Tura Diocese

Although Christianity took its roots in Garo Hills as early as in 1867, it was only in 1933 that Catholic missionaries began organized evangelization work among Garos. Prior to 1933, some missionaries had occasionally visited areas inhabited by Garos. Fr. Rudolf Fontaine, a Salvatorian priest then residing in Guwahati, was the first Catholic Priest to visit Garoland in 1913. It is recorded that during the time of the Jesuit missionaries (1914-1922), Fr. Carberry, SJ visited Laskarpara, a village of the Garos, in 1921.

The first Garo Catholics in Garo Hills were those baptized by the Holy Cross Fathers in the present Bangladesh and then migrated to Garo Hills, especially to those villages near Baghmara. The first apostle of Garo Hills was Peter Shem Momin, a Garo who received the Catholic Faith while undergoing agricultural training in Shillong. He was responsible for the early conversions at Laskarpara, Chotcholja, Damit Apal, Kharkutta and Dilma.

The first Salesian Missionary to tour Garo Hills was Fr. Gil in 1923. Frs. Piasecki and Marmol who visited Garo Hills and also those villages on the Baghmara side via Mymensing once a year followed him. In 1931 Msgr. L. Mathias, the then Prefect Apostolic of Assam appointed Frs. Pianazzi and Rocca to work among the Garos. As they were not allowed by the Government to reside in Garo Hills, they took up residence at Dhubri in 1932. In 1933, the Fathers managed to obtain from the then DC, Mr. William Shaw, permission to stay in Garo Hills and thus opened the first Catholic mission at Tura. From then on many European priests of the Salesians of Don Bosco have worked tirelessly to spread the Gospel in Garo Hills. The Sisters of the Congregation of Missionaries of Christ Jesus (MCJ) were the first women religious to arrive in Garo Hills in the year 1948. The first batch included Mother Camino, Sr. Maria de Villar and Sr. Pilar Gonsalves.

The missionary endeavors in Garo Hills received a great boost with the arrival of missionaries from South India. The first Indian missionaries to set foot in Garo Hills were Frs. M.P. Alexander and Mathew Elanjipuram who came to Garo Hills in 1956. Fr. E.O. Mathew in 1959 and Frs. George Mamalassery and George Elavumkunnel in 1960 followed them. In the year 1970, the MSMHC Sisters, the Missionary Congregation of Blessed Sacrament Fathers and some Diocesan priests from Changanacherry Diocese volunteered to work in Garo Hills.

Rt. Rev. Orestes Marengo SDB, former Bishop of Dibrugarh and Tezpur, was appointed Episcopal Vicar in 1972. On 7th April 1973, Tura was made a diocese by detaching territories from the Archdiocese of Shillong-Guwahati with Bishop Marengo as Apostolic Administrator. The diocese had at that time around 40000 Garo Catholics spread over the entire Garo Hills and the Goalpara and Kamrup districts of Assam. There were 6 parishes and a total of 21 priests: 16 religious and 5 diocesan. The sisters were only 26 in number.

The making of the new diocese accelerated the growth of Church in Garo Hills at all levels. New parishes were opened at Selsella (1973), Tikrikilla (1974), Chokpot (1974), Dadenggiri (1976), Mendal (1977), Williamnagar (1977), Garobadha and Tura, Chandmari (1978). The Medical Mission Sisters (1971), the MSFS Fathers and the Daughters of St. Thomas (1975) now joined the missionaries already working in Garo Hills. Numerous young men from the South India who later became priests were recruited now for the new diocese. In 1977 the first Garo priest Fr. Crispinus Rangsa from Baghmara was ordained a priest.

The Holy Father Pope John Paul II relieved Bishop Marengo of the office of Apostolic Administrator on 8 February 1979 and appointed Rev. George Mamalassery of the diocesan clergy as the first bishop of Tura. The new bishop was consecrated on 18 March 1979. The first task of the new bishop was to build proper infra-structure in all the existing parishes. Putting all his abilities into work, he completed in each of these parishes a church, a presbytery, hostels for both boys and girls, a convent, a school and a dispensary. In order to promote local vocations to the priesthood, a threestorey seminary building was built in 1983. Many new religious congregations were invited to work in the diocese. They were: Sisters of Mary Immaculate (1980), Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (1982), Franciscan Brothers (1983), Claretian Fathers (1984), Missionaries of Charity (1985), RNDM (1985), Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod (1986), SMMI (1987), Holy Cross Sisters, Menzingen (1993), Montfort Brothers (1995), Daughters of St. Francis De Sales (1996), Sacred Heart Sisters (1998), Capuchin Fathers (1999), Jesuits (2003), Disciples of Divine Master (2005) Ursuline Sisters (2006) and CFMSS (2007).

