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{{more citations needed|date=October 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox church
| denomination = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
| church name = St. Joseph Church
| fullname = St. Joseph Church and Parish of Belman
| image = [[File:St. Joseph Church Belman 2018.jpg|280px|St. Joseph Church Belman in 2018]]
| pushpin map =
| pushpin label position = none
| coordinates = {{coord|13|09|58.5|N|74|52|12.2|E|display=inline,title}}
| country = [[India]]
| location = [[Belmannu]], [[Karkala taluk]], [[Udupi district]], [[Karnataka]], India
| tradition = [[Latin Rite]] in [[Konkani]]
| website = {{URL|www.stjosephchurchbelman.com|stjosephchurchbelman.com}}
| former name = St. Joseph Chapel
| bull date = 29 November 1886
| founded date = 10 September 1894
| dedication = St. Joseph
| events = {{ubl|23 December 1914: Parish boundary decree|24 December 1922: New church built|11 April 1964: Kelmbet parish formed|21 November 1982: Mukamar parish formed|26 August 2018: Church renovation}}
| status = [[Parish]]
| groundbreaking = 1887
| parish = Belman
| archdiocese = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangalore|Archdiocese of Bangalore]]
| diocese = [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Udupi|Udupi]]
| province = Bangalore
| district = [[Udupi district]]
| archbishop = [[Peter Machado]]
| bishop = [[Gerald Isaac Lobo]]
| priest = Edwin D'souza
| asstpriest = Ivan Joy Martis
}}

'''St. Joseph Church, Belman'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://belmanchurch.com/|title=Belman Church|website=belmanchurch.com|access-date=2018-08-26}}</ref> is a [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic church]] and [[parish]] is located in [[Belmannu]], [[Karkala taluk]], [[Udupi district]], [[Karnataka]], [[India]]. Formerly part of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore|Diocese of Mangalore]], it became part of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Udupi|Diocese of Udupi]] after Udupi became a separate diocese on 15 October 2011.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangaluru/Udupi-14th-diocese-in-Karnataka-to-be-inaugurated-on-Oct-15/articleshow/16769189.cms|title=Udupi, 14th diocese in Karnataka to be inaugurated on Oct 15 |work=The Times of India|access-date=2018-08-26}}</ref> The parish is part of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangalore|Archdiocese of Bangalore]]. It observes the [[Latin liturgical rites|Latin rite]], with [[Mass (liturgy)|mass]] celebrated in [[Konkani language|Konkani]].

The parish was founded in 1894. Its Catholic population is about 2,600 (in about 540 families), and it is divided into 21 wards. ''The Staff of St. Joseph'' ({{lang-kok|ಸಾಂ ಜುಜೆಚಿ ಬೆತ್ಕಾಟಿ|translit=San Zuzechi Betkati}}) is the parish newsletter. [[Baptist Mudartha]], former [[bishop of Allahabad]], is from the parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmudartha.html|title=Bishop Baptist Mudartha|access-date=24 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930231441/http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmudartha.html|archive-date=30 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Location ==
St. Joseph Church is {{convert|48|km}} north of [[Mangalore]] on the [[State Highway 1 (Karnataka)|Padubidri-Kudremukh State Highway]], and is surrounded by the parishes of St. Theresa of Child Jesus, The Church of Perpetual Succour, Our Lady of Sorrows, St. John Bosco, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Francis Xavier and St. Pius X Church.

== {{anchor|Background and Location Etymology}}Etymology ==
Christian missionaries entered the district during the 16th century,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dioceseofmangalore.com/diocese/christianity-in-mangalore|title=Christianity in Mangalore - Diocese of Mangalore|website=www.dioceseofmangalore.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-08-28}}</ref> strengthening in the 17th and 18th centuries until they were imprisoned by [[Tipu Sultan|Tippu Sultan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ephesians511blog.com/2017/06/12/an-account-of-the-persecution-of-mangalorean-christians-under-tipu-sultan/|title=An account of the persecution of Mangalorean Christians under Tipu Sultan|last=EPHESIANS-511.NET|date=2017-06-12|website=EPHESIANS-511.NET- A Roman Catholic Ministry Exposing Errors in the Indian Church|language=en|access-date=2019-03-25}}</ref> The survivors settled into parishes. Christianity reportedly began in [[Shirva, India|Shirva]] between 1534 and 1600.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.churchesspl.com/shirva.html|title=Church of Our Lady of Health, Shirva|access-date=24 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014357/http://churchesspl.com/shirva.html|archive-date=13 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The word ''Belmannu'' derived from ({{lang-kn|ಬಿಳಿ ಮಣ್ಣು|translit=bili mannu}}, "white soil"). The Belman parish was once part of the Shirva parish. There were two churches at Shirva: N. S. De Saude under the [[Padroado]] of [[Portuguese India]] with its [[Bishop in the Catholic Church|bishop]] in [[Goa]], and [[Francis Xavier|St. Francis Xavier]] under the [[Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith]] ({{lang-la|Sacra congregatio de propaganda fide}}).

