On being invited by Most Rev. John Mulagada, bishop of Eluru, the Paulines opened their first house in the state of Andhra Pradesh, the largest of the four South Indian States. The bishop entrusted the pastoral care of the city parish of St Theresa’s to the Paulines, yet he made it clear that he invited the Paulines specifically to give a new life to the diocesan communication centre which he named Subodhanilayam(Centre of Enlightenment). The plot on which our house stands is a generous gift of the benevolent bishop who also donated to us the diocesan film unit with which we began the Pauline Film apostolate, conducting catechetical film shows in the villages of the diocese. 

In December 1984 Fr Jose Pottayil was appointed parish priest of St Teresa’s Church and director of Subodhanilayam Communications.

Later, under the leadership of Fr Alfonso Elengikal, in addition to faithfully carrying out the responsibilities of the parish and the communication centre, the Paulines initiated in Eluru many novel projects like Alberione Award for Media Excellence which was awarded five times, Bible Jyothi (Light of the Bible), an annual feature that solemnly carried the Bible in a car procession to the Marian Shrine of Nirmalagiri, about 100 kilometres away. Besides, Fr A. Elengikal also managed the public relations of the diocese of Eluru to everyone’s satisfaction .

During his tenure Telugu books began to be published, and in course of time a new media centre also was built. Today two conferrers stay here, one as parish priest of St Teresa’s and the other as director of the book and article centre. This community is an extension of the community of Vijayawada, about 60 kilometres from here.