Rev Fr Dr Joseph Puthumana

About Rev Fr Dr Joseph Puthumana

Late Rev. Fr. Dr. Joseph Puthumana SVD was one of the first Indian members of the international missionary congregation, Society of the Divine Word (Societas Verbi Divini — popularly known as Divine Word Missionaries). He was born at Mutholapuram, Kerala on 18 January 1930. After his priestly ordination on 2 October 1959 together with (Late) Bishop George Marian Anathil of Indore and Rev. Fr. James Arackal of Jharsuguda, Orissa, he worked as vocation promoter of the Society, Latin teacher, pastor, pioneer, researcher, and in other capacities. In July 1966 he went to Rome for a renewal course and in 1977 to the United States where he studied Linguistics at the University of Georgetown, Washington D.C. and earned his M.A. Degree in Religious Education from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. On his return to India he did his B.Ed studies from the University of Bombay. In 1971 he moved to Bassein (Vasai) and established a centre for the SVD Society. In 1974 Dr. Puthumana came to Hyderabad Archdiocese and was engaged for over 36 years in pastoral, educational and frontier missionary activities. On retirement he took up residence in Ramachandrapuram, engaging himself in research and publishing. In 2008, at the age of 78, he earned a Doctorate from the University of Mysore . He authored seven books. He went to his heavenly abode on 16 June 2012.

Books by Rev. Fr. Dr. Joseph Puthumana: Fr Puthumana_Obituary PDF
Fr Puthumana_Candles HTML
Fr Puthumana_Gospel MP4
Fr Puthumana_Homily MP4

About St. John's Catholic Church, Ramachandrapuram

The Catholic community at Ramachandrapuram came into existence with the establishment of BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.) in 1962 and Alind (Aluminium Industries) in 1963 with the presence of some Catholics among the new recruits who joined these Companies. They came from traditional Christian backgrounds from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Coastal Andhra. The spiritual needs of these people were taken care of by the Priests, residing in Khairatabad.

The Catholics assembled for Mass at the residence of Mr. Aloysius Pais in Quarter no. 66, BHEL. Seeing the steady growth of the Catholic population, Fr. Roch, the Parish Priest of Khairatabad, purchased 5 acres of land in 1966 outside the BHEL Campus. BHEL had offered a School to the Sisters of St. Ann of Providence in 1966. The Sisters had their Quarters and a Chaplain too.

Archbishop Samineni Arulappa, during his very first visit to BHEL in 1972, was happy to see a vibrant Catholic community and soon raised it to the status of a Parish under the patronage of St. John the Evangelist and appointed Fr. K. Johannes as the first Parish Priest. The SVD Society took over the Parish on 9th June, 1974, with Fr. Joseph Puthumana, SVD, a pioneering missionary, as the first SVD Parish Priest.

In 1978, St. Ann of Providence Sisters handed over the School to the Holy Cross Sisters, Trichy. Over the years, with the untiring efforts of all the missionaries, the parish grew, and today there are around 1500 Catholics, serving the pastoral needs of people in BHEL, Alind, Ramachandrapuram, Ashok Nagar, Lingampally, Huda Colony, Reddy Colony, and beyond.

Men & Women Religious Congregations

Several religious congregations have played a key role in building and nurturing the community:

Society Of The Divine Word (SVD):

Missionary Sisters Servants Of The Holy Spirit (SSPS):

SVD Priests

Other Ministries