Bishop George opened many more new parishes and built many spacious churches at key centers. The new parishes opened were: Mangsang and Nangwalbibra (1979), Purakhasia (1981), Chimaimpel (1984), Rongkon (1986), Rongara, Ampati and Cathedral (1989), Songsak (1992), Araimile (1994), Mendipathar (1995), Rabhagre, Rajabala and Jengjal (1996), Siju (1997), Samanda (2000), Mronggre and Dumnikura (2003), Kharkutta, Chidimit and Chapahati (2004) and Dawagre and Danakgre (2005). In each of these parishes a church, a presbytery, hostels for both boys and girls, a convent, a school and a dispensary were built.

In 1987 Bishop George invited the Salesians of Don Bosco to open the much needed Catholic College at Tura to the great benefit of many Catholic boys and girls. In 1989 a parish for Rabhas and Boros by the name of Mukti Dada Ashram was opened in Tikrikilla under the care of Rev. Fr. E.V. George. In 1991, a pastoral centre was opened adjacent to the Bishop’s House. The establishment of the 150 bed Holy Cross hospital at New Tura in 1993 was a major event in the history of the diocese. On 29 March 1994, an interdenominational Garo Bible was released.

In 1995 when the new diocese of Guwahati was established, Damra parish, having a large number of Garo and Rabha Catholics, was given over to the new diocese. The opening of the Home for the disabled and normal School at Danakgre in 1996 was a significant event in the history of the diocese. In the same year a Marriage Tribunal with qualified personnel was established in the diocese. On 30 July 1998, barely a month before his 94 birthday, Bishop Marengo was called by God for his eternal reward. The Silver Jubilee of the Episcopal Ordination of Bishop George Mamalassery was celebrated on14th March 2004 at Tura. To mark the occasion, the Rino Simonetti Nursing School at Danakgre was blessed in the presence of all the Bishops of the region. In the same year, on 17th June 2004, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, nominated Rev. Andrew R. Marak as the co-adjutor bishop of Tura. He was ordained a bishop by Most Rev. Pedro Lopéz Quitanta, Apostolic Nuncio to India on 3rd October 2004 at Tura.

In the following years, the diocese welcomed Vincentian Sisters, Franciscan Clarist Sisters (FCC), Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI) and Daughters of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple (DPMT) to serve in the diocese. A new school building in the name of Fr. George Memorial School at Paham was blessed by Most Rev. Andrew R. Marak in 2017. Sisters of St. Anns of Bangalore (SAB) joined the diocese in 2017 to work in Bakdil and in Don Bosco College.  On 21st October, 2017, a long cherished dream of the diocese was fulfilled when the beautiful Sacred Heart Shrine at Tura was inaugurated by Most Rev. John Moolachira, Archbishop of Guwahati and blessed by the Bishops of North East India.   On 21 April 2019, on the occasion of the Episcopal Ruby jubilee of Bishop Mamalassery, another landmark was inaugurated – the Diocesan Pastoral Centre at Walbakgre. All the bishops of the region were present at the function which was followed by their Meeting in the new Pastoral Centre itself.  In the same year the new parishes of Paham and Posenggagre were inaugurated. Deku too was separated from Chokpot parish as a Centre with a Father in-charge. On 24 February 2020, Rev. Fr. Jose Chirackal, the parish priest of Walbakgre and Director of Pastoral Centre, was nominated by Pope Francis as auxiliary bishop of Tura. Most Rev. Andrew R Marak, the bishop of Tura ordained him bishop with Bishops George Mamalassery, Victor Lyngdoh and Thomas Pullopillil as co-consecrators on 4th July 2020 in the Sacred Heart Shrine, Tura.