Holy Family Catholic Church (Srinagar)

Holy Family Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church located at Maulana Azad Road, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. It was established in 1896 by Msgr. Winkley MHM.[1][2][3] Before the Curia moved to Jammu on 23 December 1986, the parish served as a cathedral when the Curia was in Srinagar.[4] Holy Family Catholic Church and All Saints Protestant Church are the two main churches for the minority Christian community in the city.[2]

Holy Family Catholic Church
LocationSrinagar
CountryIndia
DenominationRoman Catholic
Weekly attendance50
History
StatusParish Church
Founded1896 (1896)
Founder(s)Msgr. Winkley MHM
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Specifications
Capacity200
Bells1
Administration
ParishHoly Family Parish
ArchdioceseRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi
DioceseRoman Catholic Diocese of Jammu–Srinagar
Clergy
ArchbishopAnil Joseph Thomas Couto
Bishop(s)Ivan Pereira
Priest in chargeFr. Roy Matthews

Arson and reconstruction

The church was set on fire on 7 June 1967 by protestors demonstrating against the Arab-Israeli war.[5][6][7] During the arson, the belfry was destroyed.[5][6][7] The church was rebuilt,[7] and in 2017 a new church bell, which was donated by a Kashmiri Indian Christian family and made in the Indian city of Moradabad, was installed at Holy Family Catholic Church.[6] This occurred in an interfaith service, in which Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh clergymen assembled “to jointly ring the new bell for the first time in the past 50 years”.[7]

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See also

References
  1. "Bell Rings in Kashmir Church After 50 Years, Bringing Together People of All Faiths". The Wire. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  2. Satish, DP (9 December 2014). "J&K polls: Invisible native Christians, least talked about and most neglected". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 13 February 2016. Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar has two churches - Holy Family Catholic Church on Maulana Azad road and the Protestant's All Saints Church near Sher-E-Kashmir cricket stadium.
  3. "Christians celebrate Christmas in Indian-controlled Kashmir". Xinhua News Agency. 25 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  4. "Diocese of Jammu - Srinagar | A diocese was erected on September 7, 1986, with St. Mary's Jammu Cantt, as Cathedral". www.jammusrinagardiocese.org. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  5. "Church bell rings in Kashmir church after 5 decades". Daijiworld Media. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2018. The British-era church lost its original bell 50 years ago in an arson attack. According to church officials, the church and its belfry were damaged in the attack by protesters demonstrating against the 1967 Mideast war.
  6. Majid Maqbool. "Bell Rings in Kashmir Church After 50 Years, Bringing Together People of All Faiths". The Wire. Retrieved 6 September 2018. The original church bell was damaged in an arson attack on June 7, 1967. Fifty years later, the new bell – a contribution from a local Christian family – was brought here from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh.
  7. Ashiq, Peerzada (29 October 2017). "After 50 years, bell rings in harmony at Kashmir's 120-year-old church". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 September 2018.


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