He was his parish priest when he entered the seminary: today Monsignor Udumala Bala is the bishop of the Indian diocese where for almost 60 years the missionary sowed the Gospel and promoted many educational works. Which continue with the support of the PIME Foundation
In the beginning it was the English railway workers: the first to bring the Gospel to the diocese of Warangal in the nineteenth century were the workers tamil, enlisted to build the line connecting Hyderabad to Madras. Monsignor Udumala Bala, 69 years old, who has been bishop for ten years (the third) of this community in Andhra Pradesh, tells it with pride. Without forgetting the other essential bond for the Church of Warangal: that with the PIME missionaries.
«When our diocese was established in 1952, Monsignor Alfonso Beretta was the bishop of Hyderabad, from whose territory it was created. He decided to leave the largest diocese to come and be a bishop among us. An unusual gesture, of a true missionary”, comments Monsignor Bala. Seventy years later, the prelate originally from this land today leads a Church of approximately 75 thousand faithful in a rural area where 9.5 million inhabitants live. A small seed, but from whose womb two other dioceses have already been born: those of Kammam and Nalgonda. «Today they have more faithful than us – the bishop smiles – but it is the lesson that the missionaries taught us: work to stand on our own feet».
Warangal has come a long way, especially along the path traced by another great PIME missionary who served here for almost sixty years: Father Augusto Colombo. «He was my parish priest when I entered the seminary and also when I was ordained a priest», the current bishop enlightens. Native of Cantù, in Andhra Pradesh from 1952 until his death in 2009, Father Colombo was truly everything for this corner of rural India: the builder of churches and chapels, the driving force behind countless social works, but above all the creator of a network of educational initiatives that today range from nursery schools to university level training. And it is a commitment that continues almost fifteen years after his death, also with the help of the PIME Foundation which still has over 1,200 active remote supports in Warangal thanks to its benefactors.
An important step along this path took place on 22 July, with a ceremony that saw Father Colombo’s dream come true: the establishment of a large university of medical sciences in this outskirts of Andhra Pradesh. During a Mass presided over by the apostolic nuncio to India Monsignor Leopoldo Girelli – together with the Indian cardinals Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, and Felipe Neri Ferrao, archbishop of Goa – the foundation stone of the college for nurses and paramedics, the new wing of the Br. Colombo Institute of Medical Science, of the diocese of Warangal, which already includes a large hospital and the faculty of medicine, both wanted by the PIME missionary.
The turning point had already occurred in March when the Indian government officially granted its recognition to the Medical College, which today is a university in all respects. A seal that is not to be taken for granted in a country like India, where Christian social and educational realities are often opposed for identity reasons. Testifying to the exceptional nature of this act is the fact that it is only the third Catholic medical faculty in the whole of India: with its 150 students who have begun their studies, it joins the St. John’s National Academy of Health Science promoted by the Indian Episcopal Conference in Bangalore and at the Br. Muller Medical College of the diocese of Mangalore.
«On 31 August 2022, on the anniversary of Father Colombo’s death, we had already changed the name: previously it was called Warangal Medical College, now it is named after him. And I believe that this recognition was his first miracle…”, smiles Monsignor Bala. He has seen a lot of graces received through the intercession of his former parish priest. Because Father Augusto remains a heritage for everyone in Warangal: «he lives in the hearts of the poor – says Monsignor Bala -. Even many non-Christians come to pray at his tomb: they ask for his intercession for an illness, there have been healings even of very serious cases. They call on him to have children, they confide their stories to him in the visitor register. For this reason we are working towards the opening of the cause of beatification. Everyone remembers how much Father Augusto did for the education of young people. Even local politicians in their speeches cite his name as a source of pride, a bit like what happens at a national level in India with Mother Teresa.”
Moreover, in many years of mission, Father Colombo carried out a large number of initiatives for the promotion of the poor: from the company for the production of “miracle rice” to rural banks, from assistance to lepers to artisanal work for women. In the field of education he left the Institute of Technology and Science, which trained thousands of engineers in Warangal. «Father Augustus had seen far ahead about this too 25 years ago – comments Bishop Bala -. Our capital Hyderabad, 120 kilometers from here, has become a great global point of reference for the world of high-tech and Warangal has also been able to benefit from it. Although many of the engineers trained in Father Colombo’s institute have taken the path of emigration to distant countries…”.
But alongside the social works there is the mark left by Father Colombo in evangelization with great attention to the local context. «In the church he built in Warangal – recalls Monsignor Bala – the images on the walls were his catechism: they depicted the entire history of Salvation, from creation to the incarnation up to the second coming of Jesus. The children just had to look around. He employed local Indian artists because he wanted the images to be enculturated.”
It is an area in which much remains to be done: «In our communities we are still too Westernized, inculturation proceeds too slowly – observes the bishop of Warangal -. This is also why it becomes easier for Hindu fundamentalists to accuse us Christians of being foreigners. But inculturation must be an authentic encounter between faith and our culture. At times there has been a claim to simply insert gestures taken from other religious contexts into the liturgy: thus we risk Hinduising our faith, not making it more inculturated. There are aspects in which we have developed an Indian sensitivity, for example singing in the liturgy. But in other areas such as theology we are still at the beginning.”
Among Father Colombo’s legacies there is also his push for the first proclamation of the Gospel, despite the heavy climate against religious conversions instilled today by the exasperated defense of identity carried out by radical Hindu movements. «There has never been violence against us – reassures Monsignor Bala – but some Protestant pastors have been hit. They don’t want us to evangelize and in some Indian states they now openly target our schools or social structures. There were also destructions of statues of Jesus or the Madonna or devastated chapels. They are getting stronger.”
But the proclamation of the Gospel is nevertheless an indispensable dimension for the diocese of Warangal. For example in the villages of the banjara, the tribals who live in the mountains of the Mahabubabad district. «They represent 8% of the population in our territory, but they remain on the margins – says the bishop of Warangal -. Today we have 15 parishes that take care of them with schools, hostels, dispensaries. Many nuns live their ministry in this area. We have also launched a campaign against the selective abortion of girls, which is very widespread in this area. Meanwhile, devotion to the Madonna of the Banjara is growing, a very beautiful sign for these communities.”
«We must continue to reach new people, it is the most important challenge for our Church – concludes the bishop -. Without forgetting also how many in India today are economically a little better off and no longer need our material help. The Gospel is a word of salvation for them too.”