== {{anchor|Formation of the Parish}}History ==
===Parish formation===
Permission was granted on 29 November 1886 by Nicholas Maria Pagani, the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] bishop of Mangalore, for the construction of a [[chapel]] in Belman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dioceseofmangalore.com/bishop/lists-of-bishops/1528-bishops-of-mangalore-diocese|title=Bishops of Mangalore Diocese – Diocese of Mangalore|last=Editor|first=News|website=www.dioceseofmangalore.com|language=en-gb|access-date=2018-08-27}}</ref> After other locations were consider, Madkamane (owned by a [[Brahmin]] family, and adjacent to the present-day church) was selected and construction of the chapel began in 1887. Construction was financed by the Mathias family, and the chapel was completed in seven years.

Permission to [[Consecration#Churches, altars, and other ritual objects|consecrate]] the chapel was granted by Bishop Pagani on 10 September 1894. The bishop's decree delineated Belman as a separate parish and appointed N. Carneiro of St. Francis Xavier Church in Shirva to expand his priestly duties to the new parish. The chapel was blessed by Carneiro, who served the Belman parish from Shirva for a number of years, on 10 September 1894. The chapel had mud walls; its roof was [[Thatching|thatched]] with hay, and it had no [[Clergy house|rectory]] or [[Belfry (architecture)|belfry]]. On 12 December 1900, the boundary between the Kirem and Belman parishes was settled.

A 23 December 1914 decree defined the boundaries of the Belman, Kirem, [[Kinnigoli]] and the future Bolkunje parishes. Since the chapel's roof had weakened, the foundation stone for a church was laid on 24 December 1922. The new church was consecrated on 2 May 1933 by Bishop [[Victor R. Fernandes]]. Only the sanctuary and main altar were plastered; the rest of the church was not yet built.

The Kelmbet parish was formed from Belman, and a chapel was built there by a decree dated 11 April 1964. St. Joseph High School was founded in November 1981. A 21 November 1982 decree formed the Mukamar parish from Belman. St. Joseph English Medium School was founded on 3 June 2012.

