JAMSHEDPUR JESUITS

JAMSHEDPUR JESUITS
Vol. 54 No. 01 JAMSHEDPUR, INDIA JANUARY 2006
Appointments by Pope Benedict XVI
Official
Fr Juan de Dios Hernández Ruiz, 57, Auxiliary Bishop of La Habana (Cuba).
Fr William D‟Souza, 59, first Bishop of Buxar (India).
Appointment by Fr General
Fr Joy Karayampuram, Provincial of Patna Province. Fr Joy will assume office on 31
May 2006.
Fr General has also raised Delhi Region to the status of a Province, and has appointed Fr
John Ariapilly, SJ, as the First Provincial of Delhi. Fr John will assume office on 30
December 2005.
Status
Fr Bernard Bodra
Fr Michael Tirkey
: Asst PP, St John‟s, Tepasai
: Vice-Superior, TRTC, Guira
Provincial’s Programme
Final Vows at Loyola, Jamshedpur, on 2 February 2006
Fr Jerome Cutinha
Fr Benedict Minj
Fr Shantinandan Mundu
Final Vows at Loyola, Bhubaneswar on 04 February 2006
Fr P Anthonyraj
Fr Gyanprakash Kujur
Upto 6 Jan : Mangalore and Kerala
07 Jan : Visitation – Raia, Goa
09 – 11 Jan : Visitation – Ahmedabad
12 – 13 Jan : Visitation – Mumbai
15 Jan : In the office
18 Jan : Tepasai
21 Jan : CSWC - GBM

23 – 24 Jan : With Fr Tim Brown, Provincial of Maryland
27 Jan : Noatoli – Ordination of Sushil Suman Kerketta
29 Jan : Birmitrapur – Ordination of Isidore Minj
02 Feb a.m. : Consult
p.m. : Final Vows at Loyola, Jamshedpur
04 Feb : Final Vows at Loyola, Bhubaneswar
Jamshedpur Province cordially welcomes Fr Tim Brown, Provincial of Maryland, and Mr
Tim Kelly, the Maryland Provincial Liaison for Social and International Ministries. Both
of them will be in our Province, visiting various Communities and our Works from
January 20 to 28. Hearty welcome Tim (Brown and Kelly).
NEWS FROM HOUSES
DNS, Digwadih
Our AC neighbours have built a new dwelling place. Rector Woolsie was the main
celebrant and blessed every “nook and corner” of the house, which ensured “No Entry”
even for poltergeists.
For years now the bees have made their HOME in a niche of our Science Block. This had
made the painting of the building difficult task. Fr Panneer tried to dislocate them, by
smoking them out, burning them and as a last resort hired the help of local “Jhad-
Phookwalla” to ensure their permanent exit. Deeply “stung” bees have returned by
millions and have built a bigger hive with vengeance. “This could be a good omen from
heaven to provide honey for the Fathers during the Jubilee year” opines our wise Thana.
After much community reflection and prayer we have closed down our Plus Two from
the next academic year. Fr Principal called a meeting of the parents to explain the
reasons behind this major decision.
Fr George Hess is back in the Community with the same truck load of trunks he had
taken 26 years back. He was given a warm welcome to the School by the students.
There were many in the assembly whose parents were taught by him. His presence will
boost the Alumni Association in the town and the Chapters across the country.
On the occasion of the 450/500th Jubilee of the Founding Fathers of our Society, we have
erected life size statues of Roberto De Nobili at the main entrance, Ignatius and Xavier in
the front garden. Fr Hess, Rector Woolsie and Principal Pius unveiled the statues
amidst cheering applause from kids. A brief prayer Service was held during the assembly
to mark the occasion.
The Campus wore a festive look with Silver and Golden colours. The Silver Jubilee of
the Hindi School was celebrated on the 21st. Fr Carl Dincher, the Chief Guest, recalled
nostalgic memories in "shudh Hindi". The kids put up a “kaleidoscope of dances” to

