1. The Birth: The Eparchy of Ujjain was erected as an Apostolic Exarchate on 29 July, 1968 by Pope Paul VI.
It was erected as an Eparchy on 26 February 1977.
2. Geographical Area: The Eparchy covers an area of 18,406.4 Sq. Kms.
3. Civil Districts: The Eparchy spread over four civil districts of Agar-Malwa, Rajgarh, Shajapur and Ujjain.
4. Location: The Eparchy is surrounded by the State of Rajasthan in the North; Sehore and Dewas districts in
the South-east; Guna and Vidisha districts in the North-east; Dhar, Ratlam and Indore districts
in the South-west.
4.1: Malwa Plateau: The Eparchy occupies the Malwa Region of M.P., is a plateau of Volcanic origin having
its own distinct culture and language.
4.2: The Malwa Region comprises 16 civil districts of Agar-Malwa, Alirajpur, Barwani, Bhopal, Dhar, Dewas,
Indore, Jhabua, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Rajgarh, Ratlam, Sehore, Shajapur, Ujjain, and
Vidisha.
5. Demography: As per the Govt. of M.P. Website the total population of Ujjain Eparchy is 4,974152.
5.1: Christian Population: 6963, just 0.14% of the total population. Catholics number 4500.
5.2: Society and Languages: Caste based society and social structure. Hindi is the major language spoken.
Malvi is the commonly used dialect in the villages.
5.3: Existing Castes: Nagri, Bagdi, Balai, Barah, Basodh, Barmunda, Bhangi, Mehtar, Valmik, Chamar, Berwa,
Bhambi, Jataw, Mochi, Rohidas, Ramnani, Satnani, Ahirwar, Mangan, Redas, Dhanuk,
Dhobi, Kanjar, Khatik, Kolo, Kori, Kotwal, Mehwal, Moghiya, Nut, Kalbeliya, Sapera,
Navdigar, Kubutr, Pardhi, Paasi, Sansi, Sansiya and Silawat.
5.4: Major Groups: 1) Brahman 2) Rajput 3) Baniya 4) Kayasth 5) Bhumihar 6) Panjabi Aeoda 7) Maratha
8) Patidar, Patel, Togdiya 9) Reddy, Lingayat
6. National Importance of Ujjain:
6.1: Situated on the banks of river Kshipra, Ujjain is one of the seven sacred cities of India for Hindus from
time immemorial and the seat of great kings like Pajjot, Vkramjit and Scindhias.
6.2: Ujjain was the chief town of the Subah of Malwa during the Mughal Period.
6.3: Ujjain has the pride of having one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India The lingam at the Mahakal is believed to
be SWAYAMBHU (born of itself) deriving currents of power with 'Mantra Shakti'.
7. Foundation and Growth of Christianity in Ujjain:
1886 - Maiden entry made by the Canadian Anglican missionaries Mr. & Mrs Murray rendering their
services in the fields of health care, education and social welfare.
7.1: 1895 - Formation of the first Small Christian Community in Ujjain
7.2: First Converts to Christianity - Narayan Singh and Chanu - were trained in preaching the Word of God.
7.3: 1895 - Opening of first school called 'Masihi Madhyamik Shala' in Ujjain
7.4: By 1935 the number of Christians in Ujjain was 900.
7.5 Preaching Ministry extended to places like Unhel, Shajapur, Tarana, Maksi, Bercha, Agar, Sarangpur, etc.
7.6 Land purchased from Mr. Dhannalal at a cost of Rs. 5009/- on Dewas road.
7.7 First church built disguised as a 'Club' - for not getting permissionto build a church - later named as 'Masihi
Mandir' on October 15, 1946.
8. Arrival and Activities of Catholic Missionaries:
The Cathoic missionary activities in Ujjain began in the year 1920s.
8.1: The first Catholics were largely Goans, the Anglo-Indians, the Tamilians and the Keralites.
8.2: In 1933 Fr. William Leuzen, the parish priest of Ratlam started visiting Ujjain.
8.3: Holy Mass celebrated at the Railway refreshment room arranged by Mr. D'Melloo, a devout Goa,
in charge of a hotel.
** On important feast days like Christmas and Easter people used to travel to MHOW
8.4: On 11 March, 1935 Indore was elevated to a Prefecture Apostolic with Msgr. P. T. Janser SVD as the
Prefect Apostolic.
8.5: In 1939 Parish Priest of Ratlam was entrusted with the pastoral care of the Catholic community of Ujjain
8.6 From 1941Holy Masses were arranged by Mr. Lazarus Pereira at Grand Hotel. Later, arranged in the
homes of the Catholics as per convenience.
