessed by the then Bishop of Mangalore, Most Rev. Dr. Basil S. D’Souza. The Hirgan Chapel was elevated to a full fledged parish on September 16, 1991 and Fr. Cyril Pinto was appointed as the first parish priest of Hirgan. The new church building was inaugurated and blessed on December 19, 1994.

Fr. Cyprian Pinto was succeeded by Fr. Joseph Martis in 1998. He was followed by Fr. Michael Lobo who worked for the all round development of the parish. He established a school which gradually progressed into high school, junior college culminating in the degree college. . Fr. Thomas Roshan D’Souza who succeeded Fr. Michael Lobo has been looking after the development of the educational institutions while Fr. Anil Cornelio has been serving as the parish priest.

As the Hirgan Parish is on the threshold of the Silver Jubilee celebration, Fr. Anil Cornelio with the support of the Parish pastoral Council has undertaken a number of projects for the overall development of the parish. These projects include renovation of the sanctuary, refurbishing of the roof, re-plastering of the church walls and setting up of a new playground for the school. The parish is comprised of eight wards with 195 families. Five priests and eleven religious women have been serving in different parts of the world.

The Silver Jubilee of the Hirgan Parish will be observed on February 21, at 9.30 am with the solemn jubilee mass concelebrated by the Bishop of Udupi Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo as the chief celebrant. The jubilee mass will be followed by public felicitation programme and community meal.

Cultural programme as part of the Silver Jubilee celebration will be held at 5.30 pm which will be presided over by Msgr. Baptist Menezes, Vicar General of Udupi Diocese. The guests of honour will include Sunil Kumar, MLA. Karkala, Gopal Bhandary, former MLA, Santosh Shetty, President of Hirgan Grama Panchayat, Sumana Rao, President of Kukkundur Grama Panchyat and John Pinto, member of Hirgan grmama Panchayat.  After the stage programme hilarious Tulu drama ‘Poppa’ will be staged.