Rev. Fr. Prem Kumar D’souza
Parish Priest Of Our Lady of Lourdes Friary (OFM) Mundalli.
Our Lady of Lourdes ChurchMundalli - Bhatkal
As the oral tradition goes, there was a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes on the very spot of the present Church of Mundalli (foundation of the mission unit) since 1907. Manki being the parish church, Murdeshwar and Bhatkal were its sub-stations. Gradually two more substations, Ternamakki and Shirali, were added to the Manki Mission unit. In the course of time Murdeshwar got the status of being the parish church, with Shirali, Ternamakki, and Bhatkal as its sub-stations. These places were looked after for many years by Fr. Vincent Pereira (1957-1974), the Diocesan Priest of the Diocese of Belgaum, who was the Parish Priest of Murdeshwar and of the whole of Bhatkal Taluk.
For most of the official work, fixing of marriage, etc., people from Bhatkal always had to go to Murdeshwar, and this was inconvenient for the people. Therefore, from the year 1957, the chapel had its own registration of all the sacraments.
The Franciscans (O.F.M.) were searching for a mission in North Kanara. It was in 1974 that the Bhatkal mission was offered to the Franciscans. The Franciscan Friars (Fr. Paul Fernandes OFM was the first Franciscan Friar to arrive in Bhatkal as Priest in-Charge of Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel) arrived in Bhatkal in the month of September 1974. Fr. Nicholas D’Souza OFM joined him in October 1974. The late Bishop Ignatius Lobo, the then Bishop of Belgaum, who was a classmate of Fr. Paul Fernandes was responsible for inviting the Franciscans to Bhatkal. The Franciscan Friars and the Parishioners of Bhatkal are indebted to him for his invitation. On 24 January 1976 Pope Paul VI, in his Decree Christi Missum, separated Karwar from the Diocese of Belgaum and erected it as an independent Diocese. On the 11th of February 1979, Bhatkal was erected as a full-fledged parish by the late Bishop William D’Mello, the Bishop of Karwar. It was during Franciscan Pastoral Ministry; the church was built in 1983. From `1986 to 1989 the bishop took the parish back and appointed Fr. Lawrence Pereira the diocesan priest. On 23rd March 1989, once again Bhatkal was given back to the Franciscans by the Bishop of Karwar “in perpetuum,” and since then Bhatkal Parish has been under the care of the Franciscan Order of St. Thomas Province in India.
Since there was a lack of space in the church, the parish church was again renovated in the year 2019 by the then parish priest, Fr. Nicholas D’Souza, OFM. From May 2021 onwards, Fr. Prem D’Souza has been serving as the parish priest of the parish, and Dr. Dharma has been serving as the assisting priest. The parish has around 197 families and around 660 Catholic parishioners. The church has its own cemetery behind the church building on the hill slope, which also has a history of over 90 years.
St. Joseph Chapel:
Our Lady of Lourdes Mundalli, Bhatkal, has a sub-station, which is called St. Joseph Chapel Puravarga. When Fr. Paul Fernandes arrived in Bhatkal in 1974, there was no chapel to pray for the people of Puravarga. The Friars used to have the Sunday Mass in parishioners’ houses. Even during the time of Fr. Vincent Pereira (1957-1974), Mass was celebrated in the houses. Sr. Bebiana Noronha, an Ursuline Franciscan Sister, used to teach catechism to the children and prepare them for the Mass.
It was the intention of Fr. Paul Fernandes, OFM, to build a chapel in Puravarga itself so that the people could pray and celebrate the Eucharist. Fr. Agnel D’Mello OFM, who arrived in Bhatkal in January 1976, initiated this process and made a project for the construction of a chapel in the cemetery that was granted by the Government of Karnataka. Later on, the Franciscan Friars who were working in Bhatkal Taluk dropped the idea of building a chapel in the cemetery due to the distance. Therefore, they began to search for a new place for the construction of a chapel. Fr. Nicholas, who became the Parish Priest of Bhatkal in June 1983, played a very major role in buying 10 guntas of land from the Government of Karnataka beside the main road Puravarga (Bhatkal). On 16th December 1985, the foundation was laid for the construction of the Chapel by Bishop William D’Mello in the presence of R. N. Naik, MLA, and the faithful of Puravarga. Fr. Lawrence Pereira of the Diocese of Karwar took charge of Bhatkal Parish in June 1986 and completed the construction work of the Chapel in Puravarga. The Chapel was inaugurated and blessed on 19th March 1987 by the late Bishop William D’Mello in the presence of priests, religious, and the faithful of Bhatkal. After the inauguration, the Catholics of Puravarga gathered in the chapel every day in the evenings to pray. Though it bears the name St. Joseph’s Church,” it is only a sub-station (chapel) of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Mundalli. It is situated about 4 km to the south from the Bhatkal bus stop on the Bhatkal-Mangalore road.
When the Friars arrived in Bhatkal, there were about 25 families in Puravarga, and now it has grown in number as well as in spirituality. The substation, St. Joseph Chapel, has 95 families and around 300 faithful. The priest resides in the parish and reaches out to the spiritual, moral, and economic needs of the faithful. Also serves for the social well-being of the people without discrimination.
No | Year | Name of the Priests |
|---|---|---|
01 | 1974 – 1974 | Fr. Paul Fernandes |
02 | 1974 | Fr. Nicholas D’Souza |
03 | 1976 – 1979 | Fr. Angel D’mello |
04 | 1979 – 1980 | Fr. Paul Fernandes |
05 | 1980 – 1983 | Fr. Simon Pinto |
06 | 1983 – 1986 | Fr. Nicholas D’Souza |
07 | 1986 – 1989 | Fr. Lawrence Pereira |
08 | 1989 – 1992 | Fr. Valentine Crasta |
09 | 1992 – 1998 | Fr. Dharma L. Bernard |
10 | 1998 – 2004 | Fr. Valerian Quadros |
11 | 2004 – 2007 | Fr. Cajetan Laurenco |
12 | 2007 – 2010 | Fr. Alphonse Moras |
13 | 2010 – 2014 | Fr. Balthazar Pinto |
14 | 2014 – 2016 | Fr. Alwyn D’Souza |
15 | 2016 | Fr. Prashanth Fernandes |
16 | 2016 – 2020 | Fr. Nicholas D’Souza |
17 | 2020 – 2021 | Fr. Cajetan Laurenco |
18 | 2021- Onwards | Fr. Prem Kumar D’Souza |
