“The whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possession, but everything they owned was in common.” (Acts 4:32)
The primary purpose of our temporal goods is for apostolic activities and works of charity.
We are entrusted with responsibility to manage the temporal goods with an attitude and disposition of the early Christian community.
We aspire to grow as transparent, accountable persons, with deeper faith filled life lived by our Founder Servant of God Mgr. Raymond F C Mascarenhas and the founding members.
We uphold our commitment in the faithful use and wise disposition of the temporal resources placed in our hands. The sacredness of this mission demands that we set our hearts on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness
Deeper reflections in the context of COVID 19 pandemic by the delegates of XVII General Chapter on the temporal affairs of the Congregation re-emphasized greater sense of transparency and accountability. The need of the hour is; to be vigilant and alert to respond promptly and wisely to the changing policies and laws of our country and to safeguard our assets. Motivating & guiding sisters to make judicious and responsible use of our financial resources.
Three tier system of governance of temporal goods facilitates the authentic use and judicious dispersal of possessions through annual budget system.
Good financial practices greatly enhance the credibility of our Institute.
Maintaining of standardized accounts, internal control and check systems safeguard accountability and vigilance. Adhering meticulously to these will surely enhance the members to be credible witnesses of the Gospel.
Sr M Violet D’Souza BS
Procurator General
Bethany Generalate
Lower Bendur, P.B.No.593
Mangalore 575002, D.K. India
Contact No – 0824/2218923
Email Id –
System of Financial Administration
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Sr Violet D'Souza Procurator General with her team Sr Severine BS and Sr Sony Scaria BS
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Annual Meeting on Temporal Administration -17 August 2022
Fifty-three Sisters involved in temporal administration from North, South, East and west of India gathered in Pushpalaya Hall, Bethany – Mangalore on 17August 2022 for a day’s annual meeting on Temporal Administration. God’s blessings were invoked by Sr Shaila and Sr Sony Scaria. Sr. Anita Moras ably facilitated the program.
At the outset Sr Violet Dsouza – Procurator General accorded loving welcome to all the participants. Sr Rose Celine, the Superior General exhorted everyone to grow in integrity for the diligent handling of temporal goods entrusted to their care; keeping in mind the primary focus of the temporal administration is apostolic works of charity. Highlighting on XVII General Chapter decree on Temporal Administration she alerted everyone to be judicious, vigilant and accountable in the management of the material resources of the Congregation.
Mr. Giridhar and associates the auditors explained in detail that Core ERP as it is a cloud-based software and centralized accounting system; giving clarity with regard to the head of accounts and compiling of data becomes very easy. Vikas Shenoy expounded on the basics of GST, applicability of GST to Bethany, exemptions – General and Specific, registration requirement. It was recommended that State wise GST Registration is required for better functioning and handling of account discrepancies.
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Sr Violet Dsouza, the Procurator General gave guidelines for checking the Recurring, Non-Recurring Budgets and shared feedback of the annual audit for the financial year 2021-22. In appreciation she said over the years the accounting system has undergone remarkable change. Owing to the recent changes in the legislations, sisters have learnt to cope with the situation, good number of Sisters has gained confidence in the use of computerized accounting packages, and few Provinces have done the Internal Audit of the units along with the members of the Province Finance Advisory Committee. Money is carefully invested in Banks and in term deposits to enhance the funds in the Province. Such financial practices has greatly enhanced the credibility of the Congregation. Sr. Sandhya the secretary of BES gave the tips for the headmistresses of schools in preparation of Proformas XA, B,C,D.
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The following Priorities on Temporal Administration were cited:
- Train sisters in the understanding of GST and on recent laws and regulations its laws – at Generalate and Province level
- Province Finance Advisory Committee to be functional and effective – with regard to study of the construction plans, estimate and its procedures
- Enhancing the financial position of BES Institutions at Local and Province level and to work towards positive budgets of all institutions
- Respond empathetically towards the wounded humanity by setting up a Solidarity Fund at the Generalate/Province/ Delegations (outside India) level. (XVII Gen)
-Sr Violet Dsouza BS
Procurator General
Practical Session on ITR Filing - 17 June 2023
Twenty-three sisters from four provinces of the congregation at Southern India (Mangalore, Bangalore, Western, Southern) gathered at Bethany Mother House, Pushpalaya hall Bethany – Mangalore on 17 June 2023 for a day’s practical session on Income Tax Return Filing.
Sr. Flavia Wilma the facilitator began encouraging all to keep learning, stay young, never to stop learning because life never stops teaching. Sr Violet the Procurator General accorded a joyful welcome to the participants and called on to practically master the steps of filing the Income Tax Returns of the Individual sisters of the Provinces. She empowered the participants to be privileged to learn the process of filing the income tax returns of the sisters which was unthinkable in the past.
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Sr Rose Celine Superior General expressed her satisfaction and appreciated the yeoman work rendered by Sr Violet Dsouza the Procurator General, the Province Procurators and the sisters in this regard. She acknowledged the hard work and transparency of the sisters in maintaining the accounts and their interest in updating as per the need of the hour. Each of us has a great responsibility to save the resources of the congregation for the future generation as did our pioneers and the early sisters who relentlessly toiled and at times suffered deprivation in their life so that we enjoy a comfortable living as the fruit of their hard work and labour of love.
Mr Giridhar Kamat auditor and team educated and empowered our sisters through practical online sessions on the following areas.
- Income Tax Return filing – online
- Old and new regimes
- Individual registration in IT portal
- Add Bank account in IT portal
- Change of Password in IT portal
- Entry of the challans of those who have paid the TDS & generated form 16.
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Sisters from all the four provinces made the best use of this session and were able to file the annual returns of individual sisters independently with the support and guidance from the auditors. Auditors clarified most of the doubts. It was indeed educative and enthusing session. Sr A Jacintha proposed the vote of thanks. Sr Precilla Braggs led the concluding prayer.
-Sr Violet Dsouza BS
Procurator General