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Gurpur: The Year 2021 will be a historic year for the Gurpur parishioners as they will be celebrating the centenary of the church which is the only church dedicated to Our Lady of Pompei in the diocese of Mangalore . The church is located 18kms from Mangalore on Moodbidri road and is under the Kandavar gram panchayat in Gurpura, Kaikamba. Apart from Kandavar its borders stretch out to Neighboring villages such as Muloor, Badagaulipady, Paduperar, Kolambe, Gurpur and Addoor villages. There are 418 families under this parish with a population of 1700 . Currently Fr. Antony Lobo is serving as the parish priest and is striving hard for the betterment of the parish.
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100 years ago, people of this parish used to commute for 12 Kms to Pezar church for their spiritual needs. In 1912 , a new church was built at Ferar after parting from Pezar after which the worshippers started to go to this parish. Due to the increase in the number of families and the problems faced by them, they thought of building a chapel in this area. Fr. Reginald Pinto the then, parish priest of Ferar laid the foundation for the chapel on October 7, 1915 . Rev. Fr. J.M Menezes completed the work of the chapel and it was blessed by the then Bishop Rev. Fr. Paul Perini on October 29, 1918 .On request from local Catholics and on the consent of bishop it was declared as an independent church and was dedicated to our lady of Pompei on 8th May 1921 by parting from Ferar church. Rev. Fr. A.A.E Colaco was appointed as the first parish priest. Thereafter 13 priests have served our church until now. Currently Rev. Fr. Antony Lobo along with the Vice President, Secretary and all members of parish council are rendering service for the all round development of the church.
The people of this parish are blessed with numerous talents and have excelled in educational, medical and sports fields and have brought laurels to this church. Children studied in Pompei church school which was started in 1922 have excelled in studies and have settled well in life. Since 1965, Bethany sisters of Pompei and Rosa Mystica Convents have been rendering their service by imparting quality education to all sections of people through their educational institutions. Organizations such as Sneha Sadana and Jeevadana have been serving patients with AIDS and have been taking care of orphans and the aged. The Church's magazine "Pompeichem Falkhem" has been updating people on all the activities and programmes held in the church. The organisation like PYC (ICYM), YCS , St. Vincent de Paul, Altar boys, Catholic Sabha, women's wing, Sodality of Mary, Secular Franciscan and Choir group have been rendering their service for the betterment of the parish. Every Sunday, the catechism classes are held for the children studying in 1st standard to PUC.
Centenary celebrations begins with the inaugural on 4th November 2020 at 10 A.M. by bishop Emeritus Most. Rev. Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza with the festive mass followed by unveiling of centenary logo, hoisting of the flag and will give start for all the proposed projects.
On the occasion of Centenary celebration, church is planning to construct a new belfry, repair the Church roof, and complete the maintenance work of the historic holy cross. It is also planning to put interlocks around the church and carry out other work.
The centenary celebrations will be held on November 7th 2021, Sunday at 4pm. Bishop of Mangalore Dr. Peter Paul Saldanha will preside over the function. On this occasion the centenary “souvenir “will be released which will streamline the various projects and development work undertaken during the year.
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The press meet held at Mangalore press club Today. During the press meet Fr. Antony Lobo Parish priest, Richard Fernandes Vice -president of Parish Pastoral Council, Jerald Lobo, Secretary of Parish Pastoral Council, Praveen Lobo and Jaison Siqueira Committee members.