The Sacred Heart Church

Peddavutapally

Avutapally is one of the ancient parishes of the Vijayawada Mission. It was erected as a parish about the year 1925. The first parish priest to reside at Avutapally was Fr. Bandanadam Marianna. But Fr. Pasquali had settled in this centre in the year 1915-17. After his leaving the place the parish was without a resident priest, and the priests from Vennenapudi served as parish priests up to 1925. The first real parish priest on record was Fr. L. Anthony, who built the chapels at Telaprolu, Kondapavuluru, Ajjampudi and Appannaveedu. He allowed a dozen of weaver families from Phirangipuram to settle down in the Church compound. Fr. J. B. Calderaro, who was to be parish priest of Avutapally uninterruptedly till 1969, when the Capuchins took over the parish administration arrived in the village on 14th September 1927 to take definitive charge of the parish on March1, 1928. But much before the establishment of the parish, conversion work was going on at Avutapally. The genuine conversion movement was begun with Msgr. R. Pezzoni, who had a fatherly affection towards the village and the people. Due to his strenuous effort many more were added to the Catholic flock, the greatest number on record was 950 people baptized in October 1914 at Avutapally and surrounding villages.

Prompted by the response of the people and to further deepen the faith Pezzoni built a church at Avutapally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This church was solemnly blessed on November 23, 1916 by Bishop Vismara. In 1933 when Bezwada was erected into an independent Mission, the outstations of Avutapally were Kesarapally, Kondapavuluru, Telaprolu, Ajjampudi, Kuiugurapadu, Bandarigudem, Madugudem, Anandapuram, Polsanapalli, and Kanumolu. Avutapally parish was the centre of the activities of Br. Joseph Thamby, where he spent the last years of his life (1939-1945) serving the faithful and trying to spread the Good News in the villages around.