Media Release

Mangaluru, Jan 25: St Peter’s Apostolic School, Damaskatte, Aikala, popularly known as ‘SVD house Kirem’, celebrated the feast of Saint Arnold Janssen, founder of the congregation, on Sunday January 21 with great gaiety.

It could be noted here, that the actual Founder’s Day is on January 15. The day is usually marked as an annual occasion to bring together the immediate family members of the SVD missionaries hailing from Karnataka, the donors and benefactors who support the initial training and formation of the students joining the Congregation, close associates, local leaders, friends and others who are associated with the house.

The celebration which commenced with the Holy Eucharist at about 10 am was led by Bishop Francis Serrao of Shivamogga who was a former student of the house for three years and concelebrated by about 30 priests. A good number of religious men and women and about 300 people partook in the mass held at the community hall.

During the brief stage programme that followed, Bishop Francis Serrao and Fr Gregory Pinto SVD, another former student of the house, currently holding a high profile office as the admonitor general of the SVD at the congregation’s headquarters in Rome, were felicitated for their outstanding service and leadership in the church. The contributions of the donors who supported the house in the initial training of the future missionaries, financially or otherwise, were also acknowledged during the occasion.

Fr Mervin John Noronha, having 15 years of working experience as a missionary in Kenya, Africa and the current superior of the house, introduced the donors to the gathering and invited the chief guests to felicitate them with shawls and bouquets. Thereafter, the Founder’s Day issue of ‘Sobdacho Ulo’ (Call of the Word), a mission magazine, published by the house on a quarterly basis was released. Fr Maxim Pinto SVD proposed a vote of thanks before the guests were served a sumptuous homemade meal.

It could be recalled here, that the Society of the Divine Word (popularly known as SVD- Latin acronym for Societas Verbi Divini) was founded at a place called Steyl, Holland in 1875 by Saint Arnold Janssen, a German priest then. More than 6,000 Divine Word missionaries are currently working in various parts of the world with an aim to spread the Gospel message of love, forgiveness, compassion and brotherhood, most often in the remotest and the poorest areas of the world where no one dares to go.

The SVD congregation that came to India in 1932, set up its first missions among the poor tribals of Madhya Pradesh. SVD house, Kirem was established in a very humble way by Fr Peter Verhealen SVD, a German missionary later in 1962, mainly to give initial training to the aspiring missionaries. Since then, this house has been the alma mater for more than 150 SVD priests and brothers, most of them working as active and committed missionaries in diverse foreign missions and many more under training at various stages of formation. The house has also provided quality education and value-based human and spiritual formation to scores of others who joined the house with an initial interest to become missionaries but opted out later for other vocations, having discovered that being a missionary was not their cup of tea. Majority of the former SVDs are doing extremely well wherever they are and remain grateful to the house for what it has been and done for them in their early stages of life.

In Mangaluru, other than the SVD house Kirem, the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD fathers) also run the famous Divine Call Retreat Centre in Karnad, Mulki, Arnold Nivas, a home for senior citizens and Saint Joackim and Ann parish, Nala, Beltangady.

At the moment, SVD house Kirem, has three priests and 10 students, hailing from different parts of Karnataka such as Mangaluru, Sirsi, Kolar and Kollegal. Students are admitted to PUC after their 10th pass and thereafter sent elsewhere for further formation-studies. In fact the house is on the lookout for young men who are ready to take up the challenge to be missionaries in diverse cultures of the world. Purely run by the support and donations of the people of goodwill, this house will continue to remain a centre committed to the initial formation of many more young men with greater human and spiritual values and thus be a beacon of hope for humanity.