Brief History of Chintalacheru Parish

The Catholics of this Parish are migrants from Guntur around the year 1945 (for details before 1974 kindly refer to Alirajpet & Bayyaram). The families of Aduri Thomas Reddy, Mettu Rayappa, Thumma Sleeva, Aduri Rajappa, Thumma Rayappa, Aduri Inna Reddy, Thumma Inna Reddy, Patibandla Venkaiah, Banka Chenchaiah, Thanugundla Show Reddy and Thaungundla Joji Reddy were the first settlers. In 1972, Ramachandrapuram was erected as an independent Parish with Chintalacheru as its Sub-station. Prior to 1972, Priests from Khairatabad made regular visits to this Village to conduct religious services; prominent among them was Fr. Kakumanu Johannes. He assisted in the construction of a small Chapel which was blessed on 10th May, 1974 by Msgr. Yeruva Bali, the then Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad. The very next year i.e. in 1975 Chintalacheru was raised to the status of an independent Parish with Fr. Kuriakose Perepadan SVD as its first Parish Priest.

The Carmelite Sisters of Mumbai came to the Parish on 27th June, 1978 after an arduous bullock cart ride from Secunderabad. They established a Health Centre undertaking preventive and curative measures through a mobile Dispensary and the centre itself. They also undertook health education. They started a Hostel for Primary School children in 1980. On 16th July, 1981 “Kanti Kiranam” a rural social development centre was blessed and inaugurated by Archbishop Samineni Arulappa for the social upliftment of rural women and to work for their liberation and self-reliance. June 2000 was the beginning of a new Chapter in the history of the Carmelite Sisters with the establishment of an English Medium School. Right from the beginning, they have been involved in teaching catechism and liturgical animation of the Parish including regular family visits and family prayer with them. Fr. James Raj SVD as Parish Priest built Holy Spirit Church and on 11th May, 2005 the new Church building was blessed by Archbishop Marampudi Joji and inaugurated by Fr. Gnanapragasam Lazar SVD, Provincial. In 2012, the pastoral care of Chintalacheru Parish was taken over by the Archdiocese of Hyderabad and Fr. Gorantla Dhanraj was appointed as the first Archdiocesan Parish Priest. Fr. Golamari Vinay Kumar, during his tenure as Parish Priest built Compound Walls both at Chintalacheru Parish Church and Gummadidala sub-station and also renovated the Presbytery at Chintalacheru Parish. In 2016, Carmelite Sisters left their mission in Chintalacheru and St. Anne’s Sisters of Bangalore (SAB) established their Community at Reddipalem Village on 14th June, 2018. The School run by Carmelite Sisters was handed over to Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel.

Sub-Station In The Parish

Gummadidala : Around 1970’s Madanu Aron & Therasamma, Madanu Moisu & Mariamma, Pasala George & Annamma families came from Kethepally & Dharmaram Village, Nalgonda to do farming. These three families formed Gummadidala Village. After five years another ten families from different places came to this Village. At that time, Fr. Kuriakose Perepadan SVD was the Parish Priest at Chinthalacheru and it is in his tenure a small Church was built in Gummadidala. After the construction of the Church some more families from Dharmaram came and settled in Gummadidala. Meanwhile Fr. Kuriakose Perepadan SVD got transferred and Fr. Sylvester RegoSVD was appointed as Parish Priest and he was taking care of the spiritual needs of the people. One side people were growing in faith and on the other side they had difficulty in selling their crop because the Village is surrounded by forest. There was no transport facility and burial ground. So people were worried about their living and safety. Almost all the families migrated from there. At present there is no Holy Mass celebrated there.

Men & Women Religious Congregations

Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel (SG) : They have a Community at Chinthalacheru and Montfort Brothers reside in the Carmel School Campus, named as “Mont Carmel Nilyam” established in 2016. Actually in 2000 Carmelite Sisters established Carmel English Medium School at Chinthalacheru. They ran the School for 16 years and in 2016 they handed it over to Montfort Brothers.

St. Anne’S Sisters of Bangalore (SAB) : Sisters established their Convent at Reddypalem on 14th June, 2018. Mission of the Congregation is Education apostolate, Pastoral apostolate, Socio and Medical apostolate. SAB Sisters are helping in the School, which is run by Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel at Chintalacheru. Ministries in the Parish are helping in all the Church activities, decoration, singing, teaching catechism, visiting families, counselling and teaching people.