St. Mary’s Church, Gulberg
Encyclopedia
St. Mary’s Church, Gulberg, Pakistan, was founded in 1961 in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore
. The Parish Priest from 2000 to 2002 was Fr. Francis Nadeem
, OFM Cap. The parish has 5 youth groups whose activities are: Prayer, Bible sharing, promoting awareness of catechism, education, peace and social harmony.
The Parish is also home to the Family Fellowship Forum. The forum is attended by about 100 couples. It meets every two months to discuss issues such as tolerance in the family, children's formation, values and education. Member families are encouraged to get acquainted with and visit each other.
The parish priest Father Morris Jalal
came to the parish in 2002. Father Jalal started the forum after a number of parishioners sought counseling from him about their family problems. The priest stressed the need to implement such programs in city parishes, where people do not even know their neighbors. St. Mary's Parish has about 2,200 Catholic families, 40 percent of which moved here from areas outside Lahore.
The parish has a scholarship fund to aid its Catholic students entering college each September. St. Mary's Church held its fourth annual fund-raising event, titled Deep Say Deep Jalao (lighting one lamp after another), on the evening of June 10, 2006.
The parish raised 344,000 rupees (US$5,743) this year, the largest amount yet and almost an 80 percent increase over the 194,000 rupees it collected last year.
Catholic students of the parish who have passed their high-school exam and are going on for further education can apply for the scholarship, which ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 rupees.
The program has also helped three young parishioners get nursing training at hospitals and four others who went to study at the Don Bosco Technical Institute, Lahore
.
A Mass in memory of Capuchin Father Eubert Pollentier, held on April 27, 2007, drew 200 people to St. Mary's Church. Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha
of Lahore led the liturgy, concelebrated by Father Francis Nadeem. Father Pollentier served in the archdiocese for 48 years.
The Tarbiyat (training) Center opened in the Parish in 2007, with the aim of empowering Catholics through knowledge of their own and other religions. The center's main resource base is its collection of 2,000 books in English and Urdu, on Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism. The library also contains books on culture, philosophy and sociology, as well as 200 compact discs. In addition, the center has a computer with Internet access.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore is an archdiocese in Punjab, Pakistan.-History:It was founded as a diocese on 1 September 1886, having previously been the Vicariate of Punjab. On 23 April 1994 the diocese was elevated to the rank of Archdiocese. Fr...
. The Parish Priest from 2000 to 2002 was Fr. Francis Nadeem
Francis Nadeem
Father Francis Nadeem is a Franciscan Capuchin priest working in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore in Pakistan.He was chief editor of Catholic Naqib, the Urdu-language Catholic journal, in 1989....
, OFM Cap. The parish has 5 youth groups whose activities are: Prayer, Bible sharing, promoting awareness of catechism, education, peace and social harmony.
The Parish is also home to the Family Fellowship Forum. The forum is attended by about 100 couples. It meets every two months to discuss issues such as tolerance in the family, children's formation, values and education. Member families are encouraged to get acquainted with and visit each other.
The parish priest Father Morris Jalal
Morris Jalal
Morris Jalal is a Catholic priest working in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore in Pakistan. He received his religious training through the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and at the Christ the King Seminary and was ordained a priest on 14 September 1984.Father Jalal was the parish priest of...
came to the parish in 2002. Father Jalal started the forum after a number of parishioners sought counseling from him about their family problems. The priest stressed the need to implement such programs in city parishes, where people do not even know their neighbors. St. Mary's Parish has about 2,200 Catholic families, 40 percent of which moved here from areas outside Lahore.
The parish has a scholarship fund to aid its Catholic students entering college each September. St. Mary's Church held its fourth annual fund-raising event, titled Deep Say Deep Jalao (lighting one lamp after another), on the evening of June 10, 2006.
The parish raised 344,000 rupees (US$5,743) this year, the largest amount yet and almost an 80 percent increase over the 194,000 rupees it collected last year.
Catholic students of the parish who have passed their high-school exam and are going on for further education can apply for the scholarship, which ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 rupees.
The program has also helped three young parishioners get nursing training at hospitals and four others who went to study at the Don Bosco Technical Institute, Lahore
Don Bosco Technical Institute, Lahore
The Don Bosco Technical Institute for Boys in Lahore, Pakistan, is a trade school. In 2007, there were five Muslim students at the center alongside 115 Christian youths. They range in age from 15 to 22....
.
A Mass in memory of Capuchin Father Eubert Pollentier, held on April 27, 2007, drew 200 people to St. Mary's Church. Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha
Lawrence Saldanha
Lawrence John Saldanha was born in Mangalore, India on 25 October 1936. He received his religious training at the Christ the King seminary in Karachi and was ordained a priest in Lahore, Pakistan on 16 January 1960....
of Lahore led the liturgy, concelebrated by Father Francis Nadeem. Father Pollentier served in the archdiocese for 48 years.
The Tarbiyat (training) Center opened in the Parish in 2007, with the aim of empowering Catholics through knowledge of their own and other religions. The center's main resource base is its collection of 2,000 books in English and Urdu, on Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism. The library also contains books on culture, philosophy and sociology, as well as 200 compact discs. In addition, the center has a computer with Internet access.