Udupi: The newly built Sacred Heart Church Yermal, Uchila will be inaugurated on May 14, 2015. Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo Bishop of Udupi will inaugurate the church, he will also celebrate the Holy Eucharist and bless the Church. This will be followed by a felicitation function in the presence of various dignitaries.
Along with the Bishop of Udupi, Dr Salvador Lobo (Bishop of Baruipur, Kolkotta), Dr Antony Fernandes (Emeritus Bishop Bareilly Diocese), Msgr Baptist Menezes (Vicar General of the diocese), Rev Fredrick Mascarenhas (Dean Udupi Deanery), Rev Burchardt Berty Amanna (Pastor, CSI Bethel Church Muloor), Vedamoorthy K V Raghavendra Upadhya (Archak, Sri Mahalaxmi Temple Uchila), Janab Abdul Hakim Musliyar (Sayyed Arabi Masjid, Uchila), Vinay Kumar Sorake (Dist minister in charge), Lalaji R Mendon (Ex-MLA Kaup), Vasanth K Shetty (President, Bada Gram Panchayat, Yermal) and Sudhakar Karkera (Gen. Secretary, DK Mogaveera Mahajana Sangha, Uchila) will grace the occasion.
Yermal was originally under the jurisdiction of Shirva for nearly forty years. From 1939 onwards, Fr Hilary Gonsalves, the parish priest of Shirva church used to celebrate Mass at the house of Louis D’Souza, the Gurkar of Yermal.
Manuel, Lucy, Gabriel, Lawrence, Philip D’Souza and Lucy D’Souza together donated a total of 3.66 acres of land on which a chapel was built and was inaugurated on April 25, 1961 by Msgr Hilary Gonsalves. The chapel was served from Shirva parish by its assistants.
When Kalathur attained the status of a parish on June 7, 1971, Yermal came under its jurisdiction and was served from Kalathur. Fr Charles Saldanha of Kalathur built the parochial house in 1974, a well was dug and coconut, cashew and other fruit trees were planted.
Fr Alfred J Pinto of Kalathur raised a capital fund of Rs 1.05 lakh to erect a new parish. On May 25, 1993, Yermal became an independent parish and Fr Peter Nazareth became the first parish priest. Fr Henry Castelino and Fr Vishal Lobo also served the community as Parish Priests and guided the parishioners.
Since November 2009 Fr Lawrence Rodrigues is fully involved in the Parish activities and continues the ministry of guiding the Community.
There were 65 families in the parish with a total of 250 parishioners living peacefully. The back end of the church building was withering and accommodating the huge congregation during Sunday Mass was a problem and hence, a new building was planned by the parish council. The present parish priest Fr Lawrence Rodrigues took up this project and have reached completion. This noble work was possible through the selfless service by each and every parishioner of the parish, donors and well wishers.
Parish council vice-president Charlot Furtado, secretary Vinay Quadros, parish council members, leaders of different wards are collectively working for the success of the inaugural celebrations of the new Church.