147 years of St Joseph’s Cathedral

The history of the first parish of the Arch Diocese of Hyderabad, the St Joseph’s Cathedral in Gunfoundry goes back to when Fr A Tagliabue bought an extensive plot near the then Kotha Basti to build a school, church and convent.

Msgr Peter Caprotti, Vicar General, laid the foundation of the cathedral on March 19, 1869 and Fr L Malberti took charge in 1872.

With the aid of local Christians, family and friends in Italy, he completed the main building that was opened for divine worship on Christmas Eve of 1875.

With over 750 families, the church has over 4,250 Catholics registered under it as of 2016. It is one among the first to have an apostolic square, which is a collection of the statues of the twelve disciples of Jesus. The church also houses two grottos within its compound.

Headed by the Arch Bishop, Most Rev Thumma Balla, Fr Alex Raju is the present appointed rector and parish priest at the cathedral.

Recounting its history, Fr Raju shares, “In 1876, the St Joseph’s Seminary was constructed (which now houses St. Joseph's Degree and PG College).

Later, in 1886, Hyderabad was made a separate diocese and Msgr P Caprotti was appointed its first Bishop.

In the consistory held on March 17, 1887, Pope Leo XIII notified St. Joseph's Church to be the cathedral of the diocese.

The then parish boundary was from Krishna district in the east to Sholapur in the west and Trimulgherry in the north to Nellore in the south.”

The towers and the facade of the church were completed in 1891 and the five (out of eight) bells were shipped from Milan and installed in 1892.

“These magnificent bells, the best in the county, are attuned in such a fashion that, on the proclamation of Dogma of Assumption, the members of the Cathedral Choir, under the direction of FJ Campos, played many Marian hymns on them,” shares Fr Raju.

“All the statues, the beautiful mural carvings of the 14 stations and various artifacts were also imported from Italy,” he informs.

The church is now preparing for Christmas in a grand manner. “We have been visiting families from our parishes to organise a carol session.

This year we plan on having a white Christmas, which will have decorations mostly representing snow, with the idea to make people aware of global warming,” says the rector.

“It’s not always about going green; we go green to save our white snows,” he adds.