express their joy. Headmasters Vijay, PP Stan and the teachers had worked hard for
the terrific show.
23 December was the “Gold Letter Day” in the Annals of De Nobili, as we celebrated the
Golden Jubilee. H. E. Cardinal Toppo was the Chief Guest for the occasion and Bishop
Felix was the Guest of Honour. Bishop Emeritus Joe Rodericks and Provincial James
were dignitaries for the day. Carl Dincher and Bishop Rodericks were fortunate to be
present for the foundation laying ceremony of the School, Silver Jubilee and the Golden
Jubilee. A rare privilege indeed. The function was held on a specially erected stage and
enclosure, on the main field. Children kept the audience spellbound for three hours. The
hallmark of the day was the live Broadway Musical: “THE WIZARD OF OZ” in which
approx 400 children participated. The denizens of coal city were amazed at the
entertainment of such caliber in Dhanbad. "I would give ten out of ten to the children for
their performance" summed up a senior Jesuit. All credit goes to our teachers who
prepared them for over two months. Br Amal as Guest Master went out of the way to
make guests feel at home with his warm hospitality. The Alumni lit the skies with the
fire works. Watch this space to read about the “Alumni Home Coming” in the next issue.
- Pius Fernandes
Gande Dungri
A new working system has been introduced in our Hostel. We have divided all the
inmates into four groups and the available land for gardening is also divided into four
plots. Each group is working under the supervision of two teachers. Thus each group with
daily cleaning of the house and campus use their respective plots in producing green
vegetables and when they see the produce of their labours they feel proud and happy.
- Anand Prakash Minj
HLC
The month of December was marked by a number of activities at HLC which invited
some new faces in the campus. The Spoken English students had their final oral and
written tests in the second week followed by Debate Competitions. Fr Eric had graced
the Quiz Competition as the Chief Guest in November and we were fortunate to have Fr
Daniel, SVD as the Chief Guest for the Debate Competition on 12 December. Spoken
English (Sep.-Dec. session) came to an end on 16 December with the mock interviews for
the advanced students. Frs Ed and Das were the interviewers. All the students were
highly impressed by them. We had interviews and admissions for January-April session
from 8-22 December. 1200 students have already taken admission and we expect some
more admissions in January.
The Institute closed on the 24 December and will reopen on the 2 January. 2006. There
was a Christmas get-together for the staff and their family on the 23rd evening. It
provided us an opportunity to meet the family members of our co-workers.

HLC is facing a problem in the Reading Room. We have planned to have two shifts (6
hrs each) to accommodate as many students as possible in the Reading Room but the old
students of the Reading Room have been protesting against it. They disturbed classes on
a few occasions and blocked the main gate twice. As a result we had to call the police.
The problem is temporarily solved till 15 January. In the meantime, we have been
approaching different people, including the police for help. Frs James and P Tony met
the DIG. on 24 December. So far the police as well as others have been very supportive
and helpful. We wish and pray that soon we find an amicable solution.
The Reading Room problem has kept James always on his toe. He is always on a move
to meet and consult different people. Ed had a weeklong course at XIM from 5-10
December. Again on the 21st he was invited to give a talk on VALUES to the budding
scientists at Regional Science Research Centre. James and Jerome had their outing too
when the Loyola Bhavan Community (HLC, Kendrapara and Loyola School) went to
Puri for a picnic. Ed was unfortunate on this occasion. He stayed at home since he had a
class. All three of us had Christmas Mass in three different places – James went to
Loyola School, Ed had his Mass in the house and Jerome went to the parish. Ed will be
Home Alone for a couple of days (26-27 December). James will be going to Aligonda to
attend Daya‟s ordination and Jerome will go to Jamshedpur for Triduum.
Fr C L George made his annual retreat at HLC. Call it incidental or providential, he was
here when we needed prayers most. He prayed for us when we were going through a hard
time.
Loyola School, Bhubaneswar
- Jerome Kerketta
Ajit spent eight days in a “Vacation with the Lord” at Sahavikas, Phulbani under the able
guidance of Gyan P Kujur. His Ordination Day is just round the corner – the 7 th of
January, 2006, in his home parish.
Tony traveled to Kendrapara to inaugurate the St Joseph‟s Annual School Fair – 2005 on
17 December as Chief Guest while James Tharaniyil played the role of Guest of
Honour.
The Annual Day 2005 was a super- hit, a mega show, to say the least. What was special
about it? It was telecast live on OTV from start to finish – full five hours! People all over
Orissa were able to watch it in the comfort of their homes on OTV Samathkar – free of
cost – courtesy of Ortel Communication Ltd. the sole firm that supplies Internet
Connection. Nagendra Kumar Pradhan, Hon‟able Minsiter of School and Mass Education
was the Chief Guest and Shri. K C Mohapatra IAS was the Guest of Honour and Shri.
Sandeep Tripathy IFS was a Special Guest. All of them applauded and, in chorus,
declared in the presence of a three thousand plus gathering that Loyola was the best
English Medium School in the Temple City. The Chief Guest released the Inaugural
School Magazine, titled Loyola Xpressions. Eric worked as he only can to co-ordinate

