KANNUR

MSFS House

The Province had been rendering pastoral service in Kannur area in various parishes of the erstwhile diocese of Kozhikode and now in Kannur diocese. It has been the desire of the province to have a permanent community for the various ministries in Kannur.   This desire had been materialized with the inauguration and blessing of the new community on 5^th May 2003 with the Eucharistic celebration presided over by Rt. Rev. Dr. Varghese Chakkalackal, Bishop of Kannur.  On 5 September 2005 the new residence at Kannur was blessed. It is built on the first floor of the building that is used as the KG section of the school. The foundation stone for the ground floor of this building was laid by Blessed Mother Theresa in 1994.  We purchased this house from the Brothers of the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Theresa). What is significant and providential about the new residence is that the blessing was done on 5^th September 2005 on the feast of Mother Theresa. This house and our School is specially dedicated to Mother Theresa as this land bears the marks of her sacred footprints.  This community is meant to serve as an important centre for the province and for all the other provinces. There are many confreres from Kannur area in all the provinces.  The province is happy to make this house in Kannur a home for all, the entire Congregation, for vocation promotion, for a few days of rest on holidays, as a halting place on long journeys etc.  This centre holds diverse possibilities of ministries according to our Charism. The Local Ordinary and the clergy are very supportive of our presence and activities.

St. Francis de Sales School

We have started an English Medium School as the first ministry of this community from the academic year 2003.

ULICKAL

ST. JOSEPH’S PARISH (Diocese of Kannur)

SFS BOYS’ HOME

This Parish was foundered by Fr. Tapharel, a Jesuit missionary in 1972.  The mission was originally known us Kottikapara mission. The original church collapsed and the new one was built six years ago. This parish has also a Substation 3.5 km away.  Catholics belonging to both Syro-Malabar and Latin Rites come to the Church for mass.  On Sundays for the first mass about 300 people and for the second Mass about 150 people come.  The parish was taken up by the MSFS in June 1998 on a temporary contract with the Bishop of Kannur.  Later the contract was renewed and now the parish is entrusted to MSFS for a period of 25 years.  Besides the pastoral activities, there are a number of self-help groups and a unit of Kairos (Social Service Department of the diocese of Kannur) functioning in the parish. The main thrust of the pastoral work in this parish is faith formation, education and socio-economic empowerment through organising Self Help Groups.

We have taken up education as an important area of ministry in this parish.  Most of the people are stone cutters belonging to the Scheduled Caste and are economically very poor. Education is not a priority for them and hence parents are not very enthusiastic to send their children to school. However, we are helping a few children financially for their education.  Besides, we have established a Boys’ Home for the poor children.   This Boys Home is intended for the poor children of the area.   We intend to admit 50 children in this Boys’ Home in the course of time.

PAPPINISSERY

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PARISH (Diocese of Kannur)

This parish was taken up by MSFS on a short term contract with the diocese of Kannur and we are at the service of the people in the parish for the past 14 years.  There are 65 Catholic families in the parish and on Sundays around 300 people attend mass. It is a mixed congregation of Latin and Syro-Malabar rite Catholics.  Economically most of the parishioners belong to lower middle class group.  A good many of them are outsiders who came in search of jobs and settled down in the area.  Apart from the parish ministry, the parish priest used to be in-charge of Jail ministry in Kannur. But since the MSFS have a community of their own in Kannur now this ministry is taken care of by the priests there.  The Bishop appoints him officially as the chaplain of the prisoners in Kannur Centrail Jail.