St. Joseph’s Church
Established: 1985
Catholics: 160
Catholic Church
Khalpura 841211
Gultainganj (via)
Chapra, Saran District, Bihar
Tel: (06152) 273240
Mass Centers: Sonepur, Dighwara, Chapra town, Mehiya
History:
The mission in Chapra dates to the beginning of the twentieth century when a Capuchin priest, Fr. Pius, rented a small house and took care of the European Catholics there and opened an orphanage for local orphans. He also bought land for a cemetery. However, some time later, probably at the beginning of the first World War, this work was abandoned and only in 1985 was land purchased at Khalpura, about eight kilometers east of the Chapra railway station. Here the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (FIHM) began to live and to work among the people in the nearby villages. This mission was looked after by the priests in Siwan. A few years later a residence for priests was constructed and a priest began living there.
A piece of land adjacent to our mission land was purchased in 2007 the present school building in Khalpura is on this land.
In 2001 the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary left Khalpura and in their place the Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (SMMI) of the Raipur (Chattisgarh) Province came to continue and to expand the work. They are very active in social work in and around Khalpura. They are in charge of the school which was started in Khalpura in 2006, have a dispensary and help with the pastoral work of the parish.
In 2004 land was bought at Mehiya, about four kilometers north of Chapra. Sisters of the Society of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took up residence
there and began Holy Family School in May 2006.
The priests in Chapra take care of the faithful in Sonepur, about forty kilometers east of Chapra where the Sacred Heart Sisters have a school.
Religious Congregations
1. Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (SMMI)
Khalpura 841211
Gultainganj (via)
Chapra, Saran District, Bihar
Tel. (06152) 273240
2. Society of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (JMJ)
Holy Family School, Gurukul,
Mehiya Chapra-841301,
Saran District, Bihar
3. Sisters of the Sacred Heart (SSH)
Sacred Heart Convent, Sonepur
St. Joseph’s Academy
N.E. Railway
Sonepur 841101
Saran District, Bihar
Tel: (06158)222258