Vimala nuns complete 50 years of Mission

The Vimala convent was founded in 1966 to promote evangelization in the Tanuku area.

Tanuku:  The Vimala Convent of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate (MSI) at Tanuku in West Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh on April 4 celebrated its Golden Jubilee.

“You have made a difference here by your preaching and service,” Bishop Jaya Rao of Eluru said at the event held on the feast of Annunciation.

Presiding over the Eucharistic Celebration with 20 other priests, the Bishop eulogized the Congregation of the Nirmala sisters for their concerted efforts to bring the light of Christ to the masses through the sacramental catechesis, family visits, spiritual counselling, technical education and other means.

Your presence brought hope and joy to a hopeless situation for fifty years as you worked with God as His ambassadors to bring liberation to those who are in darkness, the bishop said.

The pioneers of the Tanuku mission and all the sisters who worked in the Vimala Convent were honored at the occasion. An impressive number of the Lay MSI collaborators made their presence felt by their generous service and their collaboration at the function.

The MSI founded the Vimala convent in 1966 to promote evangelization in the area at the behest of Bishop Ambrose De Battista of Vijayawada. The convent started with a nursery school attached, which in 1973became a government-recognized elementary school.

Mother Clara Bellotti, the founder of this mission, had a singular vision for the task of the sisters – to help the poor Catholic girls from these rural areas. To provide employment opportunities, a tailoring center was started in 1973; and in the following year a typewriting section was added to it. Today, the Vimala Industrial Training Centre runs various job-oriented programs. It also offers free hostel facilities in the campus.

Most importantly, the presence of the missionary sisters helped in the increase of church attendance. The sisters visited village by village with their medicines, counselling, technical education and other services and brought light where there was darkness and poverty.

The Catholic presence has increased by thousands in the Tanuku Parish, erected in 1962 with some 75 members. Tanuku now has a huge Church; over 50 villages have new chapels and prayer huts and receive Catholic assistance and liturgical services regularly.