Sateek: St Francis de Sales Parish
Begun in 2010, St Francis de Sales Mission at Sateek was the first mission of the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales in the state of Mizoram. Sateek, a village under Aibawk Subdivision, is located at a distance of 35 km away from Aizawl, the Capital of Mizoram. It has a population of about 1300 people mostly belonging to Presbyterian Church and whose livelihood depends on agriculture.
At the request of Most Rev. Stephen Rotluanga, the Bishop of Aizawl, the Provincial Administration under Fr Francis Thadathil, took the decision to take up missions in Mizoram. A plot of land was offered by the village council of Sateek which paved the way for the MSFS to pitch their tent at Sateek, thus beginning to script a new chapter in the MSFS history, a journey with the Mizos. Fr Santhosh Chavaranal was appointed priest incharge of the first venture of the MSFS in Mizoram.
Initially, Sateek was only a mission station under the Cathedral parish and the priest in charge stayed in the cathedral parish. Later when a house was made available in Sateek area by the village council, he began to stay in Sateek. The villages took care of their priest and the whole catholic community. All these have strengthened their relationship with the priests.
On February 22, 2011, Fr Lijeesh Kaduthanathu, was appointed as assistant headmaster of the school and associate priest of the SFS Mission, and joined Fr Santhosh. Thus the first MSFS community at Sateek started its life at the village house with very minimum facilities. During week days, they absorbed themselves in activities of the school and in building up rapport with the youth of the village. On weekends, they travelled to Catholic communities to attend to their spiritual and pastoral needs.
On February 24, 2011 the foundation stone for a presbytery was laid. Roger Reichert and Mary Hovel, friends of the MSFS, gave the financial support and the construction was completed by August 2011. On August 27, 2011, Fr Francis Thadathil, the Provincial of the undivided Northeast India province, inaugurated the house and Most Rev. Stephen Rotluanga, the Bishop of Aizawl, blessed the house. The Bishop formally welcomed the MSFS community to his diocese on that occasion. The confreres, while looking after the daily running of the school, also served as assistants to the Cathedral parish to which Sateek then belonged. The Sateek mission with five substations - South Sabual, Sialsuk, Mawbuawng, Tacchhip and Aibawk were also entrusted to them for pastoral care. The MSFS community attended to the spiritual needs of the people of those villages. During this period, at the request of the parish priests, our confreres also extended assistance to other parishes of the diocese.
The Bishop was keen to raise the mission to a parish. However, it was thought that a small church at Sateek will have to be built prior to it. Moreover, it was important for the confreres to acquire a certain mastery over the language as well as have knowledge regarding the administration of parishes in the diocese. Provincial administration took steps for the building of the church. Thus nearly two years after the arrival of the MSFS at Sateek, the work of the first MSFS parish church was started on June 11, 2013, with the laying of the foundation stone by Most Rev Stephen Rotluanga. Funds from various sources helped the completion of the construction work. The contributions of many generous hearts have strengthened the mission and these will always be remembered with gratitude. The construction of the church was completed within four months. With its completion and two years of pastoral experience already in Mizoram, the time was apt for the MSFS to accept fully the pastoral administration of the proposed new parish.
The parish church at Sateek under the patronage of Mary Mother of compassion was inaugurated and blessed on November 16, 2013 Fr Santhosh Chavaranal was installed as the first Parish Priest. At the time of the erection, the parish had 82 catholic families from six villages. The catholic communities of the newly erected Parish were Sateek (3 families); South Sabual (28 families), at a distance of 39 km; Tachhip (20 families) at a distance of 7 km; Aibawk (6 families) at a distance of 3 km; Maubuang (13 families) at a distance of 7.5 km; and Sialsuk (12 families) at a distance of 38 km from the mission centre.
With the establishment of the new parish, the various organisations also came to be formed. In accordance with the norms of the diocese, Parish Pastoral Council, Hmeichhe Pawl (women’s Association), Thalai Pawl (Youth Association), Finance Committee, Sunday School Committee and Evangelization committee were established. They assist the priests in the planning and execution of various works of the mission. Yearly and monthly programmes are discussed and finalised in their meetings. With regular pastoral visits, Eucharistic Celebrations and other religious devotions and practices, the new parish is being strengthened day by day. The service of a full time catechist, who is appointed by the Bishop, is also given to the parish.
The Brothers of St Gabriel (Montfort Brothers) of Tlangnuam, Aizawl, Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (msmhc) of Peace Home, Aizawl and Bethany Sisters (bs) of Tlangnuam, Aizawl, have rendered their services to the growth of this mission. Continued support of the parish priest of the mother parish (Cathedral Church) has always given strength to the confreres. As the Centre grew in strength, the needs of the substations also received equal importance. In the course of time a New Village Church was built at Aibawk and was inaugurated by Fr George Panthanmackel, the Provincial and blessed by Most Rev. Stephen Rotluanga, Bishop of Aizwal, on January 16, 2015
Fr Lijeesh Kaduthanathu, who was already in the pioneering team, took over as second Parish Priest of Mary Mother of Compassion Parish and the Headmaster of SFS School on February 22, 2015. On February 19, 2015, Fr Daniel Lalmuanzela, the second Mizo MSFS, was appointed as the Associate priest of Mary Mother of Compassion parish and the Assistant Headmaster of SFS School.
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SL. NO |
PARISH PRIEST |
YEAR |
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Santhosh Chavaranal (Priest Incharge 2011-2012) |
2013-2015 |
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Lijeesh Kaduthanathu |
2015- |
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SL. NO |
ASST. PARISH PRIEST |
YEAR |
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1 |
Lijeesh Kaduthanathu |
2012-2015 |
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2 |
Daniel Lalmuanzela |
2015- 2017 |
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3 |
Jaimon Thadathil |
2017- 2019 |
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4 |
Romilson Marak |
2020 - |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
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10 |
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11 |
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