SECUNDERABAD: Amid CAB, NRC laws dividing the nation over religious beliefs, Muthiyala Dinesh Kumar, a Hindu by religion donated his first salary to the 180-year-old St Mary’s Basilica church in Secunderabad. The place is now getting its interiors renovated.
Though the place is not a regular place of worship for Dinesh’s family, it was his faith that made him donate Rs. 5 lakh to the church. “My brother had made a wish that if he secures a job in the US, he will donate his first salary to the church. Last month, when he secured an offer from a New York-based firm, he attributed the same to Mother Mary,” said M Prabhu, brother of the donor.
The family’s faith in the church dates back to 2012 when Dinesh’s father suffered a heart attack. “In 2012, when my father suffered a heart attack, no temple was open at midnight. Somewhere, my mother believed that it was Mother Mary’s blessing that my father could recover from such a severe heart attack,” said Prabhu, adding that it is since then that the family began believing in St Mary’s Basilica.
Calling it a rare occasion, Rev Msgr Swarna Bernard, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad rector and Parish priest at St Mary’s Basilica said, “It is for the first time that we have received such a unique request from a Hindu family. It only goes on to show how faith supersedes any religious divide.”
As part of the Christmas celebrations, the church is also distributing provisions to close to 50 families on December 25. “Instead of giving out blankets and clothes, we decided to provide provisions including rice, lentils, oil, and vegetables to 50 families from the economically-weaker sections of the society can have a hearty meal on Christmas day,” said Bernard.