Bishop brings new light of hope to leprosy patients

Kerala – Leprosy patients at Nooranad Leprosy Sanatorium acknowledge a bishop’s act of kindness with tears and folded hands. "Thank God and thank him. Now we have good cots and neat beds. The place looks beautiful and clean," Achary, 65, said acknowledging the renovation work recently undertaken under the supervision of Bishop Mathias Kappil of Punalur.

The bishop, using diocesan funds, renovated the collapsing ward that houses 57 men and has spent about Rs. 9 lacs "to make it a livable place." The work included replacing the broken roof tiles, improving toilet facilities and ventilation, redoing the floors, patching up chipped wall plastering and repainting. The bishop also made sure the men's 50–year–old cots were repaired and provided them new mattress and pillows.

The king of Travancore, a former princely state in southern India, built the sanatorium in 1927, while India was under British rule. Indian independence came 20 years later, and when Kerala was formed in 1956, the sanatorium was entrusted to the local government.

Meanwhile, the facility was connected with Catholic missionaries almost since its inception. When the king could not find people to serve its residents, then Bishop Aloysius Maria Benziger of Quilon helped him invite the Holy Cross Sisters of Menzingen, who work in the sanatorium to this day.

Punalur diocese was created from Quilon diocese.

Some residents of the restored men's ward allege the Kerala government did little to maintain the building. According to Govindan, 60, the place was "a real hell and inhuman" before the renovation. "We were shunted to this old building without even minimum facilities. All the toilets were leaking and the place smelled like a rat hole," he said.

"They knew that we had no place to go and would live here even if they treated us like pigs," he added.

Bishop Kappil's first contact with the sanatorium came soon after his priestly ordination in 1954, when he came to work in the area as a priest of Quilon diocese. When Punalur diocese was created in 1985 and Father Kappil was made its first bishop, he became a frequent visitor to the sanatorium.

About four months ago the bishop volunteered to help improve the facility, and government authorities gave the necessary permits.

"It's our duty and responsibility to help these poor. It's also one way of seeking spirituality," the soft–spoken 76–year–old bishop explained.

Holy Cross Sister Victrine, who works in the sanatorium, recalled its earlier conditions were "far from satisfactory and unhealthy." "God answered my prayers by sending the bishop," she said.

The sanatorium sits on a 300–hectare plot and houses 453 residents of different religions and age groups in 16 wards with independent buildings. The renovated ward was most in need of urgent attention, the priest said.

Some residents include those cured of leprosy but rejected by families. Some live with their family inside the compound.

K.K. Shaju, a local member of the state legislative assembly who was present at the reopening ceremony for the renovated building, expressed that the bishop's action has opened his eyes. "It's a noble act which we should follow. We often forget that they have a right to live as human beings," he said.