the on stage performance while Pascal and Ajit took charge off stage. Tony was left to
watch with his head held high in sheer admiration at the fruit of teamwork.
On the same evening at yet another function Tony was awarded at the State level the
Citizen Award 2004-2005 in the field of Best English Medium School for the year 2005
in a survey conducted by a leading Oriya Weekly THE HOTNEWS. The award was
conferred on Tony for making Loyola different – both in academics and activities. At the
moment we are gearing ourselves to select a fresh set of teachers through a three-tier
system comprising of a written test – live demo- and panel interview. We need to recruit
4 teachers for the Junior School and another 4 for the Senior.
Loyola Sunday Mass Centre continues to vibrate with the fervour of the faithful. There
was a “Full House” gathering on Sunday, 18 December to bring in the Christmas spirit.
As Priest-in-Charge, Tony, celebrated the Eucharist while Deacon Ajit delivered the
homily. It was followed by an evening of Christmas carols, dance and High Tea at which
Rev Joe Kalathil, VG and Pastor, along with James Tharni were present. It was an
evening for bonhomie and fellowship.
Finally, after just talking about having a Community Picnic for the past five years, we
had an outing at the Villa leased out to XIMB on Puri beach. Through the courtesy of C
L George, the famous ten of Loyola Bhavan, Loyola School, Bhubaneswar and Pajikeri,
HLC and St Joseph‟s, Kendrapara had a day in the sun and sand of Puri beach. Minister
Oscar Rodericks pulled out all stops to make sure that we would not forget this day in a
hurry and, Acting Superior, James Tharni caught it all on his camera lens.
Ajit left for Sambalpur to oversee the arrangements for his Ordination, Tony to Atma
Darshan, Patna, to make his retreat in preparation for his Final Vows in February, and
Eric to Tata and Dhanbad for the Finale to the Golden Jubilee celebrations at De Nobili,
Dhanbad.
After visiting the Chinese dentist in Mango, Pascal was left toothless – for the next two
months. He has not slowed down in the least He is getting “into it”, getting to know the
“territory” and the moment. Phiroze, the Contractor, appears on the scene, the day is not
far when he will not have time to breathe.
- Tony P Raj
Loyola School, Jamshedpur
The second half of November and the first half of December have been indeed hectic
days with a plethora of activities that kept the staff and the students on tender hooks. The
schools that were participating in the Dr Irani Award for Excellence in Education were
visited by a team of assessors each in the first week of December. The assessment team
was in the School for five days and at the end of their assessment they gave their
feedback to entire school faculty. They were very much impressed by the school
ambience, its facilities and infrastructure, but at the same time they commented on the
lack of dedication and commitment from the part of teacher.

