Summer 2012 [pdf] - The Mill Hill Missionaries

Missionaryfrom the GorbalsThe Legacy of Fr Frank Crumblish mhmby Fr Bill Tollan mhmIt was my first year as a member of theGeneral Council in Mill Hill, 1988-1989.St Joseph’s College was a busy place,with a community of about 60 - madeup of students, visiting missionaries,College staff, the Generalate members,and others. At breakfast one morningthere were two young Indian priestswho had arrived the night before. I sat attable with them, and we began to talk.When they heard I came from Scotland,and indeed from Glasgow, they leanedforward eagerly and asked did I knowFr Frank Crumblish mhm. I knew of FrFrank but had never met him. They wenton to say how theyowed everythingto him, and relatedsome of his manyachievements inhis many yearsin India, and inparticular in thetown of Cuddapah.They spoke soeagerly and withsuch conviction Iasked them to writedown what they had told me, and whatthey wrote was published as an articlein the Spring edition of St Joseph’sAdvocate in 1989.Fr Tollan with the priests fromCuddapah, 1989.Fr Crumblish died in India on 12th June1969, aged 71, but his legacy lives on.The mission he established in Cuddapahis now the centre of a Diocese. Oneof those two Indian priests became itssecond Bishop, and is now the Bishopof Nellore. On the 21st of April thisyear, another son of the diocese, JosephBaskar Babu Gangarapu, was ordained tothe Priesthood as a Mill Hill Missionary.He has been assigned to work in a newMill Hill missionary outreach in anotherpart of Indis.Born on May 7th1898, Frank was aparishioner of StFrancis Parish inthe Gorbals. Hisfather was a printer.After leaving schoolFrank worked asa printer and asa grocer. He thenserved in the Navyfor five years, andsaw action in theFirst World War. He began his formationas a Mill Hill Missionary in Freshfieldin 1920, and was ordained at Mill Hillin 1930. He was appointed toIndia where he was to spendthe next 39 years of his lifeworking among poor low-castepeople who were then referredto as ‘Untouchables’. In 1934he bought 50 acres of land andset about the task of foundinga Christian village which hecalled ‘Mariapuram’ – thevillage of Mary. He began withten families, about forty or fiftypeople in all. He helped themto build their own homes, andlaid his plans to provide schoolsFruit of Fr Frank’s work - Ordination ofIndian mhm.and education. Education would be thekey to increase the people’s sense of selfworth,and provide opportunities forimproving their status in society.Mariapuram grew into a big parish andbecame the second most importantcentre of the Diocese of Nellore. Heestablished a boys’ high school thatprovided an excellent education forthousands of poor children, and theopportunity for employment. A MinorSeminary was also started which in duetime produced many priests for thediocese. He also took steps to provideeducation for girls, an unusual thingat that time. At his death in 1969Catholic Chapel, Pargi, India.Fr Frank’s funeral was the occasion fora great outpouring of love from thepeople he had served so faithfully. Hewas laid to rest in the parish Churchof Mariapuram. To this day, after Massor evening prayers people go up to histomb to say a prayer. His anniversary iscelebrated every year.Ten years after his death the missionhe had begun became the centre of anew Diocese. The Church where he wasburied is now the Cathedral. A new girls’school and a printing press are bothnamed after Fr Crumblish. A ‘Women’sCommunity Development Centre’ hasbeen established, and a ‘Multi-purposeSocial Service Society.’ The local Churchhas produced many vocations to thepriesthood and religious life, - andnow also a new Mill Hill Missionary,Fr Joseph Baskar BabuGangarapu. All thesedevelopments havearisen because of thevision and self-sacrificeof one humble manfrom the Gorbals.Young Fr Crumblish.1213