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Parish of the Immaculate Conception, Khagaul

Parish of the Immaculate Conception

Address

Catholic Church, Khagaul
P.O. – Khagaul
Dist. - Patna
Bihar – 801 105, India
Ph.: (06115) 232445

About Church

Church of the Immaculate Conception is situated a few miles to the South-East Khagaul of Danapur. This church was first visited by the priests from Bankipore, Patna. It is a Railway center which all through 1896 to 1921 had some two hundred Catholics, mostly of European descent. As early as 1893 this little community began collecting a fund for the erection of their own church but it was not until 8th September, 1904 that the foundation could be laid and not until the Feast of the Immaculate Conception three years later on 8th December, 1907 that the building could be blessed and opened for divine services. The builder was Fr. John, O.C.

The priest’s house was built in the early part of 1919, by its chaplain, Fr. John, partly with the funds of the mission and partly with the Contributions of the faithful in and out of Khagaul. During the 1st World War, the German Capuchins were compelled to repatriate, thus creating a crisis of church personnel to look after the spiritual needs of the community.

Then the Holy Father approached the Jesuit General to send missionaries to Bihar. The General asked the Detroit & Chicago (USA) province to send missionaries to Patna. The first batch of five (Fr. William Elaine, Fr. Patrick Troy, Fr. Edward Anderson, Fr. Henry Millet, Fr. Thomas Kelly) arrived at Patna on the morning of March 16, 1921. The very next day, the feast of St. Patrick, they were given a reception in Khagaul parish.

Fr. Kelly was given charge of Khagaul along with the chaplaincy of St. Michael’s School. The parish consisted of people of European descent and the story of the church basically is that of the Anglo-Indian community which had played a very crucial role in the running of the railways. The people had very good connections with Anglo-Indians of Calcutta especially during marriages, birthdays, baptisms & on other occasions; Khagaul was also a meeting point for many of them. The nearness of the Anglo-Indian community at Danapur Military cantonment added to the social and religious life of the community here. People were very generous towards the church as evident from Fr. Kelly’s testimony.

Fr. Francis Xavier Scott was resident priest for about 10 years. Later Fr. Leon Foster took care of the place. In 1972, Fr. George Zeibert was in charge of Khagaul. There after Frs. Philip Manthara, Anto Joseph, Louise Prakash, Anand Kerketta were appointed the parish priests.

In 2007 the church celebrated the Centenary. In 2011, the church was renovated by the help of the Parishioners and the benefactors under the guidance of Fr. Anto Joseph and Sch. Juno Sebastian.

Today the Christian community consists of Anglo- Indians, Tribal’s and others. Most of them are employees of Indian Railways. The parish consists of 32 families.

The Parish associations: The Parish Council; All the major programmes in the Parish like Christmas, Easter, First Communion, Confirmation, Bishop’s Pastoral visit etc. are organized in consultation & in collaboration with the Parish Council.

The Parish Women’s’ Organization: Though fairy new, it meets periodically and discusses matters like how to improve the liturgy, arrangement of the altar, upbringing of the children in the Christian faith.

The Youth group: On a regular basis the youth participate in the Church choir. On important occasions they decorate the Church, organize cultural programmes & other related activities under the able guidance of the Parish Priest.