The School Annual Sports Day held in JRD Sports Complex on 17 December was very
much applauded and appreciated by everyone present in the stadium. Dr Nitish Kulkarni,
the Deputy Commissioner of East Singhbhum, was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The
spectacular drill displays put up by 3 different groups of Junior School held the entire
stadium spell-bound while the magnificent march-past and tableau on the „International
Year of Physics” put up by the Senior School students “have had no parallel so far” as
someone put it. The School closed for X‟mas vacation on the 20 th with a tearful farewell
to our 12thers in the Senior School after which a beautiful X‟mas play was put up for the
entire School by the Junior School students.
Frs Oscar, Felix, Alex and others spent many agonizing days writing the application for
the registration of the Jamshedpur Jesuit Society and Loyola, Jamshedpur, under the
directive from the new Jharkhand Government. On 23 December, Frs Oscar and Alex
went to Ranchi to submit the registration papers while Frs James and Saby went to
DNS, Digwadih, to join in the Golden Jubilee celebrations. As this report goes to the
press, Frs Vatta and Felix are making their annual retreat while Frs Oscar, Alex, Cyril
and Br Maxi are down South in Mangalore giving moral and spiritual support to our new
ordinandi Jerome, Staney and Donald. 15 Regents of our Province had spent two days
in Loyola undergoing intensive coaching in basketball before they left for Mango for
their Triduum which was directed by Fr Rich Kenna.
- Saby Puthenpura
Purulia
The Children‟s Day, which was postponed due to the second terminal examinations, was
celebrated on 19 November in a different style. There was a short prayer service followed
by prize distribution and a cricket match: Principal‟s XI and Sister-in-charge‟s XI. The
Principal‟s team won with good scores.
The 500th birth anniversary of St Francis Xavier, the patron saint of the School, was very
memorably celebrated on 3 December. To mark this auspicious day a statue of St Francis
Xavier donated by the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province was installed in the School garden in
the presence of the staff and students. Fr Emmanuel Horo unveiled the statue and blessed
it with apt prayers and intentions. Our sincere thanks to Fr Provincial for the jubilee gift.
This event was followed by IXth Annual School Prize day celebrations which came off
very well. The chief guest was Dr R Siva Kumar, IPS, the Superintendent of Purulia who
spoke highly of our School as one of the best and well run institutions. He also gave away
proficiency awards to our star performers in academics and students with cent percent
attendance. The internal assessment of our ICSE students has been almost completed.
In the Catholic Ashram, the hostel boys celebrated their hostel day by variety of
entertainments before the large audience. The same evening the birthday of Fr Junas

Bhengra was celebrated in the house with a gathering, the largest as ever, of Fathers and
Sisters. Br Sonu rushed to Mango to make his annual retreat
We are very happy to inform you that 35 athletes from our School, who participated in
the Second Inter School Athletic Meet held at Adra consisting of four schools on 10
December, came out with an outstanding performance by winning the over all team
championship trophy by scoring 89 points over their nearest contestants St John De Britto
School, Gomoh with 84 points. Our team won 13 gold, 8 silver and 5 bronze medals.
The outstanding performance of our School was the inter school 4X200 meters senior
boys Relay Race. Kudos to Fr Edward Saldanha for organizing the quadrangular sports
meet single handedly so well.
- Hilary Lobo
TRTC
Tom met with a minor accident and dislocated his right shoulder but he has recovered
pretty fast. On 7 December Mike T Raj and Romanus went to Bhubaneswar and shifted
the communication equipments to TRTC. On 22 December TRTC Community along
with the staff went for a picnic. P M Tony went to Joda for Christmas ministry. Mike T
Raj, Mike Tirkey and Romanus Jojo went to Bordor for Christmas. Clement and
Blacius helped out in the parish. Mike T Raj conducted four overnight insight camps on
how to prepare for Matric exams for the 10 th standard students. There were 267
participants. Mike Tirkey inaugurated a Yuva Jumur Shop at Lagia on 22 December. Fr
Alex Misquith and Br Wency successfully completed their Annual Retreat at TRTC.
- Romanus Jojo
XLRI
3 December 2005, Feast Day of St Francis Xavier, Patron of the Institute, was celebrated
with usual gaiety and fervour. It all began with a concelebrated Holy Eucharist at 8.30
a.m. where Bishop Emeritus JR Rodericks S J was the Principal Celebrant. He kick
started the Triple Jubilee Celebration of the 500 th Birth Anniversary of St Francis Xavier
and Blessed Peter Faber and 450 th Death Anniversary of St Ignatius of Loyola. The
Bishop also blessed the new statue of St Xavier gifted by Fr Provincial. To
commemorate the occasion Raj prepared a picture card, which could be used as a
bookmark as well, of all the three jubilarian saints with their pictures and prayers. These
were distributed to all who attended the morning mass and in the evening to those faculty
and staff who attended the high tea organized for them by the Institute and also to all the
clergy and religious who came for the festal celebration at the Tome Jesuit Residence the
following day. Thank you, Raj and Welch for all the grand shows.
The Institute hosted several MDPs and In-company programmes during the month.
Gordon, Managing Director of Timken India, Mr Kirit Parekh, Member Planning

