The town of Bettiah is situated in the state of Bihar, in eastern India, which borders directly on Nepal to the north and is ranked as the third poorest state in India. In the suburb of Maihindiyabadi, on the edge of the town, a new Catholic parish was established some time ago, since many people are migrating to the area, including a number of Catholic families.
At present the parish has no church. Holy Mass is celebrated outside in the open air, needless to say with much difficulty, especially in winter and during the heavy rainfalls of the monsoon season.
Father Kishore Reddy, the parish priest, is also without a proper place to live in. At present he is living in a little and very old, mud-walled wooden house. Much of the timber has been eaten away by termites, so that it is now in danger of collapsing. Moreover, the walls have large cracks, allowing snakes, rats and scorpions to get inside and water to pour in during the rainy season.
And so the diocese is now planning to construct a new building, which will include both a chapel and a small presbytery. As soon as the building is finished, there will be two priests living there and ministering to the parish. But the people are poor, and the parish is likewise short of money. Most of the people live from hand to mouth on whatever they can grow or produce themselves. But their faith is important to them and they play an active part in parish life. But in financial terms there is little they can contribute to the cost of the new building. And yet it is of great importance for this young and still growing parish. ACN is therefore proposing to contribute 22,400 Euros towards the cost of this small church with its attached presbytery.
