Hyderabad: Hundreds of faithful from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh took part in the celebration to mark 300 years of the Telugu Catholic faith at the Loyola Academy in Alwal on Sunday.

A Holy Mass was celebrated by Archbishop of Hyderabad Rev. Thumma Bala. Former Lok Sabha Speaker and sitting MP P.A. Sangma, his daughter and former Union minister Aga-tha Sangma, Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya and Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy were among the guests on the occasion.

In 1715, the first Telugu person accepted Catholic faith. Fr. Le Gac SJ, the leader of the Carnatic Mission from France, who rechristened himself Sanjeevanatha Swamy, baptised Thumma Hanumantha Reddy of the Madigubba village of Anantapur district.

Mr Sangma said Catholics have contributed a lot towards the development of the country.

He said leaders like L.K. Advani, Jyoti Basu and former president Venkataraman are the products of Christian Educational Institutions.