(Telangana, India) The Redemptorists of India made history by opening their Redemptorist community in the Archdiocese of Hyderabad on the 7 September 2019. It was after a long reflection and consultation the province of Bangalore finally decided to re-enter into the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.
Redemptorists are not totally new to the Archdiocese of Hyderabad because we were involved in the parish and the social ministries in the Archdiocese a few decades ago and now after a brief period of time, we are coming back to serve the people of Hyderabad. We are glad and grateful to Archbishop Thumma Bala, the Archbishop of Hyderabad for reopening the doors to the Archdiocese.
It was a day to be remembered because all the Telugu Region confreres were present for the inauguration. Prior to the day of inauguration, the Telugu Regional Meeting was conducted on 5-6 September.
On the 7 September 2019, we had the blessing of the Redemptorist residence by Rev. Fr. Edward Raju C.Ss.R. in the presence of his council Frs. Siluvai Muthu, Juventius Andrade, Ignace Dung Dung and the eleven other confreres of Telugu Region from the both Telugu Speaking states of Andra Pradesh and Telangana. Soon after the blessing of residence, we had the Holy Mass presided by Rev. Msgr. Swarna Bernard, the Vicar General of the Arch Diocese of Hyderabad. Fr. Edward Raju C.Ss.R. broke the word to us and he highlighted on the commissioning of the apostles by Jesus and he insisted on the dual way of carrying forward the Redemptorist mission a) Proclamation of the Word and b) Concrete Social Action. He stressed on the example of Saint Alphonsus how passionate he was with the poor and most abandoned.
After the Holy Communion, the community the members of the community were introduced Fr. Sarath Maddineni C.Ss.R (Superior), Fr. Chinnappa Reddy C.Ss.R and Fr. Matthew Abraham. Fr. Sarath took his oath of office as the superior of the community before Fr. Edward Raju C.Ss.R. There were felicitations to Msgr. Swarna Bernard by Fr. Edward presenting a bouquet of flowers and the Mother of Perpetual Help Tapistry. They were also honoured with shawls and bouquets by the friends of Redemptorists from Hyderabad. We had a considerable number of religious sisters and a Claritian priest from nearby communities to witness the inauguration. In addition, the CHAI Staff from Secunderabad and Medchal were present as well. Soon after the Mass, we had a sumptuous meal and good conversation with all our guests and friends.
The current residence of the Redemptorists belongs to the Catholic Health Association India (CHAI) Medchal Training Centre. Fr. Matthew Abraham C.Ss.R. is the current Director-General of the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI). He is kind and generous in allowing the Redemptorists to have the temporary residence in CHAI Medchal until the Redemptorists find a new place and have our own community. We are grateful to Fr. Matthew Abraham C.Ss.R. and CHAI for their generosity.
Fr. Sarath Maddineni C.Ss.R.
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