==={{anchor|History of the Parish|First Phase – The Beginning (1894–1906)|1. Rev.Fr. Nicholas Carneiro (1894–1903)|Developmental Activities:|2. Rev.Fr. Rosario P.B. Lewis (1903–1906)|Second Phase – Independent Steps (1903–1914)|3. Rev.Fr. Emmanuel Vas (1906–1910)|4. Rev.Fr. Peter R. D'Souza (1910–1913)|5. Rev.Fr. Antony A.E. Colaco (1913–1914)|6. Rev.Fr. Denis Lewis (1914–1934)7. Rev.Fr. P.L. Bothelho (1934–1957)|Assistant Priests under Rev.Fr. P.L. Bothelho|Fourth Phase – Further Development (1957–2017)|8. Rev.Fr. Nicholas J. Pereira (1957–1973)|Assistant Priests under Rev.Fr. Nicholas J. Pereira}}Priests===
*Nicholas Carneiro (1894–1903): Founded an elementary school in 1896 (which became St. Joseph's Higher Primary School), and had the present Shirva-Belman road built.
*Rosario P. B. Lewis (1903–1906): Initially served the parish from Shirva and had a small, thatched-roof rectory with no facilities built near the chapel. After Lewis convened a 15 March 1904 meeting with representatives from [[Kallianpur]], [[Karkala]], N. S. De Saude and St. Francis Xavier in Shirva, Emmanuel Vas was appointed the resident parish priest. Between 1903 and 1914, a small cemetery was developed next to the chapel.
*Emmanuel Vas (1906–1910): Began construction of an improved rectory, established a post office there (the region's first), and implemented construction of the present-day Belman-Mundkur road.
*Peter R. D'Souza (1910–1913): Stabilized the parish's economic situation, completing the rectory (with a kitchen) and creating a reserve fund with paddy and rice collected from parishioners. The money obtained was loaned at low interest, with jewels as collateral.
*Antony A. E. Colaco (1913–1914): Came to Belman from [[Kundapur|Coondapur]], where D'Souza was transferred on a temporary assignment. Due to ill health, Colaco was transferred in eleven months.
*Denis Lewis (1914–1934): Collected the remaining cost of the church from outside the parish and diocese after the Rs.16,000 contributed by parishioners. Lewis elevated the elementary school to a higher elementary school and appointed his nephew, Joseph Vas, headmaster. He established Little Flower (another elementary school) at Abbanadka, formed a choir, and expanded and walled the cemetery. Apoline Mathias succeeded Lewis as acting vicar of Belman for about a month.
*P. L. Bothelho (1934–1957): Took charge of the parish on 27 May 1934, an orator and musician who wrote ''Kavyam Zelho'' (a collection of Konkani poems). Bothelho was aided by a series of assistant priests, who worked in the schools (which were transferred to the Catholic Board of Education on 30 July 1934). He had a [[Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes#Grotto|Lourdes-type grotto]] built and expanded and improved the church and rectory (including a bridge between the rectory and the church sanctuary). Bothelho's assistant priests were:
:{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Role
!From
!To
|-
|Jerome D'Souza
|Headmaster
|10 August 1942
|10 April 1943
|-
|Ambrose C. Aranha
|School administrator
|23 March 1944
|8 September 1944
|-
|Raymond D'Cunha
|Headmaster
|9 September 1944
|5 May 1949
|-
|Thomas D'Sa
|Headmaster
|8 May 1949
|11 May 1954
|-
|Norbert D'Souza
|Administrator
|16 May 1954
|20 April 1957
|}
*Nicholas J. Pereira (1957–1973): Arriving from Miyar on 24 April 1957, Pereira repaired and expanded the church and schools, built and consecrated chapels at Kelmbet and Mukamar, electrified the church and rectory in 1967, and began a youth [[sodality]] and a milk [[cooperative|co-operative society]]. His assistants were:
:{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!From
!To
|-
|Gregory D'Souza
|March 1958
|March 1964
|-
|J. M. Pereira
|15 August 1965
|20 January 1966 (his death)
|-
|R. Moras
|16 April 1966
|15 October 1968
|-
|Thomas D'Sa
|31 April 1969
|24 April 1971
|-
|Charles Moras
|22 April 1971
|6 December 1974
|}
*Aloysius Rodrigues (1973–1978): Serving from 26 May 1973 until his death on 20 May 1978, Rodrigues began construction of a school hall which became the Fr. A. Rodrigues Memorial Hall. He also began a youth club and a food-for-work programme. After Rodrigues' death his assistant, Andrew Lewis, served as parish priest and completed construction work on the hall.
*Lawrence Gomes (1978–1986): Serving from 1 July 1978, Gomes oversaw the 30 August 1978 dedication of the Fr. Rodrigues Memorial Hall by Bishop [[Basil Salvadore D'Souza]] and founded St. Joseph's High School in Belman. He acquired a hearse, made a number of improvements to the church and began a mother-and-child health programme. Gomes' assistant priests were:
:{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!From
!To
|-
|Rosario Fernandes
|22 May 1980
|27 June 1983
|-
|Walter D'Mello
|9 May 1984
|25 May 1987
|}
