Jesu Bhavan Mango, Jamshedpur

Kristanukaran Ashram functioned in Lupungutu from September 1980 to 1985 with Fr Bernard Donnelly (Haz) as Superior and Novice Master, Frs Basil Horo as Socius and E Coelho as assistant to the Novice Master. There were 25 in the Community made up of one Novice Brother, and 21

Scholastic Novices, including one from Hazaribag, and the three priests. The Novitiate took over a wing of the school, with the eleven member community of St Xavier’s welcoming the new addition, and making the necessary adjustments in many aspects of community life “till a novitiate quarters of its own could be built”.

The Novitiate got a whole new start in September of 1985. At that time, Fr Edward Mudavassery of Hazaribag Region was the Master of novices in the new “Novitiate building”, in Mango just across the Suvarnarekha river from Jamshedpur. Fr Edward had been the Socius to Fr Bernard Donnelly, and been introduced by him to the business of Novice Master so that he became Master of Novices in 1984 while the Novitiate was till in Lupungutu, and moved with it to Mango in the following year.

The “Novitiate building” carried something of a history. After many years of suggestions that the Province have a retreat house, and much weighing of the relevance, necessity and feasibility of such a project, it was finally decided to go ahead and build such a facility.

Fr Richard Norman – builder of XLRI fame – was assigned to the task. And so there was the building standing and ready, when the discussions on the moving of the Novitiate took place. Hence, it was decided to make use of the Retreat House building as a Novitiate until a proper Novitiate could be planned and built.

On 21 June 1986, eleven second year Novices took their fist vows, six were for Jamshedpur and five for Hazaribag. In the same celebration their Master, Fr Edward Mudavassery, took his Last Vows.

The new Novitiate is located on a picturesque site, by the side of the Suvarnarekha river. It is an ideal place for prayer and recollection, and very close to Jamshedpur city. Through a generous gift of Mr and Mrs John D’Costa, the former owners of the land, the dream of Jamshedpur Province in having its own Novitiate was finally realized. But not the dream of the D’Costa family and the purpose for which they had so generously giventhe land at a nominal price. The “dream” – of a retreat house for Jamshedpur city and general area – was to take a few more years and is part of the “future history”, as is the final step in the process of establishing the Novitiate, that of having a Novice Master from the Province itself.

Inigo Niwas: The Candidates House

In the early 70s, the slow transition from Loyola Hostel to Candidates House took place. It was in 1972 that Fr Urban St Rose was officially appointed as the first Director of the few candidates who lived in the same building as the hostel and shared its facilities.

Inigo Niwas is the name of the Candidates House that has finally settled in Lupungutu, in Chaibasa. We have close to 45 candidates who are not only being groomed in spirituality and Spoken English but also have an opportunity to finish their Higher Secondary School level, before being screened and approved to move to the next stage of formation, that is, the Novitiate in Jesu Bhavan, Mango. The rich mixture of culture, language, background and future commitments has enhanced the quick learning of the language and abroader sense of companionship.

Though there were over a dozen Directors of candidates in the last 28 years :

1.   Sch. Emile Coelho SJ           1970-71

2.   Fr. Robert Dullahan SJ        1971-72

3.   Fr Urban Sainte Rose SJ      1972-73

4.   Fr Kenneth M Judge SJ       1973-75

5.   Sch Joseph Njarakulam SJ   1975-76

6.   Fr Basil Horo SJ                   1976-78

7.   Sch Felix Toppo SJ              1978-79

8.   Sch Hilarius Kongari SJ       1979-80

9.   Sch John Mundu SJ             1980-81

10. Fr Emile Coelho SJ              1981-84

11. Fr Pius Fernandes SJ            1984-85

12. Sch Fabian Bhunyan SJ       1985-86

13. Fr Augustine Ezha SJ          1986-87

14. Sch Xavier Ekka SJ             1987-88

15. Fr Rocky Vaz SJ                  1988-89

16. Fr Gyan P Topno                 1989-91

17. Fr Stan Kujur SJ                  1991-93

18.  Fr Xavier Ekka SJ               1993-96

19. Fr Mike T Raj SJ                  1996-00

20. Fr. Julien Ekka SJ                2000-04

21. Fr. Jerry Cutinha SJ             2004-09

22. Fr. Gilbert Menezes SJ         2009-