On April 24 and 25, 2019, the Province of South India continued its 2019 Ordinations to the priesthood. The province previously kicked off its Ordinations for the year on February 20, with the Ordination of Fr. Rajashekhar Gundiga, C.S.C.
The second to be ordained for the province was Fr. Joyson Barboza, C.S.C., on April 24. The Ordination Mass took place at his home parish of St. John the Evangelist Church in Pangella. The Most Rev. Gerald Isaac Lobo, Bishop of the Diocese of Udupi, presided and preached. There were about 25 priests who celebrated the Mass and joined Bishop Lobo in the Laying on of Hands during the Rite of Ordination.
About 500 people participated in the Ordination, including a number of Holy Cross brothers and religious sisters. Seminarians from the Province assisted at the solemn ceremony. All of them joined in the celebratory meal following the Mass.
Fr. Barboza is already the third Holy Cross priest to be ordained from St. John the Evangelist Church in Pangella. The two men previously ordained from the parish are brothers: Fr. Simon Fernandes, C.S.C., Superior of the Province of North East India, and Fr. Ronald Fernandes, C.S.C., of the Province of South India.
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The next to be ordained for the Province of South India was Fr. Wilfred Dias, C.S.C. The Most Rev. Derek Fernandes, Bishop of the Diocese of Karwar, presided and preached at the Mass on April 25. The ceremony took place on the DSFS school grounds in Kodani.
Once again, around 25 concelebrants joined in the celebration. Overall, there were approximately 700 people in attendance, including over 50 people who traveled by bus from the parish where Fr. Dias served as a deacon.
Still awaiting their Ordinations in the coming weeks are the Final Vows classmates of Fr. Gundiga, Fr. Barboza, and Fr. Dias: Deacons Bharath Putti, C.S.C., and Chinnaiah Saripudi, C.S.C. All five professed Final Vows on October 15, 2018, at St. Andre Home in Sakalavara, Bangalore.
They were ordained deacons the following morning, October 16, by the Most Rev. Peter Machado, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bangalore.
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These five Ordinations for the Province of South India are a part of 11 anticipated priestly Ordinations for the Congregation of Holy Cross in India in 2019. The Province of North East India has already celebrated the Ordination of Fr. Prasanta Basumatary, C.S.C., on March 3, 2019, and it still awaits two more Ordinations in May. The Vicariate of Tamil Nadu also will have three Ordinations to the Priesthood this year.