*John Fernandes (1986–1994): Appointed on 18 May 1986, Fernandes completed construction of the high school, revitalized the [[Pastoral council|parish council]], and modernized the liturgy. During his tenure the parish celebrated its 100th anniversary, improvements were made to the church, schools and rectory, and a centre for [[Intellectual disability|mentally-challenged]] children was founded. Fernandes' assistants were:
:{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!From
!To
|-
|Gerald D'Souza
|26 May 1987
|23 May 1988
|-
|Victor George D'Souza
|24 May 1988
|11 June 1990
|-
|Peter D'Souza
|7 June 1992
|24 May 1993
|-
|Sylvester D'Costa
|14 June 1993
|19 May 1995
|}
*Thomas D'Souza (1994–2001): Appointed on 28 June 1994, D'Souza's health was poor; on 7 May 2001, Lawrence Mascarenhas arrived as assistant priest and ran the parish as an assistant until on 31 December 2001 he died. Mascarenhas was then appointed parish priest by the bishop. Manavika, the school for mentally-challenged children, was certified by the government on 26 October 1995. D'Souza's assistant priests were:
:{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!From
!To
|-
|Michael Santhumayor
|21 May 1995
|May 1997
|-
|Dolphy Monteiro
|May 1997
|1998
|-
|Jerome D'Souza
|1998
|2001
|-
|Lawrence Mascarenhas
|7 May 2001
|26 May 2002
|}
*Lawrence Rodrigues (2002–2009): After Mascarenhas was transferred and Rodrigues became parish priest, Pascal Menezes arrived as assistant priest. Rodrigues had three months to go until his 31 August 2002 retirement from Pompei Junior College in Kirem, and shuttled between Belman and Kirem until then. He focused on parish organizations and activities, renovating and repairing the church (including the installation of toilets) and the Fr. Thomas D'Souza Memorial Mini Hall. A new rectory and chapel were built. Rodrigues was transferred to the Yermal parish in 2009. His assistant priests here were:
:{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!From
!To
|-
|Pascal Menezes
|27 May 2002
|22 May 2003
|-
|Praveen Amrith Martis
|17 May 2003
|17 May 2005
|-
|Vijay Lobo
|16 May 2005
|27 May 2007
|-
|Rocky Ravi Fernandes
|10 May 2007
|30 May 2009
|}
*Lawrence B. D'Souza (2009–2016): Appointed on 1 June 2009,<ref name="daijiworld_60242">{{Cite web|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=60242|title=Mangalore: Bishop Aloysius Paul Releases First List of Transfers of Clergy|access-date=2018-08-28}}</ref> when Rodrigues was transferred to the smaller Yermal parish due to failing health.
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!From
!To
|-
|Edwin D'souza
|2009
|2010
|-
|Melwyn Lobo
|2010
|2011
|-
|Ronald Pinto
|2011
|2012
|-
|John Baptist Moras
|2014
|2016
|}
*Sunil Veigas: Transferred to [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore|Mangalore Diocese]] on 1 June 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/newsDisplay.aspx?newsID=454376|title=Udupi: Diocese releases list of transfers of priests|access-date=2018-08-28}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!From
!To
|-
|Melwyn Roy Lobo
|2017
|2018
|}
*Edwin D'souza (2017–present)
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!From
!To
|-
|Prakash Menezes
|2018
|2019
|-
|Ivan Joy Martis
|2020
|Present
|}
==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed heights=240>
File:Rev. Fr. Antony A.E. Colaco.jpg|alt=Priest with a long, white beard|Antony A. E. Colaco (1913–1914)
File:Rev. Fr. Denis Lewis.jpg|alt=Smiling, bearded priest|Denis Lewis (1914–1934)
File:Rev. Fr. P.L. Bothelho.jpg|alt=Bearded priest with a hat|P. L. Bothelho 1934–1957)
File:Rev. Fr. Nicholas J. Pereira.jpg|alt=Serious-looking priest with glasses|Nicholas J. Pereira (1957–1973)
File:Rev. Fr. Aloysius Rodrigues.jpg|alt=Bespectacled priest in white|Aloysius Rodrigues (1973–1978)
File:Rev. Fr. Lawrence Gomes.jpg|alt=Younger priest in white|Lawrence Gomes (1978–1986)
File:Rev. Fr. John Fernandes.jpg|alt=Smiling, bespectacled priest in white|John Fernandes (1986–1994)
File:Rev. Fr. Thomas D'Souza.jpg|alt=Smiling, bespectacled, bearded priest|Thomas D'Souza (1994–2001)
File:Rev. Fr. Lawrence Rodrigues.jpg|alt=Serious, bespectacled priest in white|Lawrence Rodrigues (2002–2009)
File:Rev. Fr. Lawrence B. D'Souza.jpg|alt=Smiling, bespectacled younger priest|Lawrence B. D'Souza (2009-2016)
File:Rev. Fr. Sunil Joseph Veigas .jpg|alt=Younger priest|Sunil Joseph Veigas(2016-2017)
File:Rev. Fr. Edwin Dsouza.jpg|alt=Smiling, bespectacled priest in whitet|Rev. Fr. Edwin Dsouza(2017-Present)
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Udupi district]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic churches in Karnataka]]
[[Category:Dakshina Kannada district]]
[[Category:Konkan]]
[[Category:Konkani]]

St. Joseph Church, Belman - Revision history

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