Inauguration of Pushpanjali Retreat Centre, Gorwa
26th of August, 2018 was a great and memorable day that will go down in the history of the Carmelites of the Karnataka-Goa province in general and the Pushpanjali Community in particular as another dream project – Retreat Centre - in the State of Gujarat, was completed.

The inaugural mass was held at 10:00 am. presided over by Most Rev. Athanasius Rethnaswamy, the Bishop of Ahmedabad Diocese, who also broke the Word of God. The concelebrants were: Most Rev. Stanislaus Fernandes (Apostolic Administrator of Baroda Diocese), Fr. Joel Pais (Vicar General of Baroda Diocese), Fr Charles Serrao (Provincial of the Karnataka-Goa province), 8 other Carmelite friars and 3 Diocesan priests.

The inauguration of the building took place at 11:30 am. Once all the priests, nuns and faithful gathered in front of the new building, Most Rev. Stanislaus Fernandes, began the prayer of blessing. Fr Charles Serrao along with the two bishops, Fr. Kaushik Parmar (present Superior and Parish Priest) and Fr. Sunil Monis (former Superior and Parish Priest) cut the ribbon and opened the doors of the new Retreat Centre. Then the whole edifice was blessed with the sprinkling of Holy Water.

This was followed by a short program that began at 12:00 pm. The comperes extended a warm welcome to all those who had gathered in the hall. The youth invoked the blessings of the Lord through a prayer dance. Fr. Kaushik then led the chief guests to the dais and they lighted lamps to mark the presence of the Lord. All the dignitaries and Mr. Deepak Smith, the contractor were felicitated. The Gujarat Catholic Sabha also felicitated Most Rev. Athanasius Rethnaswamy and offered him a shawl and a flower bouquet. This day was also the birthday of our dear Provincial Fr Charles Serrao. The birthday was celebrated by cutting of the cake. All the guests on the dais wished Fr. Charles on the occasion.

The youth then presented a skit. Most Rev. Stanislaus Fernandes and Fr Charles Serrao, addressed the gathering, after which the Youth were back with a cultural dance. The whole program came to end with the Grace over the meals prayed by Fr. Joel Pais. Lunch was served to all the people.

We express our sincere gratitude to Fr. Sunil Monis, the previous Superior who put in hard efforts to collect a big sum of the funds necessary to realize this project. Our thanks are also due to the present community: Frs. Kaushik Parmar and Don Tony D’Souza who have worked tirelessly to bring this construction to completion.

This additional block which will function as a Retreat Centre, has 8 self-contained rooms.