Commission, Government of India, were among the dignitaries who visited the Institute
and interacted with the faculty and students.
N Casimir Raj participated in the Asia Pacific HR Conference organized in Chennai in
early December. Paul and Augustine took time off to make their annual retreat at the B
Ed College and Loyola School, respectively.
- Augustine Ezhakunnel
From Berkeley
I have completed my first semester quite well - three research papers and a project as part
of my course requirements. From 18 December our Christmas holiday begins.
I am going to Los Angeles on 21 December with one of my class-mates. It takes about 9
to 10 hours by road. I will spend two nights there in one of the Jesuit Communities and
hope to meet E.C. Sebastian, a Jesuit priest from Patna, on the 22nd. On the 23rd a Jesuit
companion of my Community at Berkeley will take me to his house and I will celebrate
my Christmas with him. On the 26 th another Jesuit companion will take me to San Diego,
about two hours from Los Angeles. On 28 December I will return to Berkeley.
On 8 November Hector D‟Souza, POSA, and Greg, Kohima Superior visited Berkeley.
Their visit brought all the Indian Jesuits together and we had a Eucharistic celebration
and a nice fellowship meal.
From Mexico
- Francis Ezhakunnel
I write this message from Parras, a parish in the north of Mexico, not far from the US
border. I am here as part of our apostolic experience. It is a huge parish with 45000
parishioners and many Mass-centres. I go around visiting village chapels and say Mass. It
is very cold here. The people in the villages are rather very poor. I will go back to our
tertianship in Guadalajara after Christmas. We begin our long-retreat in the first week of
January. Please remember us in your prayers.
- Joseph Xavier
Courses
At Atmadarshan, Patna
27 Feb – 07 Mar : Eight Day Retreat by Fr R Schmidt, SJ
13 – 21 Mar : Feminine Consciousness Retreat for Women Religious
by Sr Amala, SND and team
27 Mar – 04 Apr : Eight Day Retreat by Fr R Schmidt, SJ

At Navjyoti Niketan, Patna
01 – 17 Apr : Leadership Programme for Unorganised Youth by
Fr Ozzie Saldanha, SJ and team
15 May – 17 Jun : Basic Hindi Course by Fr Jose Chirackal and team
25 – 31 May : Scripture for Priests & Religious by Fr Joseph
Kallarangatt, SJ
02 – 06 Jun : Convention for Catechists organized by NJN team
At Sadhana, Lonavla
20 Mar – 09 Apr : Personal Growth Group
01 May – 15 Jun : Formative Guidance
JESUIT ARTISTS‟ WORKSHOP III (JAW III)
JESCOM South Asia and Gurjarvani invite all Jesuit Visual Artists (Painters,
Sculptors, Graphic artists and Computer Graphic/Animation artists) of South Asian Jesuit
Assistancy to come for the Jesuit Artists‟ Workshop III (JAW III) at Sameeksha, Kerala,
1-10 May, 2006.
Across the River
Fr Deonis Tirkey (MAP) died on 19.11.2005 76/55
Fr Michael Irudayam, S. (MDU) died on 13.12.2005 at Madurai 75/53
Mrs Teresa Pani, mother of Fr Bipin Pani of Catholic Charities, expired on 27 December
in Jamshedpur.
Nigeria - On the morning of December 11 the news agencies reported the plane crash in
Port Harcourt, in Nigeria. The jetliner, carrying 110 people, broke into pieces. There were
only seven survivors some of whom died within a few hours. The President of Nigeria
called it “a national tragedy”, especially in view of the fact that the majority of the
passengers were young people between the age of 12 and 16 years old. All the youngsters
were students of Loyola High School in Abuja heading home to spend Christmas with
their families. The number of death was 60: around 10 students escaped the tragedy
because they had deplaned in the previous stop. Loyola High has a boarding school for
605 boys. The Jesuit community is doing its best to assist the students who are suffering
from shock, and to console the families. The Provincial went to Port Harcourt to hold a
meeting with the parents. Various religious services are being offered in both cities.
Anniversaries
04 Dec – Fr Herbet J Covely

09 Dec – Fr Richard J Neu
12 Dec Fr Michael Saldanha
20 Dec – Fr John B Murray
30 Dec – Fr John J Blandin
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