8.7: From 1944 to 1958 the Priest from Ratlam Visited Ujjain very often.
8.8: In 1952 the Prefecture of Indore was raised to a diocese.
8.9: Fr. Francis Simons SVD was appointed as the first Bishop of Indore.
8.10: From 1958 onwards SVD Fathers from the seminary in Indore were entrusted with the care of the
Catholic community in Ujjain.
8.11: From 1958 Baptismal Register was started and maintained in Ujjain.
9. First appointment of Pastor:
9.1: Fr. BernardWissienski SVD was appointed as the Pastor of Ujjain.
9.2: - 12 acres of land was purchased in three stages by Fr. Bernard from 1960 to 1962.
9.3: Newly built presbytery was blessed on 15 August, 1962.
9.4: - 1 November, 1963 - Appointment and arrival of the first resident pastor Fr. Erich Reckwardt from Khandwa.
9.5: - 20 December, 1963 - Fr. Erich Reckwardt SVD took charge as the first resident pastor.
9.6: - 7 March, 1964 - Foundation stone for the church laid. First Holy Mass celebrated in the still under
construction church on 12 July 1964.
9.7: - 14 March, 1965 - The newly built Holy Trinity Church blessed and dedicated by Bishop Francis Simons at
3.30 p.m.
9.8: First batch of 21 faithful were administered the Sacrament of Confirmation on the occasion.
9.9: - 8 July, 1964 - Arrival of 4 FSMA sisters and opening of the first English medium school at Balkanjivari
Bhavan, Freegunj.
- Sr. Antonita appointed as the first principal.
9.10: - 1 November, 1965 - School shifted to the new building.
9.11: - 28 April, 1966 - School formally inaugurated by Bishop Simons.
9.12: - 6 August, 1966 - Sisters shift their residence to a portion of the school building.
10. Expansion of Pastoral Care:
10.1: 13 December, 1965 seven acres of land purchased at Nagda for constructing a new church.
10.2: 16 July, 1967 Onwards regular Holy Masses arranged for the nurses working in Rajgarh,
Narsinghgarh and Shajapur by Fr. Erich Reckwardt.
10.2.1: The Great Architects
The dream of Archbishop Eugine D'Souza of Bhopal was the expansion of the resourceful
Syro-Malabar Church to North Indian Missions.
* Bp. Francis Simons joined him in fulfilling this dream and jointly forwarded a memorandum to the Holy see
through the Inter-Nuncio.
** Their Concrete plan and proposal was to invite the flourishing Religious Congregations of the Syro-Malabar
Church and entrust the task of evangelization in Central India and the creation of a few new ecclesiastical
territories in Madhya Pradesh.
*** The Eparchy of Ujjain is one of the fruits of their labor.
10.2.2: 1 April, 1967 - First information by Bp. Simons given to Fr. Erich Reckwardt about the impending
creation of an ecclesiastical unit comprising the civil districts of Ujjain, Shajapur and Rajgarh and to be
entrusted to a new Missionary Society of the Syro-Malabar Church.
10.2.3: 22 February, 1968 - Formal declaration (announcement) of the ecclesiastical unit.
11. 29 July, 1968 - The erection of Exarchate of Ujjain by Pope Paul VI
11.1: Fr. John Perumattam, the first Director General of MST, was appointed as the Apostolic Eparch of Ujjain.
11.2: 30 April, 1968 - Arrival of first MST Fathers - Fr. Francis Kandathil and Fr. Paul Naickarakudy, at Indore as
the pioneering missionaries for Ujjain.
11.3: 1st May, 1968 - Bp. Francis Simons escorts the two pioneering missionaries to Ujjain and introduces to
Erich Reckwardt and the sisters.
11.4: Good Bye to Fr. Erich Reckwardt on 6th May, 1968, five days after the arrival of MST missionaries in Ujjain.
12. Formal Inauguration & Installation:
12.1: 14 January, 1969 - The inauguration of Exarchate and the installation of the Apostolic Exarch.
12.2: A period of unabated growth and pioneering work for the next 9 years.
12.3: Growth of 13 Mission stations by the year 1977:
1) Ujjain in 1963 2) Shajapur in 1969 3) Nagda in 1970. 4) Chandessary in 1970 5) Shujalpur in 1970
6) Rajgarh in 1971 7) Barnagar in 1972 8) Piploda in 1972 9) Kotra in 1973
10) Biaora in 1973 11) Narsinghgarh in 1974 12) Kamed in 1974 13 Agar in 1976
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