Fr Dominic Ferroli (1887-1970)

Fr Ferroli who passed away in Italy on 4th October 1970 at the ripe old age of 84, was one of the great luminaries of the former Mangalore Mission. Born in Italy on 13th November 1887, he did his early studies in the Diocesan Seminary. He entered the Society in  January 1906 and did his novitiate at Soresina and later his first year of philosophy at  Cremona. In 1910 he was sent to England where he completed his philosophy at  Stonyhurst and then joined the Liverpool University. Here he had for companion Fr Leo Proserpio, who became later the Bishop of Calicut.

The two of them came to India in 1913, reaching Mangalore on October 26. Fr Ferroli spent 3 years at St Aloysius College doing his regency and then proceeded to Kurseong for his theology. He was ordained in   January 1920. At the end of the same year, Fr Ferroli was sent back to Italy and joined the University of Padua where he took his doctorate in  Physics in1923. Back in India at the end of the year, he did his tertianship at Ranchi and then joined the staff of St Aloysius College in November 1924. For the next 10 years, he worked in Mangalore teaching Mathematics and religion in the College, running study clubs for boys or organizing public lectures and writing books.

After a brief stay in Italy in 1934, he was posted at Christ Hall, Calicut where he was first in charge of the carbon factory and then taught in the Juniorate. In 1937 Fr Ferroli was transferred to Bangalore where he took up work at St Joseph's College, which was then newly taken over by the Jesuits of the Mangalore Mission. Here he organized the first  Summer School which continued to be held for a number of years. 

During the Second World War, Fr Ferroli was interned in N. India, and was allowed to return to the Mission only in1945. He stayed for a time in Calicut and then went to Bangalore in 1947 where he took up work in St Joseph's College once more. Fr Ferroli returned to Italy in 1956 when he was long past the age for active work in the College. But he continued his labours in Italy, keeping himself busy with various forms of apostolic work almost till the end.

A highly intellectual man, Fr Ferroli was at the same time an assiduous worker. While fully occupied in teaching, he found time to write several books. The best known of these are his Studies in Christian Sanctity (a second edition was published under the title of 'The Queen's Call'), Ethics or Moral Science in three volumes, Jesuits in Malabar in two volumes, and Jesuits in Mysore. The two last show great research and scholarship and a  sense of historical perspective.

An eloquent preacher, his sermons were always a delight to hear, while as a confessor he was greatly in demand. Seemingly absorbed in intellectual pursuits and grave-looking, he was at the same time an amiable man who kept the ball rolling during community recreation by his humorous stories. Above all, he was a   man of prayer and great personal sanctity. It was a source of edification to watch him recite the breviary or his rosary – so great was his recollection. May God grant him the reward of his great labours. 

Written by Fr Devadatta Kamath

in The Burning Bush Part II Volume 2, Pages 39-40, 2008 (Unpublished, Kar Province Archives). 

Pannur-Manvi

 Established in 2002 

The history of Pannur- Manvi Mission began when five young dynamic scholastics doing their theology came together one evening in the year 1998 to discern as to what they could do once they were ordained. After a long discussion and deliberation they felt that they should go to North Karnataka, the most neglected parts of the State, placing themselves at the hands of the Bishop, as their founder did five centuries ago. As a fruit of their deliberation 4 of them opted to do their diaconal ministry in the remote parishes of the Bellary diocese. One of them was St. Peter’s Church Jagir Pannur. Later they requested the Provincial that Jesuits take up the Pannur Parish for our pastoral and social involvement.

The Pannur – Manvi Mission was officially started in the year 2002 with Frs. Eric Mathias, Joseph Monteiro and Maxim Rasquinha as pioneers. The mission was inaugurated in 2003. With the view of uplifting the poor and discriminated people of Manvi Taluka, Loyola School was started in the year 2004 with 40 students on the roll. Today this school has grown by leaps and bounds, having 446 students, mostly Dalits, studying in this school in English medium. Further another school called the Xavier School with CBSE scheme began in 2007. The aim of this school is to facilitate Dalits also to study under the CBSE scheme, hitherto considered elitist. The growth of Pannur Mission seems unstoppable as the Pre- University College came up in 2010 and the degree college in 2012. The Pannur Mission today has Loyola School, Xavier School, Loyola PU and Degree College, Loyola Kapipaladi School, Loyola Hostels, Arrupe Boarding House, St Peter’s Church and a Social work Centre with 2351 students, 852 Hostellers, 151 collaborators and 12 Jesuits. (According to the 2023 KAR Catalogue)

History in detail

 On 29th June 2002, when Frs. Maxim Rasquinha, Eric Mathias and Joseph Monteiro started the Mission with the blessings of late Bishop Joseph D'Silva of Bellary and our then Provincial Fr.Ronnie Prabhu SJ. Pannur was a small village with hardly any facilities available to the people who numbered around 1750 including scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and Muslims. Catholics were then 450 in number and all of them are Dalits.

There were minimal transport facilities. A Government bus used to come twice a day; no market facilities no medical help: for everything people had to go either to Manvi (18kms) or Pothnal (16 kms) away. There was a Primary school in which a cow used to rest regularly. One teacher was taking care of four classes in one room. The Dalit children had to sit in one corner.

Our Main intention in starting the Mission was to educate the children and thus work out a programme of liberation through education. We were aware of the various problems in the village including bonded labor, child labor and harassment from the land lords especially to women. So we planned to have self- help groups among women and gave them an awareness of their rights and privileges and the importance of educating their children. With the help of three Bethany Sisters we gave an intense coaching to 50 children collected from Pannur and surrounding villages. They gave the children plenty of input through play-way method with catchy songs and rhythms and plenty of games. Within a month we were able to put them in standard 1, 2 and 3 in different schools according to their talents.

Then we planned to start a school in Manvi. In 2004 we bought around 40 acres of land and put up a simple multi-purpose structure and started our school with 40 students. Little by little we built hostels and regular school for children; and now after 10 years we are proud to say that we have children from baby class to final year degree numbering around 1600.

In Pannur we felt a great urgency of a medical center to meet the needs of our suffering people. We had seen with our own eyes children and grownups dying of snake bite and other diseases. Similarly pregnant women were often unable to get timely help. So we started Loyola Medical Center in Pannur with Sisters of Josephs of Tarbes serving the sick people.

We have started an English medium school for children from LKG onward. At present we have classes up to 3rd standard inclusive, with the student’s strength around 250. This is also run by Sisters of the same group.Our people have been longing to have a new church in place of the old one which was badly affected by floods. We have built a lovely church quit spacious to accommodate 750 people. The people feel proud of it as they realize that their own dignity is enhanced by this house of prayer which constantly reminds them to reform and renew their lives

We have been simultaneously working at the grass root level visiting more than 60 villages, conscientizing women and empowering them to be leaders. We have taken the girl child with grater preference for education and empowerment. We are determined to educate the Dalit children and bring them up to the level of children of other communities. We are happy to note that some of our children are pursuing their medical, engineering and B.Sc nursing in different institutions in Mangalore and Bangalore.Most of our Dalit children are staying in Loyola Study House were opportunities for all round development are offered. Besides academics and games, human values are inculcated constantly so that they may become men and women for others and fulfill the motto of the school ' To reach the unreached'. There are at present 450 students in Loyola Study Home among whom around 200 are girls.

We hope that within the next 15 years many of our students will occupy important posts in society and work for the liberation of their less privileged brothers and sisters.

Website: https://www.loyolacollegemanvi.com/