CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, Nov 18: A two-day sesquicentennial jubilee celebration started at St Paul’s Cathedral in Bahu Bazaar on Friday to celebrate 150 years of the church which comes under the Diocese of Chotanagpur.
The chief guest of today’s event was Arch-Bishop Felix Toppo. The unveiling/blessing of the 150th jubilee plaque was done by the Bishop of Chotanagpur Rt Revd BB Baskey. All the priests and congregation members took part in the procession around 12 pm on the church premises.
The welcome address was delivered by the Bishop of Chotanagpur Rt Revd BB Baskey and Arch-Bishop Felix Toppo. The opening prayer was done by Rev JM Topno.
On Saturday, the program will start at 7 am and the Chief guests for tomorrow will be Revd Kishun Bihari, Methodist Church, Ranchi and Rt Rev Francis Hansda (Bp of Patna Diocese) by Samlong WFCS.
The foundation of the cathedral was laid on September 12, 1870. The construction of this church cost a total of Rs 26,000. For this, Rs 7500 was spent from the Church Construction Fund of Kolkata Diocese, Rs 3000 from General Iti Dalton and Rs 2000 from Anglican Bishop Milman.
The rule of the British government back then was that wherever 50 British were posted, Rs 3500 was given to build the prayer hall of their station. The rest was borne by SPG (Society for the Propagation of Gaspal) and SPCK.
The foundation of the church was laid by the then-commissioner of Chhotanagpur, General Iti Dalton. It was inaugurated on March 8, 1873. At the time of construction, this church was under Kolkata Diocese.
The major church of a diocese is called the Mahagirjaghar or Cathedral. Cathedral means the throne of a bishop. The approval of the British Parliament was necessary to separate the system of the congregation of Chhotanagpur province from the Kolkata province.
Jesse Whitley became the first bishop of the newly formed Chhotanagpur Diocese on March 23, 1890, after receiving this approval. With this, this church got the status of Mahagirjaghar or Cathedral.
