The Catholics of Andaman and Nicobar islands used a school jubilee to recall pioneer missioner nuns who promoted formal education in this former land for convicts.
Some 2,000 people attended the jubilee Mass that Pilar Society Bishop Alex Dias of Port Blair concelebrated with 22 priests to mark the 25th anniversary of Carmel School in the territory´s capital, Port Blair.
The Nov. 26-28 celebration was attended by present and past pupils, parents, teachers and well-wishers of the school run by Apostolic Carmel sisters.
The Goa-based Missionary Society of Saint Francis Xavier, popularly known as Pilar Fathers, serves the island mission.
During the British rule in India, the islands in the Bay of Bengal, some 1,255 kilometers southeast of Calcutta, were known as "kala paani" (black waters) because they were used to exile political rebels.
Many of the 4,000 deported to the islands between 1858-1860 died en route.
Port Blair´s Cellular Jail, a massive whitewashed 18th century building that housed some 400 freedom fighters, is now a museum.
The first Catholic missioners to settle in the islands were Belgian Jesuits from the eastern Indian region of Chotanagpur who came in 1947.
The Archbishop of Ranchi, who was entrusted with the Andamans mission, invited the Pilar Fathers in 1966.
They invited the Apostolic Carmel sisters to open a school, which the sisters did in 1968 with 300 students.
The first school was opened in a transit house meant to accommodate tribals from the eastern Indian region of Chotanagpur who came to the islands seeking manual labor.
Classes were also held on the premises of the Marthoma Church, an Orthodox Church group, while the founder nuns stayed with the Daughters of Saint Anne, an indigenous congregation of Chotanagpur.
At the jubilee, Carmel superior Sister Roslinda lauded the "zeal, hard work and sacrifices of the pioneers, who lived and worked under odd conditions."
Bishop Dias commended the nuns for inculcating values of peace, justice, charity, national integration and solidarity among the students.
"Education´s role is to restore God´s image in a person," he said. The bishop also appreciated the nuns´ involvement in pastoral works, beside the educational apostolate.
In a message, the islands´ Lieutenant Governor Vakkam Purushothaman praised the school´s "commendable service to the far-flung island territory."
M. Alphonse, president of the Andaman and Nicobar Catholic Association, said the jubilee celebrations were "a landmark in the islands´ history."
"The Carmel School is a jewel in the chain of the islands," he added.
Port Blair´s English daily, Andaman Herald, reported the celebrations.
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