Franciscan minor seminary opens in Udupi

Franciscan brothers are already serving in Brahmavar and Perampalli parishes of Udupi diocese.

Udupi:  A new residential minor seminary of the Franciscan Order was inauguratedon March 14 in Udupi by Br Joseph DolphyPais, Capuchin Provisional Minister of Karnataka Province.

The seminary ‘Assisi Nilaya-St Padre Pio prayer House’at Kattingeri inMoodubelleregion was blessed by Bishop Gerald Isaac Loboof Udupi.

The Franciscan brothers have been serving and dwelling in the Moodubelle region for the past 6 years. They lived in an old closed hospital building given to them by the Mudhartha Trust Building for a lease agreement of 10 years. They did not have proper facilities to carry on their mission.

The new minor seminary has been built with the contributions from generous people of Moodubelle. One acre land was donated by Herald Martis and his family for this purpose.

The foundation stone for the Capuchin Friary was laid on July 25, 2014.

At present the seminary has 27 students and 4 priests to guide them. Fr Victor Fernandes, assistant parish priest of Moodubelle parish and also the superior of the seminary says, “I am very grateful to the parishioners of Moodubelle for their constant support right from the beginning.”

The Franciscan brothers are also serving in Brahmavar and Perampalli parishes of the Udupi diocese.

The arrival of the Capuchins in India dates back to the year 1632 when a band of foreign Capuchin missionaries landed in Pondicherry. They moved to North India and initiated their missionary work at Tibet and Nepal.

They underwent lots of hardships but were successful in bringing out the word of God through their preaching and services. The absence of a strong, vibrant and populous Christian community in North India and the extreme weather conditions of the place called for a transfer of the novitiate from North to the South.

The Capuchins were offered a little hill at Farangipet, called Monte Mariano, in the diocese of Mangaluru and the novitiate was shifted there in 1930.

The Franciscan missionaries are now serving at educational institutions, hospitals, counseling centres, conducting retreats and other social services. They have created a great impact in print media. Assisi press with the motto 'Printing with Care'is greatly appreciated for their printing service. A new branch of Assisi Press in Mangaluru was inaugurated on December 14, 2015.

Source: Daiji world