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| St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Julurupadu |
Parish Priest:
Address: St. Mary's Church, Julurupadu - 507166, Khammam (Dist.), A.P., India
Mobile No.: 0091-9491131417
No. of Catholics: 4,500
No. of Catechists: 5
No. of Catholic Villages: 9
No. of Chapels: 6
Former Parish Priests: Rev. John Karukapilly VC, Rev. Fr. Michael Gnanaraj, Rev. Fr. Thalapaneni Anthony
Institutions: St. Mary's Tribal Orphanage, St. Antony (Gianelli) E.M. School (Run by Our Lady of the Garden Sisters), Maria Nivas (Convent)
Catholic Villages: Julurupadu, Vengannapalem, Kakarla, Karivarigudem, Kothuru, Papakolu, P.Narsapuram, Machinapeta and Vinobha Nagar
Julurupadu is a tribal village. It is the parish headquarters, where St. Mary's parish Church and St. Mary's Tribal Orphanage are located. It was bifurcated from the parish of Kothagudem and canonically declared as a new parish on 2nd August 1998. Initially it was entrusted to the pastoral care of the Vincentian Fathers. Rev. Fr. John Karukapilly VC was appointed as the first parish priest.
There are 16 mission stations under this parish out of which 9 are Catholic villages (Julurupadu, Vengannapalem, Kakarla, Karivarigudem, Kathuru, Papakolu, P.Narsapuram, Machinapeta and Vinobha Nagar) and the rest Catechumenate villages.
All the Catholic faithful are tribals. Some villages are completely on the hills and in thick forests. Literacy rate is very minimum. The people are daily labourers in all the villages except in parish head-quarters (i.e., in Julurupadu village).
