Brief History of Barkumba Church
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The newly constructed village church at BARKUMBA has been dedicated to ST ANTHONY OF PADUA. The Church was blessed by Most Rev. Vincent Aind, D.D. on June 17, 2024.
In 1982 ARAGATE PARISH was bifurcated from SAMLONG PARISH and it fell under the care of Fr. JOHN JOSEPH OFM CAP.. Initially he repaired the old chapel and later built a church for the faithful which was blessed in 1987.
There were 6 units of ARAGATE PARISH: SIKIDRI-JOBLA, GETALSUD, JONHA, BAHYA, BIT MESHRA AND BARKUMBA-JARATOLI.
In the beginning of the mission, a devout catholic family of late JOHN LINDA, JOSEPH LINDA, DHARAMDAS LINDA AND ENTIRE LINDA FAMILY regularly came together for prayer and worship. It was the goodwill and devotion of late JOHN LINDA that inspired him to take lead in offering hereditary land for the Church for which he faced lot of resistance.
Later under the leadership of late Fr. WILSON ANDRADE OFM CAP. a small chapel was built for the faithful. The Catechist late CARLUS EKKA AND JOHN LINDA played a significant role in building the Chapel at BARKUMBA.
As the number of faithful increased the then Parish Priest Fr. SANTHOSH D'SOUZA OFM CAP. obtained a permission letter from MOST REV FELIX TOPPO SJ, ARCHBISHOP OF RANCHI ON September 7, 2022 to build a village Church at BARKUMBA.
The local faithful: SANJAY TOPPO (BALU DA) RAJESH LINDA, VIJAY TOPPO ( Catechist) ARVIND TOPPO, JOSEPH TOPPO, AJAY HERUNDAR AND ROSHAN LINDA united and motivated the people and themselves worked day and night for the construction of the Church.
The Parish Priest FR BASIL RUNDA, THE FAITHFUL OF ARAGATE AND BARKUMBA AND CAPUCHIN CONGREGATION OF ST FIDELIS PROVINCE PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE TO MAKE THE DREAM A REALITY. The inaguration and blessing ceremony of the village church on June 17, 2024 is a memorable event for the faithful of BARKUMBA
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