A torch rally was organised here on Saturday to commemorate the 125th year of the mission entry of Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus founder Rev. Fr. Adrian Caussanel SJ into India.
The torch-bearers carried the blowlamp on over 100 bikes from St. Xavier’s Cathedral to Christhu Raja Higher Secondary School via St. Xavier’s Educational Institutions.
Following the Holy Mass conducted by Most Rev. A. Jude Paulraj, Bishop of Palayamkottai RC Diocese, a symposium on ‘The relevance of Rev. Fr. Caussanel today’ was organised.
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Documentary film ‘Pothigai sudar’, narrating the services of Fr. Caussanel to the downtrodden, and a book on the history of the congregation were released.
Members of the congregation and the students of the educational institutions being run by the fold formed a human chain and took out a massive rally here on Friday.
After E. Bhuvaneshwari, Mayor, flagged off the rally, in the presence of T.P. Suresh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Tirunelveli City, the participants took out the rally from Centenary Hall to Christhu Raja Higher Secondary School, Palayamkottai, the venue of the quasquicentennial jubilee celebration.
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According to Very Rev. Br. A. Victordass SHJ, Superior General, Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fr. Caussanel, who came to India from France as a Society of Jesus priest in 1888, struggled hard for the uplift of the poor, the downtrodden, the oppressed and the tribes, besides healing their physical ailments through his medical services.
He fought for equality among the people and toiled for women’s education and established a school for girls in Tuticorin in 1890 amidst stiff resistance. Fr. Caussanel’s thirst for equality razed down the wall at Vadakkankulam church that separated the higher and the lower classes.
“At a time when the Kaani tribesmen living in the thick jungles of Western Ghats could not be reached by outsiders, Fr. Caussanel reached them after arduous travel on horseback and provided them with formal education and better healthcare,” Br. Victordass said.
The Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus run 72 institutions, mostly schools and colleges for the children from the lower strata of society, in six States.