St. Francis of Assisi Church, Anpara, celebrated the Episcopal silver Jubilee of Most Rev. Isidore Fernandes, the Bishop of Allahabad diocese, with a solemn thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration on the 26th of January 2013 at 4.30 p.m. The celebration started with a traditional chotanagpuri dance, in which twenty five women, dressed in colourful outfits, danced in unison and led the main celebrant, concelebrants and twenty four children who received the Sacrament of First Communion and fourteen children who received the sacrament of Confirmation to the altar. The senior girls from the parish led the Bible Procession dance, beautifully choreographed by Ms. Gracy Mary. Fr. Eugene Mascarenhas, the parish priest of St. Xavier’s Church, Robertsganj preached a meaningful homily on Good shepherd and also highlighted the main qualities of our Bishop as the Good Shepherd of the Diocese. He also invited each member in the parish to be a good shepherd in their own families, sharing and caring for each other. The melodious and well blended parish choir, led by Fr. Bona, created a prayerful atmosphere in the whole campus. Fr. Thomas Kumar, the Principal of St. Joseph’s School, Shaktinagar and Fr. Raymond D’Souza, the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Church ably assisted the Bishop during the celebration.

The parish family also had organized a special felicitation programme after the Mass, in which, after cutting the jubilee cake, the Bishop was greeted with 25 garlands to mark the special occasion. Ms. Sudha Samuel read out a short felicitation address, highlighting the qualities of the Bishop. A short film on the life of our Bishop was the special attraction of the day. The parish choir also sang a beautiful & melodious jubilee song to greet the Bishop. The Bishop in his speech thanked the whole parish family for organizing such a meaningful liturgy and a beautiful felicitation programme.