The parish of Chondonpara in the diocese of Tura in eastern India is still very new, having been founded only in October 2024. They were also able to open a parish house at the same time, thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, who contributed the 40,000 Euros that we were able to provide. They celebrated with a great feast, which was attended by the bishop, many of his priests and religious sisters from the diocese, and a huge throng of the Catholic faithful.
The new parish was created from the division of one vast parish, which had comprised 119 villages and over 21,000 faithful. Previously it was not possible to minister adequately to all the Catholics in the area, which moreover lies in a mountainous region covered in rainforest. Most of the faithful belong to the indigenous Garo tribe and live in great poverty. The priest is the person they turn to in every need, and consequently he needs to be accessible. And that is why he needed a place to stay in this new parish and why Bishop Andrew Marak turned to ACN for help.
The building had to be solidly constructed, since the region is prone to earth tremors. It was not easy. The building site is on the edge of the forest, and the building workers were frightened by the wild elephants which came onto the site. And it was also very difficult to transport the necessary building materials along the unmade roads. On a number of occasions, lorries got stuck on the last few kilometres from the village. Finally, the village has no electricity supply, which again added to the difficulty of the building work. But the house was finally built, and there was great rejoicing among the people.
„Without your help we could not have begun, and still less finished this important project. The new parish house will be a source of so much good. The presence of the priest will be an enormous help for the activities of this new parish. The faithful will always remember ACN in their prayers and pray for all your benefactors, for the many sacrifices they have made so that this project could become reality.“
