St Francis de Sales Church, Hamren
Hamren is a small town in the West Karbi Anglong district in Assam. The area is inhabited by the Karbi tribe and they speak Karbi dialect. The major population of the parish is of Karbi tribe. The history of Hamren Catholic mission can be traced back to 1969. The manifestation of faith and thereby the genesis of Hamren parish began with the migration of Kangbura (John) Ronghang with his family from Umdap to Langkar’om (a village 02 km away from the present location of the Parish). John Ronghang and family, along with four other families, received baptism from Fr John Marie in Umdap village on December 22, 1969. The number of believers began to increase year by year.
The mission was started in 1976 and restarted in 1987 and finally steadied itself with the arrival of the MSFS in 1990, making it the defining moment of the mission. There existed a village school by the name ‘Don Bosco School’ at Hamren prior to the arrival of the MSFS. The faithful of the area were happy to get a mission school at Hamren but were not satisfied with the arrangement of it being looked after from Sojong. They wanted to have a resident priest in their midst who would take care of their spiritual needs as well. The long waiting of the people for a residing priest had an end when Fr S.K. Sebastian sdb arrived at Hamren on March 15, 1987. Fr S.K. Sebastian sdb worked hard to establish a school, a hostel and a church. He made a temporary structure for school and named it Don Bosco school, Hamren. Fr S. K Sebastian as the first Priest incharge of Hamren mission worked from 1987 to 1989. To make the parish’s work efficient and better, he formed a Parish Council . In 1989, Fr S.K. Sebastian was transferred. Fr Anthony Roy sdb took charge as priest incharge of Hamren. He worked between 1989 and 1990, after which the MSFS priests were entrusted with the parish. The FCC sisters too joined the mission in 1990. Most Rev. Mathai Kochuparambil of Diphu extended an invitation to the MSFS for starting a centre at Hamren. The MSFS positively responded to this invitation in January 1990 and accordingly, on March 4, 1990, the new Don Bosco Parish, Hamren, was officially erected and Fr Job Karikkampally was installed as its first Parish Priest. Majority of the villages under Hamren sub division were isolated and secluded in remote mountainous areas and very inadequately connected by roads. After the opening of the new parish at Hamren, the MSFS missionaries concentrated much on these villages for reaching out to people. As a result, many villages were contacted and a good number of people came over to Catholic faith. Even today, a good number of baptisms are taking place and new villages are being added. The priests adopted village tours, family visits, faith formation programmes and regular catechetical instructions with the help of touring catechist, as means to spread the Gospel and win over people to the catholic faith. As a result, today, the parish has a good number of Garos, Khasis and Adivasis under its pastoral care apart from large number of Karbis who are the indigenous settlers of the area.
At present Hamren Parish consists of the following villages: Hamren Phuchimlangso, Hamren Inghin Langso, Langkarom, Langmekang, Longpai, Umdap, Langteng, Jaidipur, Rumphung, Umchera, Madanmyn-i, Larsing, Langsomepi, Rongtheang, Badong. There are 2000 Catholics from 280 families from 15 villages (Hamren Parish Register, 2016).
On May 9, 2013, the Diocese bifurcated the existing Hamren parish and established Langhemphi Mission Centre. Villages that are under the new Parish are Langhemphi Rongpangbong, Tahpat, Lumrut, Langkeroi, Tadolangso, Rupai, Langerdang. These villages were all under the parish of Hamren earlier.
Today the parish has a number of catholic communities. It has also a beautiful church, school, boarding and presbytery. The sisters of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) assist the centre. It has also built a beautiful church, school, boarding house for the boys, quarters for teachers and a presbytery. There are two priests and four sisters (Franciscan Clarist Congregation) serving the mission. Between 1990 and 2016 there have been 7 Parish priests and scores of assistant priests from the Congregation of MSFS who worked in the mission. They have made a deep impression in the heart and minds of the people as confessed by one of the parish community leaders, Mr Kathar Benjamin, who knows the parish from its very inception. He says, “With the coming of the MSFS Congregation, the growth of the Parish has been accelerated and today it is a fully developed Parish in terms of school and parish infrastructure. People are extremely happy with the services and life of the MSFS priests”
Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC)
Franciscan Clarist Congregation sisters joined the mission on July 28, 1990 with Srs Eliza (Superior and HM), Jancy Ramrath, and Daisy George as pioneer members and are making very valuable contribution to its improvement through teaching in the school, looking after the girl’s hostel, visiting villages, leading the women in the parish and many such activities. The Convent and the hostel for girls were built and blessed on September 21,1991.
|
SL. NO |
PARISH PRIEST |
YEAR |
|
1 |
Job Karikkampally |
1990- 1994 |
|
2 |
Kurian Ovelil |
1994-1998 |
|
|
Stephen Marayikulam (Sr) |
1998-2000 |
|
|
John Bosco Khakha |
2000-2006 |
|
|
Jacob Mattathil |
2006-2011 |
|
|
Biju Kanicherry |
2011-2014 |
|
|
Shiji Poonthuruthil |
2014- 2018 |
|
|
Saji Tharayil |
2018 - |
|
SL. NO |
ASST. PARISH PRIEST |
YEAR |
|
1 |
Sudhir Kullu |
1996-1998 |
|
2 |
Athnas Kerketta |
1998-1999 |
|
3 |
Milkius Tirkey |
1999-2002 |
|
4 |
Stephen Pou |
2002-2003 |
|
5 |
Thomas Kochuparathanath |
2003-2007 |
|
6 |
Thomas Arackal |
2007-2009 |
|
7 |
James Adani Bashena |
2009-2011 |
|
8 |
Philip Purayidathil |
2011-2015 |
|
9 |
Nicholas Maiong |
2015 |
|
10 |
Augustine Kulangara |
2015-2016 |
|
11 |
Abraham Ponvelil |
2016 – 2018 |
|
12 |
Sabin Kavunkal |
2018 – 2019 |
|
13 |
Cornelius Bara |
2019 - |
