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Church of the Nativity of Our Lord, Barbigha

Church of the Nativity of Our Lord

Address

Catholic Church, Mission Chowk
P.O. – Barbigha
Dist. - Sheikhpura
Bihar – 811 101, India
Ph.: (+91) 7091050050

About Church

In 1836 Fr. Batson basing himself from Mokama went around Barbigha and in the same year baptized the first batch of eleven people in the village named Onda. Though, originally lived amidst the people, in Barbigha bazaar, in a rented house of a Muslim shopkeeper, he bought the present property in 1942 which was a rice mill and transformed it into the church of the Nativity of Our Lord. In December 26th 1943 the new church was blessed by the then Bishop Sullivan and Fr. Joseph Podamattam, a diocesan priest was appointed as the parish priest. The very next year in 1943 the primary school was started. Under Fr. Ferral as parish priest in 1954, the primary school was upgraded to middle school and Fr. Saxton became its headmaster. Meanwhile, in 1955 the Sacred Heart Sisters joined the Mission team. In 1958 a concrete stricture for the middle school was erected. The old rice-mill church was renovated in 1962 and a new convent was built in the compound for the sisters. By then there were 150 villages with Catholics, of them 98 were visited and three villages had chapels: Onda, Ahiyapur, and Sekkuper Sarai.

The Jesuits re-entered the Barbigha mission in 1986. Christians of Barbigha Parish are in 70 villages, spanning into 10 Blocks in three Districts: Barbigha and Shekhopur Blocks in Sheikpura Dist., Asthwaon, Bind and Sarmera Blocks in Nalanda Dist., and Warsaliganj Block in Nawada Dist. In some villages there are 25-30 Christian families. Majority of the Christians are Dalits. The parish has a vibrant Parish Council, Mahila Sangh, Krusvir and Alar Boys/Girls Associations.