Bishop Gerald Lobo dedicates newly built Holy Cross Church at Pamboor
Udupi: The newly constructed Holy Cross Church, Pamboor was inaugurated, blessed and dedicated by the Bishop of Udupi Diocese, Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo in the presence of a large number of priests, religious and parishioners of Pamboor and neighbouring parishes of Shirva, Moodubelle and Shankerpura on Monday, 18 December 2017 at 5:00 pm.
Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo was welcomed by Fr Paul Rego, parish priest of Holy Cross Church, Pamboor along with Vice President and Secretary of Parish Pastoral Council Prakash Noronha and Asuntha D’Souza respectively at 4:45 pm in front of the newly built church.
The grand ceremony of the inauguration and blessing of the church commenced at 5:00 pm as the Bishop along with Fr Paul Rego, priests in the presence of a large number of people came in procession in front of the church. Maurice Noronha (Malla Master), the elderly parishioner and one of the founding members of the Holy Cross Church, Pamboor had the honour of inaugurating the new building of the church by cutting the ribbon. Thereafter, the Bishop conducted a brief prayer service in front of the main door and formally opened the doors and entered the church along with the priests followed by the altar servers and the people.
The blessing and dedication of the new church commenced by the Bishop by blessing the water and sprinkling of the Holy Water on the people. This was followed by the celebration of the Holy Mass by singing ‘Gloria…’
In his homily, the Bishop said that the dream of the Pamboor parishioners to have a new church building on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the foundation of the Parish in Pamboor has been realized. It is the symbol of hope, aspirations, hard work and sacrifice of many of the parishioners.
Bishop Gerald Lobo highlighted the meaning of the place of worship (temple or church) and traced the origin and development of places of worship since ancient times and pointed out that it was King David who thought of building a grand temple for God. However, he was not destined to complete the temple and it was his son Solomon who built a grand temple in honour Yaveh (God).
Continuing the homily, Bishop Gerald Lobo said that the church is the symbol of everlasting relationship between God and His people. It is a place of worship and prayer. The new church should mean not only a new place for worship and prayer but also a place where the parishioners should come together as one family united in Jesus Christ.
Soon after the homily, the ritual of blessing, consecration and dedication of the new church continued with the recitation of the ‘Litany of the Saints’. The Bishop anointed the sacrificial altar with Chrism Oil and anointed four points on the walls of the church, thus sanctifying the entire church.
After the Holy Communion, the Bishop blessed and concreted the Tabernacle.
Fr Stephen D’Souza, Director of Liturgical Commission of Udupi Diocese compeered the ritual of the blessing and dedication of the church.
Soon after the inauguration, blessing and dedication of the new church, the felicitation function was held in the specially arranged pandal and stage. The programme was presided over by Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo. Other dignitaries on the dais included: Vinay Kumar Sorake-MLA of Kaup Constituency, Fr Reginald Pinot-Director of Sampada, Diocese of Udupi, Fr Harold Pereira-Director of Small Christian Community, Fr Paul Rego-Parish Priest of Holy Cross Church, Pamboor and Prakash Noronha and Asuntha D’Souza, Vice President and Secretary of Parish Pastoral Council.
Following the welcome address by Fr Paul Rego, all those persons who were associated with the construction of the new church were felicitated by Vinay Kumar Sorake.
In his message, Vinay Kumar Sorake complimented Fr Paul rego and the Pamboorians for constructing and inaugurating such a beautiful church. He lauded the contribution of Christian in all fields of life. He said that though the Christians constitute barely 2 percent of the Indian population, their contribution to the nation is more than 20 percent. He appreciated the contribution of Catholic Educational Institutions for the spread of education, especially in coastal Karnataka.
On this occasion, a collection of short stories written by Dr Vincent Alva, presently Principal of Milagres College, Kallianpur was released by Fr Reginald Pinto.
In his address, Fr Reginald Pinto narrated briefly the origin and progress of the Holy Cross Parish, Pamboor.
Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo honoured past surviving Vice Presidents and Secretaries of the Parish Pastoral Council.
Fr Paul Rego along with Prakash Noronha and Asuntha D’Souza honoured the Bishop as a mark of gratitude.
In his message, Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo congratulated Fr Paul Rego and Pamboor parishioners for their great achievement in building a new church with great sacrifice and dedication. He said that for Christians, the church is like the door to heaven as all rituals right from the birth till death are performed in the church.
On behalf of the Diocese of Udupi, Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo felicitated Fr Paul Rego as a token of appreciation of his great work in Pamboor.
Asuntha D’Souza delivered the vote of thanks and Hilda Mathias compered the stage programme. Dr Vincent Alva supervised the entire programme.