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St. Mary's Church is the only Catholic parish in the city of Noida, India and is dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady. It comes under the Agra Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. The parish lies on the north-western tip of Agra Diocese, bordering with the Delhi Diocese on the west and Meerut Diocese on the north. The present parish priest of the church is Fr. Stephen Kolandaisamy. == History == Catholics searching for jobs were living in the industrial city of Noida since its constitution in 1976 by the UP Industrial Development Act. Initially they went to nearby churches in Delhi especially Mayur Vihar for attending Mass. On the insistence of Noida Catholics, the priest from Mayur Vihar parish later agreed to celebrate the Mass on Saturday evenings in Noida as he had to be in his parish on Sundays. Due to lack of a proper place, it was arranged in the houses of different people. In 1984, Archbishop Cecil de Sa appointed Fr. Johnson Chiryankandath, then parish priest of Bulandshahar to survey the pastoral needs of Noida. He visited Noida often for that reason.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.agraarchdiocese.com/Parishes.aspx?CID=31&PID=29 )〕 In 1985, the parishioners approached the newly appointed priest in Mayur Vihar to take Noida into the pastoral care of Mayur Vihar parish. The priest expressed helplessness as he could do nothing without consent from both the Archbishops of Delhi and Agra. Further deliberation resulted in a meeting between the two archbishops and a resolution that the people of Noida would be included in the Mayur Vihar Parish until a dedicated priest was appointed by the Agra Diocese for Noida Catholics. In 1986, Fr. Johnson was appointed as the parish priest for Noida by the Archbishop Cecil de Sa, thus including Noida in the ecclesial jurisdiction of Agra Diocese. Till then, Noida was an independent parish. In October 1986, Fr. Johnson applied for a land to build a church. The Noida Authority allotted a land in Sector-25, Noida. But due to objections from residents of Sector 25, the plot was returned. On the archbishop's advice, Fr. Johnson approached Noida authority for a Mass centre. An H.I.G. flat in Sector-27, Noida was obtained in December 1987 and inaugurated and named as "Maria Sadan" in February 1988. Maria Sadan is still used as a Mass centre by the parish. From 1996 the Orthodox Christians living in Noida were permitted to use the Mass centre till their own church was constructed and consecrated.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.orthodoxchurchnoida.com/church-history.html )〕 The plot in Sector-34, where the church presently stands was allotted by the authority, in exchange for the originally allotted plot in Sector-25, in May 1990 after three years of pursuance by Fr. Johnson and the parishioners. The foundation stone for the church was laid on 15 August 1991〔 by the then Archbishop of Agra Diocese, Rev. Cecil de Sa. Two years later the structure was consecrated for public worship. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St. Mary's Church, Noida」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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