Father Thainese, our pastor, is a priest of the  diocese of Kadapa.

He will be preaching the mission appeal for his home diocese during the Masses on 19/20 of September 2020.

Kadapa diocese is one of the 120 Latin Rite dioceses in India. Kadapa, which was erected as diocese in 1977, consists of two civil districts, namely Kadapa and Chittoor civil districts (please see the map) in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

The catholic population is 85,000, with 68 parishes, 130 priests. 30 priests are working in abroad and 15 priests are retired. Each parish comprises of 5 to 15 small villages. 80% of Catholics belong to scheduled castes (socially and economically poor) people and they are agricultural laborers. The main thrust of the diocese is evangelization and education.

The monthly budget of the diocese is $20,000 US dollars. It includes various needs such as monthly allowances to the priests, catechists (some 450), some nuns, medical bills to the priests, utility bills to some parishes as well as charity. 

This budget is met from monthly tithing of the priest who work abroad, mission appeals , some donations, and some little income from some schools in the towns of the diocese.

This year the economic situation is really bad. The schools are not yet reopened, parishes don’t get any Sunday offerings (Sunday is complete lockdown to reduce the spread of Covid-19) and some priests are victims of Covid-19 and treating them incurs heavy bills. Hence, there is a need to support the diocese of Kadapa and show our Christian solidarity.

Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Please wait to listen to some stories of mission experiences from Fr Thainese during all the Masses 19/20 September 2020.

You can’t miss it.