Rev. Fr. John Rodrigues
Rector Holy Cross Orientation Centre Shirwad.
Holy Cross Orientation Centre, ShirwadKarwar
“The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to gather in the harvest.” (Lk 10:12). When the Diocese was created we had just about 21 priests of the Diocese, many of them advanced in age and very few seminarians studying for the diocese in various seminaries. Recruiting candidates for priesthood and arranging for their all-round priestly formation was the top priority of Rt. Rev. Dr. William D’Mello, the first Bishop of Karwar Diocese as a result of which the Diocese is proud to have a rich harvest of young priests ordained for the diocese now and many more in various stages of formation.
The first vocations recruited for the Diocese continued to be sent to St. Michael’s seminary, Macche, Belgaum for their minor seminary studies. But the bishop felt the need of having a minor seminary of our own with a view of forming seminarians in our diocesan pastoral, our cultural and linguistic ambience. Keeping this in mind the diocesan orientation centre at Shirwad, Karwar, named as “Holy Cross Seminary” was started on 15th June, 1992 with Rev. Fr. William Rasquinha as the first Rector and Deacon Alfie D’Silva as his assistant. It had a humble beginning with just six candidates. Since the present seminary block in Puneeth Sadan was not fully ready the Deacon and the candidates resided in a small building in the campus and the rector lived in another house close by. The rector was also given additional responsibility as a curator to supervise the finishing touches to Puneeth Sadan, of building the compound wall and of planning the road and the garden.
The entire building of Puneeth Sadan (“Abode of holiness”) has three parts: Bishop’s house with the administrative block, the diocesan pastoral centre and the seminary block. The Seminary block was the first to start functioning in 1993 with a new group of 12 candidates. On the formal blessing and inauguration day of the seminary block the bishop in his speech said, “We have named the seminary as Holy Cross Orientation Centre, so that the seminarians may be formed under the shadow of the cross. We have attached it to the Bishop’s house so that they may grow under the vigilant and watchful guidance of the Bishop. We have kept it close to the Diocesan Pastoral Centre so that they may grow in touch with and influence of the priests coming there and be formed as fruitful future pastors.”
The candidates are interviewed by the bishop in the presence of their parents/guardians and the Rector of the seminary. Since most of them join after SSLC in Kannada medium they undergo one year of orientation course, after which they do two years of PUC in the nearby colleges in Karwar. During the college studies their spiritual formation continues in the Seminary with emphasis on initiation to prayer, spiritual conferences, glimpses of liturgy, introduction to Bible, salvation history and Church history. The curriculum also includes learning of liturgical music, a crash course in English, personality development and general knowledge. A sprinkling of manual labour, physical exercise and games and learning the art of cooking, as also involvement in the pastoral work in the Parish forms part of their formation.
With the acceptance of the Neo-catechumenal way as a way of Christian formation of adult Catholics in the diocese and opening the way in some parishes, the Neo-catechumenal method of formation of priests was also considered along with the traditional formation of the seminarians. For this a second Holy Cross Orientation Centre was started in the presbytery of San Salvador Church, Honavar. After three years of formation in Holy Cross seminary at Shirwad in Karwar they are sent to this seminary where they do three years degree in the local college. Here they have an exposure to the Neo-catechumenal way. After this they are sent to the major seminaries according to the discretion and decision of the Bishop. Those who show a desire to be formed as missionary priests out of their free will are sent to Redemptoris Mater College, the Karwar Diocesan Missionary Major Seminary at Marath Halli, Bangalore where they are formed in the Neo-catechumenal communities. Unfortunately the second seminary in Honavar was joined to the seminary at Shirwad, Karwar in 2020 due to the unavoidable circumstances of covid-19 pandemic.
At present we have 18 candidates studying in different stages with Fr. John Rodrigues as the Rector and Fr. Sachin D’Souza as the Vice-Rector. We have a full time spiritual director and English teacher in the person of Msgr. Simon Tellis. Fr. Nirmal Kumar takes classes in Catechetics and Fr. Ronny Rodrigues takes the sacraments. Mrs. Sushila Siddi and Mrs. Celine Fernandes toil hard in the kitchen to keep the seminarians physically fit.
Many of those who have passed through the portals of the Holy Cross seminary at Shirwad have become Holy talented and enthusiastic priests and are doing fruitful mission and pastoral ministry not only in Karwar diocese but in other dioceses of India and abroad. They cherish the several memories of their Alma Mater. The rectors who have formed them are as follows:
No | Year | Name of the Priests |
|---|---|---|
01 | 1992 | Fr. William Rasquinha |
02 | 1996 | Fr. Britto D’Silva |
03 | 1999 | Fr. David Pinto |
04 | 2006 | Fr. Nirmal Kumar Miranda |
05 | 2010 | Fr. Gnana Prakash Rao |
06 | 2015 | Fr. Joachim Fernandes |
07 | 2018 | Fr. Baptist Gomes |
08 | 2019 | Fr. Ambrose Fernandes |
09 | 2022 | Fr. John Rodrigues |
- Puneeth Sadan, Shirwad, Karwar
- 08382-282986